In case you haven’t noticed already, the 2008 Master of Fine Arts students have put their work on exhibition in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art as part of OPEN/END MFA 2008. Running until the end of the term, OPEN/END is the culminating event for the art students who have completed their graduate program and are candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree for 2008. The 12 artists in this year’s show come from all backgrounds from all over the country and the world, and they each work in diverse and eclectic mediums and styles. From digital imagery and projection, to sculpture, fibers, found objects, installation and a cross hybridization of just about every modern art technique imaginable, the pieces are varied and impressive – inciting explicit emotions from the lighthearted and humorous to the darkened and bothered. Jointly presented by the Department of Art, UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the 12 displayed pieces are these artists’ master’s theses, embodying months of disciplined thought and execution that have put forth the development of the pinnacle of their craft.
The pieces present aesthetics and concepts that are beautiful and bizarre and often bizarrely beautiful. Two of the more striking pieces are Jane Snar and Karrie Harbart’s interpretations of organic membranes. Harbart’s “Psychosomatatype” is a composition of several flesh-toned, brain-like organs made up of copper, polyester and fabric. Reminiscent of the face-huggers from “Alien,” the distorted shape of the sculptures, coupled with the piece’s title, draw a literal comparison to the psychosis of the human brain. Jane Snar’s “Disparities & Deformation” comprises a gruesome system of alien-like tissues that drip down the walls and onto the floor. Made of latex polymer, epoxy resin and acrylic paint, the bleeding and oozing piece appears lifelike and forces you to look twice before you can be assured it won’t spray mucus at you.
Digital arts master Jaylene Arnold features one of the more unique pieces as she combines classic sculpture with looping video to force user interactivity. The four parts to “Hibernator” sit randomly across the gallery, appearing seemingly innocuous as four large lumps of cotton or maybe as headless sheep. But look closer and you will see through their caverns small screens displaying digitally looping video and audio. The four videos each convey their own message of the artist’s inner thoughts ranging from the frantic and schizophrenic layering of Arnold’s voice to the pleasant simplicity of swinging on a warm summer night. Arnold state’s in her exhibit bio “My current work is about the safe places in my mind. Tucked away in little worlds that I perceive to be beautiful and comfortable, are visions I create in order to survive.”
In addition to these three works, there are nine other pieces that tell their artist’s story and deserve your admiration and critique. The museum is open every day except Monday and Tuesday and naturally, admission for students is free.
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The masters of fine art
Daily Emerald
May 31, 2008
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