Portrait of a family friend. Image courtesy of Hayley Farthing

“The majority of my art deals with identity,” says Hayley Farthing, a senior painting major in the College of Fine Arts. “I like to think about how memories affect who we are today and why they’re so important to us. I also think that figuring out who I am, and we are, as people is a huge challenge in our lives, and I like to make art that addresses the difficulties of being an individual while fitting in with society.”

Farthing spent time considering both the figure and the space surrounding it in her black-and-white monotype self-portrait (below) and tried to contrast the subject’s three-dimensional body with the flat black tones of the clothing in her portrait of a friend (above).

The featured artwork was selected by the BU Art League, a student-run group based in the CFA school of visual arts. The organization helps undergraduate student artists learn more about the art world than they might normally learn in the classroom. The Art League tries to build a strong community through monthly meetings, exhibition opportunities, and a monthly newsletter. For more information, contact league founder Anne Albagli (CFA’08) at anniea@bu.edu.