Even in a barren Boseman Gallery, void of anything remotely pleasing to the artistically impaired eye, the excitement between Ashby Taylor and Christiana Novak is almost tangible.

They are the artists of the new exhibit “Engulfed” that opens August 23 at 5:30 p.m. As they walked into the empty room, soon ­­­to be filled with their collaboration consisting of about 150-200 handmade jellyfish hanging from the ceiling, they gushed over the color selected for the walls–Adriaditic Mist–a cool color nestled in between the shades of sea glass and icy blue.

“Look at it, it’s perfect,” Novak said with green, cat-like eyes as she pivoted her body to grasp every inch their collaborative piece will cover. Taylor had a more-than-satisfied grin peaking from beneath her golden mane.

“Aw yeah, it’s fabulous,” Taylor said.

According to Taylor, every piece of the exhibit will be key to creating a whole world you never see.

 “Anyone that’s every been under the water [of the ocean], whether it’s scuba diving or just swimming, knows that it’s a totally different world under there,” Novak said.

 Taylor and Novak called this aspect of the ocean hypnotic and beautiful. In their exhibit, they play with the idea of the treacherous and dangerous air while still accentuating the beauty produced by these colliding perspectives.

 “We wanted to engulf people in the jellyfishes, the ocean and the happiness I get whenever I see them,” Taylor said while recalling working on the project. “Even though they’ve been brutal, and my hands are calloused, they still excited me.”

Mutually inspired by the ocean and whimsicality surrounding the aquatic creature, both artists exude the titillation they hope exhibit-goers will experience while surrounded by their vast piece, intrigued by the beautiful yet widely feared jellyfish.  

 “I kind of romanticize things, so to me, taking one of the most beautiful things in the ocean and making a whole room full of them sounded like a good way to portray the ocean,” Novak said.

While delving into the unknown can be invigorating because you test your limits, it is undoubtedly difficult to approach. Entering the ocean and starting an art project can be compared in this sense.

 “Any time I’ve gone under the water, the first moment is kind of scary,” Novak said.

 Taylor nodded in agreement. “I have an irrational fear of the ocean,” she said.

 Novak stopped Taylor. “No, it’s perfectly rational, because it’s really scary under there,” Novak said.

 They laughed in agreement and shrugged it off, but both came to the same conclusion: when you start a creative endeavor and jump into the ocean, you just need to calm yourself and dive in.”

Witnessing their undeniable chemistry, both artistically and personally, it’s hard to believe that not even four months ago Novak and Taylor were mere acquaintances, tirelessly toiling at their various art projects worlds away in the same three-dimensional design class. Paired at random for their final project, they combined materials used for past designs and bounced back and forth ideas, haphazardly arriving at the concept of creating a mobile of jellyfish.

 “Initially… we were really worried because everyone is so negative about ocean art… at UNCW just because it’s so cliché,” Taylor said. But overwhelming approval from both their art professor and witnesses of their first project propelled Taylor to take further action.

Each jellyfish will be meticulously hung under a grid the artists designed themselves in relation to the size of the gallery.

 “No one, besides us, can tell the differences between two jellyfishes. We see every imperfection,” Novak said.

Just as Novak and Taylor unintentionally came up with the idea to create an aquatic piece on a mass scale, they have also established something just as impressive along the way–true friendship.

 “Mentally or physically we wouldn’t be able to do this without each other,” Taylor said. “I would look to Christiana when I was freaking out, but she wouldn’t be, which made me think everything was going to be okay.”

 “Now I think we’re good friends from it,” Taylor said. “We were really feeding off of each other.”

 Neither of the artists predicted what the past couple of months would bring about, but the finished product has rewarded them with two different entities that they will always share: a massive, captivating piece of artwork driven by their love for the sea and a friendship bound by their passion to create.