ORONO – Through materials as diverse as wood, paint, steel, paper, yarn and clay, the University of Maine’s 2004 annual Student Exhibition reflects students’ varied views of themselves and the world around them.

The show opened April 9 at the Carnegie Hall galleries on the Orono campus and runs a thematic gamut of “straightforward representation of place in space to more politicized imagery,” said Laurie Hicks, associate professor of art who is overseeing the exhibit, and “from very serious to very playful and celebratory.”

Take, for instance, the glued-together clay plant pot with a living plant and a sculpted earthen foot coming out the bottom. Sara Hanscome, the artist, says it symbolizes a young person’s transition out of the home and into the world.

Or Andrew Hurtt’s tunnel-shaped mask, “Pacifier,” which allows the person wearing it to see only serene and soothing interior images of home and blue sky, while from the outside, others see only digitally merged photos of war, violence and poverty.

For art patrons who enjoy speculating on the meaning of artistic statement, Carnegie Hall is the place to visit until the end of the semester, May 7, when the exhibit comes down.

The annual exhibition “includes work by studio art, art education and art history students, and reflects the diversity of media and forms taught in the department,” Hicks said.

Out of more than 300 pieces submitted for consideration, only 90 were selected by a jury of artists for the exhibit. To be eligible, the work had to be created or completed since last year’s spring art exhibit.

From a giant wooden chair to a collage of framed tobacco warning labels, from a huge ball of yarn to a ball of steel strips, and from a sculpted steel tree branch to paintings, drawings, photographs and etchings, the exhibit features 90 works of art created by 53 student artists.

Conceptual motivation for the work came from class assignments and others from the students’ daily life experiences and influences, according to Hicks. They range from “a reflection of self to a more externalized reflection on the world,” she adds.

The exhibit offers traditional artwork, including photographs, drawings, paintings and sculpture. It also includes several “performance pieces,” such as Stephanie Raddish and Kate Hinson’s “For Dougie Huebler: Site/Object Relocation,” displayed through photographs and maps of the UMaine campus.

Raddish collected items – rocks, sticks, leaves – at UMaine and sent them to Hinson, a student at Texas Women’s University, where she then distributed the objects on the Texas campus and documented the repositioning through photographs.

Department of Art faculty and students worked together to install the exhibition. The lighting was designed and placed by art student Jeff Snyder.

Carnegie Hall is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.