Introduction
Dear Reader,
We are honored to present the Spring 2016 edition of Laurels. In
the past two semesters, Saving Webster and Tacit Letters drew inspiration
from the written page, in the words themselves, and the unspoken spaces in-between, respectively. This semester, Tenebrism explores the world
of tone through the metaphorical lens of a style of art first introduced
in 17th century Spanish painting. Encircling darkness penetrated by
a solitary beam of light, the implicit contrast sparks dynamism in all
areas of visual, prosaic, and poetic art. In our search for this theme, we
trudged through the inherent philosophical ins and outs of tenebrism,
broadly applied to the realm of writing. Thus, in each chapter, we illustrate the theme of cyclical and opposing parallels through quotes that
exemplify how ancient, renaissance, and contemporary thinkers and
artists illustrated tenebrism through their own writing.
A true light in the making of each new edition of Laurels is the
contributions of the many talented students who generously submit
their work for publication. Therefore, we extend our heartfelt thanks
to the poets, writers, and artists, without whom, Laurels could never exist. We are also honored to give our gratitude to our editorial
board: Dr. Clinton Brand, Dr. Shannon Forbes, and Fr. Romanus
Muoneke. Thank you as well to the entire staff of Laurels and to Dr.
Janet Lowery, our faculty advisor and mentor, who is celebrating her
twenty-fifth year with Laurels. Mustafa Alismail deserves recognition for his work formatting Tenebrism. Finally, we would like to
thank Sarah Ontiveros, staff member and Laurels photographer, for
providing this edition’s beautiful cover art.
Sincerely,
Janna Tierney
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