FLoCAS | 2009 Juried Exhibition
6 July–20 September 2009 | FSU Museum of Fine Arts
© 2009 Florida Consortium of Art Schools www.flocas.org All artworks contained within this book are © the respective owner(s). No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, mental telepathy or laser cats—without the written permission of the publisher. Cover: 60 Watt Bulb by Samuel Kingsley Catalog designed by: Philrules.com
FLoCAS 2009 welcome to the 2009 exhibition catalog
The Florida Consortium of Art Schools (FLoCAS) is a collaboration
schools and a forum for objective feedback that one may not receive
between dedicated graduate students and educators at major Florida
in one’s own university setting. This process of exchange also in-
universities who work to create professional exhibitions, lectures,
cludes lecture and symposia, which can be extremely beneficial in
and symposia throughout the year. The participating programs are
enhancing each artist’s professional practices.
as follows: Florida State University, University of South Florida, and University of Florida.
A cross-sampling of he best graduate students from each university are involved in FLoCAS. Since it’s inception in September 2007, there
Much can be accomplished through collaboration. Each univer-
are more than 75 students and faculty who are dedicated to making
sity has access to different exhibition venues in their respective
FLoCAS a professional and nationally recognized organization.
cities, which provides and opportunity for many exhibitions between
Juror
Juror who made the final call?
The juror for FloCAS 2009 is noted essayist, critic, curator and educator Libby Lumpkin. Author of Deep Design: Nine Little Art Histories, holds such positions as Director, Las Vegas Art Museum; Assistant Professor of Art History in the Department of Art at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Assistant Curator of Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery; Contributing Editor to Art Issues and Founding Curator of the Bellagio Art Gallery.
List of Artists color-coded in ascending alphabetical order
Ananda Balingit-LeFils
Leah Floyd
Ariel Baron-Robbins
Matthew Gordon
Charles Benton
Lauren Alyssa Howard
Sheila Bishop
Hunter Jonakin
Michelle McKnight Davis
Anna Kell
Robb Fladry
Samuel Kingsley
Amy Fleming
Jacob Christopher Kubisz
Joshuan Caine Kubisz
Scott Robinson
Patrick Le Mieux
Kristin Schimik
Bruce Monroe
Daniel Tankersley
Ellen Mueller
Carmen Tiffany
Jill Mullins
Robin Venable
Chris Otten
Antonia Webb
James Reiman
Mark Zimmerman
The Family gouache on paper
This current series of gouache paintings is an exploration of
ity associated with children’s portraiture. These works take their
the posed child’s portrait. I am interested in the dichotomy of the
inspiration from the flat and decorative elements of paintings by
outwardly endearing face of a child and the complex emotions that
19th century itinerant painters, as well as the posed awkwardness
are within every individual. The static, patterned clothing, and the
of current-day yearbook photographs. The result is images that are
graphic contour lines of the face temper the inherent sentimental-
delicately sweet, and at the same time, unsettling.
Ananda Balingit-LeFils
Night Bus Rider mixed media on canvas | 18" x 36" | 2008
When alone, I am more apt to play and thus to engage in the process
produce non-objective, abstracted drawings, which are drawn from
of making art. I seek to exhibit this process, transferring it from the
daily experience (work, driving, students, etc.) but are loose enough
private to the public realm. I cannot remember a time in my life when
to embody much more than a single reading. I combine these draw-
I did not draw. It is the core of my art, not only in the physical act of
ings, transform them in the studio and take photographs of them. I
drawing but also the mental process it visually disseminates. Drawing
work within different media because the fluidity of my concept, to
extracts non-verbal thoughts from my mind and throws them out into
show movement through time, can be expressed through many
physical space. In my paintings and drawings, I practice automatic
different formats.
drawing, “blind� drawing and other intuitive drawing methods. These
Ariel Baron-Robbins
Untitled (Portrait) photograph
My photographs are made with the intention of investigating photography—the medium, its practice and its reception—through the disassembly and examination of its constituent parts.
Charles Benton
Charles Benton
Untitled (Cut) photograph
Bishop Bishop Finishes Saving You from the Same Old video
Bishop Bishop had an epiphany, complete with blinding lights and
cided to focus some of her (e)missionary work spreading The Good
angels singing. At least, that is how she tells it. She saw people at art
(and Not So Good) Words on the art world by subjecting, I mean
galleries, film festivals, cabarets and other artsy events searching
treating them, to some of her Vermons (video+sermon=Vermon).
for something. On the off chance that they were searching for the
With that in mind, she is Saving you from the same old same old.
(debatable) spiritual sustenance she has to offer, Bishop Bishop de-
Sheila Bishop
Fallon painting
The portrait of Fallon, is one of a series of portraits that reference
provides her with a semblance of identity by way of her name, which
advertising cards from Las Vegas. The cards advertise prostitutes, a
is the title of each piece. She seems to be reaching for an authentic
profession where a woman becomes a commodity and her identity,
self in an inauthentic world and it consumes her. Within the tragedy
as she knows it, is at risk. In my paintings the face, which is the vi-
of each woman’s life she clings to the air of the dream.
sual point of identity, is skewed and obscured. Semantics, however,
Michelle McKnight Davis
In Exchange For Money video | 00:03:51.0 run-time | 2008
In Exchange For Money reflects the idealism of how Hollywood
work revolves around the idea of the remix and popular culture. I
depicts the prostitute. Using footage from both Pretty Woman and
believe that anything I have to say already exist in a tangible form. I
American Psycho exemplifies the highs and lows of how we see this
am currently investigating how we consume and process the media
profession. The stark contrast between the scenes is indicative of
presented in regards to gender, sexuality, economics, government
how the prostitute is both the princess and the victim.
and religion.
Robb Fladry
My current
Smoking, Drinking book
This book is a little collection of some of my favorite vices. The idea
My work is about discards, junk, salvage items—things that have lost
came from looking at a lot of artist’s books, and finding that many of
their luster and have been tossed out. In Smoking, Drinking, I have
them embody a kind of preciousness. I wanted to make a book that
brought together elements of the junk yard with some of the finer
was the Anti-Precious; a celebration of things that are bad for you.
things in life—vodka, cigar tobacco, and Krispy Kreme.
Amy Fleming
#1 (from Conversation Pieces) wood, screws | 33" x 42" x 18" | 2009
Dealing with issues of social interaction and the transmission of
collaborating with local artisans and producing structural furniture
knowledge, Leah Floyd’s work hinges on different structures of
whose design suggests interaction.
exchange. Currently she is focusing on the specific relationship of
ferent strategies used to highlight performance work done outside
the master and apprentice found within the traditional structures of
traditional art spaces, questions the function of the institutionalized
craft.
gallery space, comments on economies of exchange/production,
This process of learning a trade under skilled craft practitio-
ners is something that she has incorporated into her art practice by
Leah Floyd
Her practice addresses dif-
and considers the value of a romanticized agrarian craft culture.
When Conall First Rode drawing
At some point all living creatures make the decision to let go of their fears and inhibitions in order to transcend. As the most elegant flower strives through desolate conditions to grow, so does a mother lion fight to the death for her young. This work focuses on the times at which a living thing decides it is necessary to transform itself into something larger for a higher purpose.
Matthew Gordon
Portrait of an Icon polyresin, upholstery, frame | dimensions vary | 2009
I use deconstructed memories of rural lower class as a vehicle
furniture indicative of lower class homes in the 1970’s and 1980’s
for stimulation through texture, color, and investigation in order
into non-traditional places, allows for a break up of the space and
to comment on the gender roles of the “Southerner.” By placing
an interruption of the viewer’s notions of reality and memory. At the
objects of the grotesque next to or inside small, decorated spaces,
same time, through the use of symbols like deer and sheep; mascu-
a discomforting tension is created that I explore through the use
line and feminine become ambiguous as humans interact with and
of drawing, painting, and sculpture. Placing upholstery, carpet, and
morph into animals.
Lauren Alyssa Howard
Go Home Now!: Topographic Map ink jet print on paper | 48" x 48" | 2008
I use imagery of geologic events as a metaphor for psychological
studies for drawings as well as topographic maps and mono-prints.
trauma. The geologic events do not exist in reality but are instead
I liken the scars of the earth to scars of the psyche, in that they
created with 3-D modeling software on a computer. I then use the
are ever-changing and eroding due to the passing of time and the
output and still renders from this program in order to produce light
defects of human memory.
Hunter Jonakin
Red on Blue Hothouse mattress painting
This piece is one from a series of mattress-paintings that attempts
mediating or limiting our natural, human experiences. Through the
to expose “the natural� as a social construction in a culture that
application of paint, the once unassuming mattress surface is forged
rewards standardization and homogenization. I chose to focus
into the silhouette of a greenhouse, asking viewers to think about the
on the mattress as an example of a highly commonplace object
relationship between the two forms.
that, while decorated with natural forms, actually has the effect of
Anna Kell
60 Watt Bulb photograph
I am a Tinkerer, an Amateur Sorcerer, and a Pseudo-scientist.
incandescent light bulb as well as the exact moment the light bulb
Through my work I explore the possibilities of the existence of
releases its life force. Once I have obtained enough data, I plan on
magic hidden within science’s technology. An existence invisible to
harvesting this raw energy to power my large constructs of sensory
the naked eye but revealed at the instant of the machine’s failure.
enhancement.
Within this series of experiments, I have captured the mortality of the
Samuel Kingsley
Surfer Trap sculpture
Refusing to acclimate to our environment, we attempt to control our
and nature reserves are fast becoming the final frontier for some
surroundings. I’m inspired by an animal’s ability to peacefully coexist
species. I commend, but do not presume to facilitate the valiant,
with nature. A delicate balance in this give-and-take relationship is
yet futile efforts of the conservationists. My sculptures are poignant,
the wall that stands between survival and extinction. Modern con-
but often satirical, reflections of life’s fragility and of the implacable
venience has replaced our dependency on our habitat. Parks and
struggle to survive.
zoological gardens offer us a synthetic fix for our intrinsic curiosity
Jacob Christopher Kubisz
Prototype plaster life casts | 72" x 60" x 4.5"
Our naivety predisposes us to the media and allows commercial
every deficiency, there seems to be a simple remedy and the chance
advertising to propagate our suspicions. The fragile defense of our
of tragedy, no matter how significant, isn’t enough to concern us. In
mental stability is plagued with irrational paranoia. Our desire to be
this particular work, I deal with the absurdity of the ideal image that is
perfect is fueled by our desire to improve; it is in our nature. The
marketed to the public, the idea of cloning, and the commodification
perspicacious acceptance of our own uniqueness is subjugated by
of our bodies.
the media’s ability to penetrate the barriers of our own self-worth. For
Joshua Caine Kubisz
Red Andy Warhol Crash Infinite Times mixed media interactive installation | 36" x 18" x 18" | 2008
Red Andy Warhol Crash Infinite Times (2008) depicts the artist driving
canvas tallies Warhol’s progress, functioning as a large scoreboard
a crashed car from Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times (1963). This
which reflects it’s opposite. By sequencing Warhol’s series of red
crashed car has been modified into an automatic screen-printing
self portraits in time, the artist appears constantly electrocuted as
device, constantly tracking trace elements of the fourteen car
the crashed car bumps along. How long must one play before the
crashes around one of the two monochromatic canvases. The other
death drive is satisfied?
Patrick Le Mieux
HIV
collagraph on laminated Nishinouchi paper with Screenprint on Stonehenge | 39" x 29" x 3" | 2008
Most of my current work represents my exploration of the AIDS
More importantly, I want to create work that pulls back the curtain
virus, its pathology, and how homoeroticism can be related to it.
on risky practices that are contributing to the rise in HIV rates in gay
I am fascinated with the seductive beauty of the viral structure,
men today.
knowing that it causes disease and death by violating the very
fantasies, and fetishes within gay sexuality, perhaps as a rejection of
DNA of the body. I present the virus as a beautiful object in un-
today’s fear of gay assimilation in the larger culture. Eventually, these
expected compositions, often erotic and sometimes humorous.
may be intertwined with the AIDS imagery to explore the physical,
I hope my work will begin to draw new attention to a disease
social, and financial consequences of flirtation with the virus.
that has grown stale in the media and the minds of gay youth.
Bruce Monroe
Much of my other work celebrates many of the desires,
The System Triptych and Illustrated Manual digital prints and paperback book | 11" x 17" (each) and 6.88" x 4.25" | 2009
Recently, I have focused on humans relating to each other through
can relate. Exposing these relationships is an underlying goal of
the shared experience of passing time. Noticeably, some individu-
my works.
als have a distinct struggle with the passage of time. Their struggle
determined to maintain control of her life. She has developed The
seems to stem from a resistance to change, and a grasping for
System, a new approach to time traveling, and attempts to share it
control. These are two very human qualities to which most viewers
through a live infomercial.
Ellen Mueller
This work follows Valerie Hartman, a character who is
Ellen Mueller
Commercials for The System video | 00:01:19.0 | 2008
Landscape sculpture
My art is centered on my understanding of the complex relationship
centricism that has led us to become the species most capable of
between nature and human culture. I use my art practice to explore
altering the world and the most conscious of that ability. In my work,
contemporary and historical aspects of what I see as an oppressive
this need for justification has led me to question the uniqueness of
relationship between humanity and the natural world. I am interested
our role on this planet. Through this I seek to bring attention to the
in creating little worlds that mimic the oppressive aspects of our
fact that, at the bottom of it all, we are just another species living on
world. I need to justify human existence to the historical anthropo-
this planet.
Jill Mullins
Cotton Bales: Jackson County, OK archival ink jet print | 12" x 32" | 2008
My work explores the relationship of quotidian objects to each
for its aesthetic values, or environmental concerns. Often there is
other and the vast spaces of the American landscape. Through my
a tension between the nostalgia and the possible consequences of
photographs I explore the ways in which Americans are using the
using the land for personal or public disposal yards. Since our desire
cherished landscape of the American Southwest as waste sites. The
for consumable goods seems to be ever increasing, one wonders
viewer can interpret the body of work from different perspectives;
how this will impact the land for future generations.
Chris Otten
Chris Otten
Scrap Yard: Jackson County, OK archival ink jet print | 12" x 32" | 2008
Sometimes I Flex So Hard I Pee a Little archival ink jet print | 34" x 40" | 2008
Sometimes I Flex so Hard I Pee a Little is from a series called
Muscle
resentations
Bound, of
“strong
explores man”
my
interest
archetype.
in
rep-
as professional sports, action movies, and competitive body building, just to name a few.
By photographing men with physiques
He-man
that would be considered by contemporary American standards
action figures from my childhood, comic book superheroes I read about
to be less than ideal and isolating small portions of their bodies,
as an adolescent, and movie characters such as Hercules, Rambo and
de-constructing them in a sense, I digitally put them back together
Tarzan that I have watched throughout my life all epitomize “ideal”
again and make them fit the mold - in this case, with an iconic profes-
men as imagined through core American values. Strength, power,
sional bodybuilder as my blueprint. The figure has been measured
and the ability to become a “self-made” man are all inherently part
and shaped to perfection worthy of Mr. Olympia, yet the surface
of these heroic characters. The value of a strong built body has
reveals flawed individuality and shortcoming when compared to the
become a collective desire through contemporary institutions such
unattainable “standard.”
James Reiman
the
which
Rocket Garden archival ink jet print | 34" x 40" | 2008
Rockets propped up like stiff corpses echo the ancient Greek sentiment that in the time of gods, men were stronger and more virtuous. In the rocket garden, the corrosive power of nature tames fire-breathing giants. Rust bubbles beneath fresh paint like a skin disease. Scratched-in graffiti makes a powerful engine into a toothless, clawless, spiritless bear in a small cage. Saturn, Mercury, Gemini, and Jupiter are mythical once again.
Scott Robinson
Drifting
vitreous black clay with slag inclusions from mining waste, metallic oxides, porcelain, glaze, enamel | 10" x 20" x 2� | 2008
My work is constructed from a black-firing clay with a high metal content, and also contains slag, a metallic-glass waste product from the mining industry, that is embedded into the surface. These materials are similar to the primordial materials found within meteors and deep beneath the Earth’s crust. Dense and heavy objects float in space, with the universe itself shifting and drifting, expanding outward.
Kristin Schimik
Lindsey Lohan Drugs mixed media
Lindsey Lohan Drugs is an animated portrait highlighting the distributed location of the body in electronic media. It stems from an ongoing collaboration between a human artist and automated SPAM bots. The work challenges notions of authorship, viewership, and the individual.
Daniel Tankersley
If You Can’t Save Me, At Least Give Me Candy ceramic and mixed media | 16" x 96" x 36” | 2008
Winners always lose, and losers always die. I replicate toy-like
adulthood. Playthings and media fully support modern ideology
objects out of ceramic and mixed media, in which I use caliginous
that a child needs special objects for play and that their existence
plots to exaggerate my experience as a member of the underclass
is lucid and imaginative. Separating childhood and adulthood also
where I grew up in the rural American west. The figurative toys, often
suggests that a child’s tolerance and understanding of reality are
anthropomorphic doll-like objects, are accompanied by would-be ac-
not developed. My inquiries are driven by the antagonistic parallel
cessories that suggest an obscure toy store environment. Through
between the societal nature of toys and the primal play their design
the use of poorly crafted multiples to convey ideas of collection, I
is meant to provoke.
emphasize the value of quantity over quality that is embedded in
my cultural experiences. Working with personal subject matter al-
American culture.
lows rawness true to the nature of the work. Beauty is often polished
The cultural construction of American (and
similarly Victorian) childhood now is intrinsically separate from
Carmen Tiffany
I feel my role is to visually record and critique
rot. Polishing that rot is what motivates me.
A Break-Up mixed media
In the wake of the vacuum created by postmodernism, there is a
take full form. Similar to the decorations in a precious reliquary, the
hunger for spiritual renaissance. Human souls crave inclusion rather
portals of a cathedral, or an illuminated manuscript, the patterns
than exclusion, so I seduce the viewers with texture and intimate
point to our attempt to make sense of life’s complexity. Dark and
scale in the hopes of recreating my own religious revelations for
light battle over the souls of the figures as the figures become more
them.
integrated into their rich and complex spiritual history.
I place figures in ornate patterns from another time. Almost
lost in the complicated surfaces, the figures work to emerge and
Robin Venable
Satin Longoria painting
Being a perfectionist can be advantageous to art making, but it can
its place on the canvas, where I hope it stays. As I paint, I pursue
also make one go slightly nuts. I channel my nervous energy into
beauty, and illuminate the struggle between imminent decay and
painting. By manipulating the painted figure, I exorcize the urge to
constancy. I am interested in the line between cultivation of beauty
control my own body. The dormant compulsion to deprive myself ba-
and the self-destructive obsession with an impossible ideal.
sic pleasures in pursuit of an impossible ideal seems to have taken
Antonia Webb
Radcliffe, KY photograph
Cemeteries have continued to fight a losing battle for more land.
other ways to mark the life of a person.
Where will we be buried when the cemeteries are full and burial
in life only reside within our memory, the moments of loss create a
becomes nothing but lost existence? Memorials will continue to
disconnect that is difficult to ignore and will last in our memory for as
exist but on a different level. Our culture will begin to realize that the
long as we remember.
tradition of burial is coming to a halt and our society will have to find
Mark Zimmerman
The moments we have
Artist Biographies you met the work, now meet the artists
Ananda Balingit-LeFils
Charles Benton
Ananda Balingit-LeFils is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate
Charles Benton received his Psychology BA in 2005 at the University
at Florida State University. She graduated Phi Theta Kappa with an
of Central Florida where he also completed some MFA coursework.
Associate in Arts degree in studio art from Florida School of the Arts
He began the MFA program at the University of Florida in 2007.
(FloArts) and Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art from FSU. Some of her awards include the Outstanding Student in Visual Arts Award from FloArts, the Painting Faculty Award from FSU and the prestigious University Fellowship Award from FSU. When not in the studio, Ananda spends her time solving crossword puzzles, procrastinating and playing with her daughter, Olivia.
Sheila Bishop Born in Gainesville, Florida, Sheila Bishop received her B.A. in Humanities from New College of Florida in 1995. After four years in San Francisco, she returned to the land of sweet iced tea and thunderstorms because she thought the South would best feed her
Ariel Baron-Robbins
creative inclinations. Since moving back, she has created, produced and publicized hundreds of events including cabarets, plays, fundrais-
Ariel Baron-Robbins is an emerging artist currently living in Tampa,
ers and lectures. She is pursuing an MFA in Digital Media Art at the
Florida. In her career as an artist she has had five solo exhibitions
University of Florida. She currently serves as chief do girl for Bishop
of her paintings and drawings and been involved in numerous group
Bishop’s mission to save the whole wide world and little old you.
exhibitions. She is currently showing with the collective [5]art in their West Tampa gallery. She is pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts at the University of South Florida where she also teaches drawing and is an exhibiting artist. She is formerly the President of USF’s Master of Fine Arts Organization and has received a scholarship from the Las Damas Des Artes group.
Michelle McKnight Davis
Amy Fleming
I was born in Austin, Texas under my mother’s easel and I have
Amy Fleming received her BFA from Old Dominion University and
always known that creating marks was just life. In fact so many
is currently an MFA candidate at Florida State University. She grew
people in my family make some form of art that is surprising that I
up in a rural part of Tidewater, Virginia, where automotive salvage
became serious about it later in life rather than earlier. Once I real-
yards were a common part of the landscape. As a result, these junk
ized this was my chosen profession I proceeded as fast as I could, I
yards have found their way into her work. Fleming has a continuing
got my BFA from the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa in 2003
interest in things that are decayed, broken, and have been tossed
and an M.Ed in 2005. I am now approaching my third year in the MFA
into the refuse heap.
program at Florida State University.
Robb Fladry
Leah Floyd Leah Floyd received her BA in English from Stetson University, she
Robb Fladry is a digital video and sound artist exploring pop cul-
then moved to Argentina to teach English as a second language
ture and digital technologies. He holds a BFA in Studio Arts from
to business professionals. She returned to the US to attend the
Austin Peay State University, and a MA in Theatre from the same
University of Florida and is currently living in Gainesville as an MFA
institution. He is nationally and internationally known for his video
candidate in Creative Photography. Magnetically drawn to South
installations and live video performances. He has exhibited works
America, Leah plans on living abroad again after graduation.
the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, the BEA Festival for Media Arts in Las Vegas, Electronic Language International Festival FILE: Rio de Janeiro 2009 and FILE: SĂĽo Paulo 2008. Fladry enjoys the music of Billy Idol, Billy Joel and Billy Ocean among others.
Matthew Gordon
Hunter Jonakin
Matthew Gordon, originally from Vicksburg, Mississippi, received
I was born and raised in North Alabama where I lived for twenty-
his BFA in Sculpture from the University of Southern Mississippi and
three years. I then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where I spent
his MFA from Florida State University.
thirteen years in a partially frozen state. I received my BFA in Fine Art from the University of Minnesota in 2007. I am currently an MFA
In his undergraduate studies, Matthew worked in wood, steel, cast
candidate at Florida State and will graduate in 2011.
iron, ceramics and mixed media sculpture. After coming to Florida State, he realized that Art is a language in which artists should be fluent in more than one They also need to be flexible to heed the calling of whatever medium their ideas warrant.
Anna Kell Anna Kell grew up in Columbus, Indiana. Anna attended Saturday art classes at Herron School of Art throughout high school and began
Lauren Alyssa Howard
her college career at Miami University in 2001. At Miami, Kell was awarded the Robert Wolfe Scholarship for excellence in printmak-
Lauren Alyssa Howard was born and raised in a small town in
ing and a U.S Summer Scholars award, among other honors. After
Southeastern Alabama. After moving to the Metro-Atlanta area in
graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking,
1996, she attended the University of Georgia where she received
Kell worked as a substitute teacher, part-time gardener, and t-shirt
her Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Drawing. She cur-
designer. In 2006 she was awarded an Alumni Fellowship at the
rently resides in Tampa, Florida after having received her Masters of
University of Florida to pursue her Master of Fine Arts in painting.
Fine Arts degree. Her current work reflects growing up in Southern Alabama via investigations through texture, color, and form. Drawing from her rural upbringing, Howard uses references from a particular lower-middle working class history to address identity, gender, and place.
Samuel Kingsley
Joshuan Caine Kubisz
Samuel is entering his third and final year as an MFA candidate in
Joshua Caine Kubisz was born in Hinsdale, Illinois in 1977. He re-
photography at the University of Florida. He received his BFA in two-
ceived his BFA (2007) in Sculpture from Indiana University. In 2008,
dimensional studies in 2006 at the Bowling Green State University in
he was awarded a Graduate Assistantship with the University of
Bowling Green, Ohio. This will be Samuel’s second annual showing
Florida. He currently lives in Gainesville, Florida where he is a MFA
in the Florida Consortium of Art Schools.
candidate in the Sculpture Department. Kubisz’s work examines the ways in which the media’s ideology shapes our understanding of knowledge, and the natural world. He creates work that questions
Jacob Christopher Kubisz
the distinctions between rational actions and irrational influences.
Jacob Christopher Kubisz was born an identical twin in Hinsdale, IL, in 1977. Kubisz graduated with honors and received a BFA in sculpture at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 2007. IU exhibitions
Patrick Le Mieux
include the 2007 Buffet Show, 2007 BFA Thesis Group Show, 2006
Patrick LeMieux is an MFA candidate in Digital Media Arts at the
Buffet Show, and 2006 Satellite Show. His sculpture “Don Lawn
University of Florida. His work features custom video games which
Flamingo”, a world record sized 15’ pink fiberglass replica of Don
explore concepts of mark-making, viewer agency, subjectivity, and
Featherstone’s iconic lawn ornament is on public display in Bloom-
gameplay as critical entryways into the history, production, and in-
ington, IN at Arlington Park Apartments. He received the University
terpretation of art. Modeled after the juxtaposition of Ad Reinhardt’s
of Florida’s Alumni Graduate Fellowship Award in 2008 and 2009.
stark, black monochromes and wry, pedagogical comics, the video games stage imaginary confrontations between the figures of seminal artists within the landscape of their minimal works—interaction signifying interpretation.
Bruce Monroe
Jill Mullins
Bruce Monroe was born in Roswell, New Mexico and grew up in
Jill Mullins was born and raised in Nashville, TN. She is currently
Texas, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Zool-
seeking her MFA in Photography at the University of Florida, Gaines-
ogy from Texas A&M University. After a twenty-year career as a
ville. She received her BFA in Photography from Watkins College of
fundraiser, Bruce decided to pursue a Masters in Fine Arts degree
Art and Design in Nashville, TN in 2006. Her art work expresses her
from the University of South Florida. His work has been seen in the
deep love of nature and earnest need to change the perception of
“Poseurs” group show at the William and Nancy Oliver Gallery in
nature in our society as something to be dominated and exploited.
Tampa, Florida and is included in the permanent collection of the Brookhaven College School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas.
Chris Otten Ellen Mueller
Chris Otten was born in Altus, OK. In 2007 he received a BFA in Photographic Arts from the University of Central Oklahoma. Cur-
Ellen Mueller was raised in Fargo, ND and currently lives and works
rently, he resides in Tampa, Florida where he is working on his MFA
in Tampa, FL. Recent exhibitions include “Old School” at UPPER-
at the University of South Florida. His work has been included in ex-
CASE Gallery in Alberta, Canada, and “Complete with Illustrated
hibitions at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Donna Nigh Gallery
Manual,” at the William and Nancy Oliver Gallery, Tampa, Florida.
(Edmond, OK), Oklahoma City Science Museum, and the Florida
She received a BA in Theatre and Art, and a BS in Design Technol-
Consortium of Art Schools 2008 Traveling Exhibition (UF, FSU,
ogy from Bemidji State University. She is currently pursuing her
USF). His work is included in the University of Central Oklahoma’s
MFA in Studio Art at University of South Florida. Her work includes
Mass Communications Department as a permanent collection.
performance art, drawing, installation, and video.
James Reiman
Kristin Schimik
James Reiman’s work investigates the origins and manifestations of
Schimik earned a BFA in Sculpture, with Honors from Northern
gender through individual identities. Through this lens, Reiman has
Michigan University in 2000. She has been awarded residencies
focused his work on the foundations of masculinity though his work.
by the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Montana, the
Reiman is interested in how men identify with other men in order
Holter Museum of Art in Montana, Umdang Ceramics in Thailand,
to shape and define their personal and cultural identities. Reiman
and was the Artist-in-Residence in Spatial Art at San Jose State
was born in Wenatchee, Washington in 1979. He received his BFA
University in California in 2007. Schimik is the recipient of an Alumni
in Photography with a minor in Art History from Central Washington
Graduate Fellowship Award from the University of Florida and will
University in 2005. He received his MFA in May of 2009 from the
graduate with an MFA in Ceramic Sculpture in 2010.
University of South Florida.
Scott Robinson
Daniel Tankersley Daniel Tankersley is a digital media artist at University of Florida
Scott Robinson was born in Valdosta, Georgia on September
whose multimedia practice questions the construction of identity,
3, 1982 and was raised in Adel, Georgia. Early in life, his uncle,
place, information, reality, and language. He teaches time-based
who worked for NASA and his two grandparents who taught art at
media and digital imaging.
a local high school, were major influences. He graduated with a BFA from Valdosta State University in 2006. His topics of interest include mythology, nostalgia, and the absurd. Scott has a teaching assistantship at the University of Florida and will be entering his third and final year of graduate school in the fall of 2009, pursuing an MFA in painting.
Carmen Tiffany
Antonia Webb
Born and raised in Wyoming, Carmen has since resided in Minne-
Antonia Webb was born in Tallahassee, Florida in 1982 into a large
sota, Oregon and Florida. Carmen completed her BFA at Minnesota
Catholic family. She graduated with her BA from the School of the Art
State University in 2005 with emphasis in ceramics.She is currently
Institute of Chicago in 2006. After a short stint as a middle school art
working on her MFA from the University of South Florida and antici-
teacher in central Florida, she came back to Tallahassee to attend
pates graduation in May 2010.
Florida State University, where she resides with her husband and three cats.
Robin Venable I am originally from Nashville, TN, with short stints in Jefferson City,
Mark Zimmerman
TN and Tallahassee, FL. One of the earliest examples of my artistic
Mark S. Zimmerman was born in Louisville, KY in 1982 where he
leanings is a picture that my mom took of me in Sunday School - 4
continued to reside until moving to Savannah, GA to work towards
years old, red paint, paintbrush in hand, white smock over a Sunday
his Bachelors of Fine Arts in photography, which he received in 2004
dress, and a huge smile on my face. I love medieval manuscripts,
from the Savannah College of Art and Design. After his graduation
transparency, and ornate designs. I also love Nutella, Madeleine
Mark moved back to Louisville, KY where he worked as a photog-
L’Engle, and Eternal Sunshine.
rapher until he decided to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts degree in photography at the University of Florida. Mark is entering his third year and anticipates a graduation of Spring 2010.