April 7 - May 15, 2012
MFA 2012 EXHIBITION College of Visual and Performing Arts University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
April 7 - May 15, 2012
MFA 2012 EXHIBITION College of Visual and Performing Arts University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Julio Alessio Kevin Calisto Camille Chedda Laren Friedman Henry Daniel Gatlin Sara Heiderich Grace Hilliard-Koshinsky Lauren Louise deSerres Kelischek Christian Kozaki Liliya Krys Avery Lucas Claudia Mastrobuono John McGowan Paula Erenberg Medeiros Sung Pill Park Amy Uthus Erik Wilhelmsen
IT WAS AT THAT POINT WE INTERCEPTED SIGNALS THAT WERE SO DISRUPTIVE IT WAS AS IF THEY HAD COME FROM ANOTHER PLANET Breton on encountering the poetry of Picabia and Tzara in 1919 In my twenty-five years as Director of the University Art Gallery, I have had the pleasure of working with, or presenting the work of, some of the greatest artists in the world, including Ilya Kabakov, Nancy Spero, Per Kirkeby and Ana Mendieta.
GREETING FROM THE OFFICE OF THE DEAN On behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, we are pleased to present the 10th Anniversary exhibit of the MFA Thesis Exhibition held in our Star Store campus in historic New Bedford. This annual event is a much-anticipated and celebrated exhibition that serves as the visual capstone for the creative research of each degree candidate, the culmination of two to three years of intensive study. The 2012 exhibition is comprised of work from the disciplines of sculpture, drawing, painting, jewelry/metals, fibers, printmaking, ceramics, and digital media. This year will mark the first time our Master of Fine Art candidates in Artisanry, Design, and Fine Arts will be displaying their artwork in Boston at Bromfield Gallery during the month of June following the conclusion of the New Bedford exhibition. The opportunity to showcase our graduating MFA candidates in the urban arts community of Boston known as SoWA, not only introduces them to a thriving arts scene, but also visually connects us to UMD alumni and friends who live or work in the greater Boston area. It is also our pleasure to use this opportunity to acknowledge the dedicated leadership and service of outgoing UMD Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack, a longtime champion of the arts. For her ardent, unfailing support of the arts during her tenure as Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the College of Visual and Performing Arts dedicates this 10th Anniversary catalog to our friend and colleague, Dr. Jean F. MacCormack.
Adrian Tio’, Dean Heather Bentz, Assistant Dean
The truly challenging and rewarding exhibition however, and the largest and most demanding to undertake, has always been the yearly Masters of Fine Arts exhibition taking place in the Spring. This is the event through which the College of Visual and Performing Arts presents a selection of the thesis body of work created by the graduating Masters of Fine Arts students. This year we will be featuring seventeen students’ work to the public. Since I have been teaching graduate seminars for many years, and regularly have participated in graduate critique sessions, it is always with special pride that I present the work of students I have been part of guiding and advising. The College of Visual and Performing Arts has undergone many changes during my tenure at the University. The teaching, however, has always been characterized by the creative environment established by our outstanding faculty and the presence of great students. Many of the faculty I worked with over the years have now retired, but their energy and vision is present in our programming, and is renewed and passed on by younger faculty with energy, new vision, and new areas of talent and expertise. Our faculty are accomplished artists within their field, and equally dedicated educators. An art college is comprised of many unrecorded interactions, and an intense sharing that will forever exist between a student and their advisors. A significant learning environment is characterized by its level of insight and inspiration, and especially by its creative energy. It is a living and breathing reality that I have been fortunate to be part of for many years. The strength of the College of Visual and Performing Arts -- within all its fields of study -- has always been the solid grounding in technique and tradition, whether kiln building in ceramics, or color theory in painting, paired with history and theory, and the desire to see each student reach his or her unique artistic vocabulary. There has always been a strong realization within the College of how we exist within layers of community, that we are unique as individuals yet always part of a larger context, be it visual, social, or theoretical. For all of us as artists, there is a never-ending play between subject matter, language and technique -- a play that constantly, and hopefully forever, will enrich our lives. As teachers, we always strive to situate our students as practitioners within their chosen field and vocabulary and, if need be, make them realize how and why they might need to expand into other fields, techniques or vocabularies. We consistently try to instill in each, the pleasure of a life-long task of investigation, exploration, and search for creative energy.
3
The process of becoming an accomplished artist is difficult. Every new graduate student arrives with a set of skills and
been involved in the leadership of AHA! from its early beginnings. It is a community based non-profit, which now
a certain realization of what they might be able to achieve. A strong expressive desire will have to be channeled and
receives major support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the Adam’s Grant, a state program promoting
challenged. The educational process is one of constantly trying to push the student outside his or her initial comfort
economic growth through cultural initiatives.
zone. With exposure to a wide range of new art, new social realities, and new theoretical thinking, the student will have to develop the ability to understand where he or she belongs within a larger cultural context. While consistently
The presence of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and the activities of the AHA! organization, along with
developing new work, the challenge is to clarify how to relate to, and benefit from, the powerful presence of other
the efforts of many other City and State organizations, including the Whaling Museum and the National Park, have
artists’ work worldwide. The question will constantly -- spoken and unspoken -- be one of confronting issues of
thoroughly transformed downtown New Bedford within the last ten years. The many small private galleries, as well
authenticity, and the realization that without growth, and without the right kind of effort, it cannot be achieved.
as the New Bedford Art Museum, Artworks, and the Narrows Center for the Arts in neighboring Fall River, present countless opportunities for our students to showcase their work while in the graduate and undergraduate programs,
In addition to the great and varied faculty in the individual fields, the graduate program is strengthened by the presence
and students can freely partake in the extraordinary series of lectures, films, music and other events that are widely
of a large group of highly accomplished art historians, many with in-depth knowledge of nineteenth and twentieth
available throughout downtown. Indeed, many of our former graduates have decided to stay in the New Bedford area
century art and theory, and with extensive background and involvement in the current art scene. They are an invaluable
once they graduate, taking advantage of great working spaces and studios in the former mill buildings.
source and guide for an understanding of where the significant events and new visual expressions can be found within the contemporary scene.
An indication of the successful presence of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the activities of the AHA! organization, and the revival of downtown, is that New Bedford is now ranked the seventh most artistic city in the U.S.
The current configuration of the graduate program can be traced back to the merging of the Swain School of Design
by The Atlantic Monthly (December 2011) on a list that takes into consideration the total population.
in 1988 with, what was at the time, the Southeastern Massachusetts University. Two years earlier the Program in Artisanry -- after a ten-year existence at Boston University -- had moved to New Bedford and merged with Swain.
The graduate program of the College of Visual and Performing Arts is, indeed, one of the finest in the country, and we
Out of the unique perspectives that each of the three schools and the individual programs represented, the current
are pleased that it is part of the College’s expansive collaboration with the cultural scene at large. The graduate program
College of Visual and Performing Arts graduate program emerged. The program exists with a variety of specific areas
is further enriched by the many visiting artists, critics, and art historians that meet with the students regularly for one-
of competence, but also freely shares facilities, faculty, and students. We now also have a shared papermaking
on-one critiques during the day, before they present their latest research at a public lecture at night. At any one time,
studio, and a collection of natural history objects. In addition, many hybrid classes have been established, focusing on
we may have an exhibition of George Segal’s body casts and pastels from the early 1960s, or an exhibition of “Historic
installation art, book arts, and combined traditional and alternative printmaking and photography techniques, as well as
Photographic Processes in the 21st Century,” in the University Art Gallery, and presentations on “Crafting Identity” by
many other specialized courses, all providing a rich environment for experimentation.
the craft historian Sandra Alfoldy, or the Chinese art historian and curator, Wang Baoju, speaking on “The Current State of Chinese Contemporary Art” in the lecture hall in the evenings.
The graduate program – with the exception of the graduate program in Design, which is located on our main campus in North Dartmouth -- moved into the renovated Star Store building, a former department store in downtown New
We all wish our graduating students a long and productive career within their chosen field. One of our greatest
Bedford, in 2001. The renovation and retrofitting of the spaces, to host the up-to-date and generous workshops and
pleasures is following how many of our former graduate students, over the years, have become major practitioners
studios, was initiated in order to rejuvenate the depressed downtown, and was spearheaded by Massachusetts state
within their fields, or teachers at important colleges, and even curators at major museums. There is no greater pleasure
senator, Mark Montigny. The planning and specifications of the individual spaces were undertaken by individual
than welcoming a former student as a colleague within your field.
professors from each area, and by Dean John Laughton and Assistant Dean, Janine Wong. The College also hired the design firm Urban Instruments, whose award winning lobby design, with its guard station, waiting benches, kiosks and
The creative path is one of the most important an individual can proceed on. It is not for everyone. The demands
railings, set a standard for the high quality work and teaching taking place in the building.
are high, the challenges constant. The work on view in this year’s MFA exhibition is complex and intense. The subject matter presented in the work is wide ranging, from personal, individual, issues of ethnic identity, cultural
The political initiative has been a tremendous success. The downtown area has rapidly been revitalized. Cafes,
displacement, social fear, foster care, and body awareness, to transcendent issues of sexuality, beauty, the love of the
restaurants, galleries, retail stores, and other educational, cultural and environmental institutions have opened or
urban environment, childhood imagination, and spirituality. The formal and technical issues are equally complex, from
relocated, and apartments and condominiums are now widely available. A new hotel opened last year in the harbor
painting on plastic bags to merging ceramic firings with burning of wood forms. In all instances, we see young artists
area. The final piece of the downtown rejuvenation, the commuter train to Boston, is slowly, but surely moving forward.
pushing the boundaries, attempting to speak the unspoken, to manifest pain and pleasure, displacement and identity, longing and nostalgia. We, the teachers, are proud to have been part of the process.
An important component in the revitalization of downtown has been AHA! (Art, History, Architecture), an organization that coordinates and promotes third Thursday presentations of events by more than eighty stakeholders, cultural
Lasse Antonsen
institutions, and downtown businesses. The University Art Gallery and the College of Visual and Performing Arts, have
4
5
JULIO ALESSIO
KEVIN CALISTO
Julio Alessio was born in Mexico, where he lived on the streets and in an orphanage until he was adopted at age eight
Kevin Calisto was born, and grew up, in Bristol, Rhode Island. He graduated from the College of Saint Rose in
by an American family. He has a BA in sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He started out in
Albany, NY in 2009, with a BFA in Art Education and Painting. Throughout his undergraduate studies, Kevin
the Wood Program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and later
worked as a gallery assistant and a K-12 fine arts teacher. Returning to Rhode Island after graduating, Kevin
transferred to the Sculpture Program.
enrolled in the graduate Fine Arts program at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in Drawing.
My wood sculptures and environments reference the experience of growing up in Mexico and in the US. I work
My recent drawings are created from observing still life arrangements of strips of paper. The format of my work
primarily in wood and on a large scale, in order to create an immersion into imagery that puts you in the moment,
is largely horizontal, and the strips of paper provide the dominant horizontal forms and lines. My goal is to create
creating a situation that makes you stop and ponder your cultural situation as well as somebody else’s. The work is
deserted, quiet, and contemplative spaces. Living by the water my whole life, I find the landscape can represent
painted and stained in order to bring about as vivid an experience as possible.
many things at once. The calmness and tranquility of a horizontal line, and the vast open spaces, represent a balance in nature and can likewise provide a balance within one’s mind. Throughout my life, I have often turned to silence as a catalyst for reflection and worship. I find a short time of stillness is needed before I enter my day. My drawings serve as a place where my thoughts can be restored.
6
7
CAMILLE CHEDDA
LAREN FRIEDMAN
Camille Chedda was born in Jamaica where she studied painting at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and
Laren Friedman received her undergraduate degree in painting and art history at Pratt Institute in New York City, and
Performing Arts. After graduating in 2007, Chedda worked briefly as a Visual Arts Teacher, and then moved on to
maintained a studio for eight years in Boston while participating in the artistic life of the City and fundraising for
work as a fulltime artist at her home studio in Jamaica. In 2010, she enrolled as a graduate student in the Fine Arts
non-profits. From 2008 to 2010 she was president of the board of Mobius, Boston’s artist-run center for experimental
Department at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, majoring in painting.
work in all media.
This body of work began with my daily use, and collecting, of the kind of plastic bags that are known as “scandal bags”
In my mixed media collages I use architectural diagrams and schematics to explore my connection to the environment.
in Jamaica, my country of origin. Typically, “scandal bags,” are black and opaque, and able to conceal their contents
I am deeply attuned to the spaces around me and I feel that part of my reason for being here, in an environment, is to
from public view. Although they are predominantly used for carrying groceries, “scandal bags” have been used to
appreciate them. I find manmade structures and the grittiness of cities to be as beautiful as the natural world. When
conceal weapons, drugs, stolen goods and even body parts. By painting self-portraits on these plastic bags, I wanted to
I look at cities I think of abstract paintings; when I look at nature I see the playfulness and effortlessness of creation.
investigate personal and social issues of identity. The self-portrait is a stand-in for objects that could exist in the bag, be
My function as an artist is to reflect this creation in my own special way. I work intuitively, and my art evolves in stages.
it groceries and precious personal items, or the illegal elements of the Jamaican towns and cities. It is protected from
Answers come in their own time and in their own way, and when I get a desire to do something I let it guide me and
theft, scorn, use and abuse, while at the same time abused and stifled behind the plastic walls.
trust the outcome. For me, true joy is in seeing the world around me. Then there is the additional joy of processing it deeply, and the still greater joy when creation comes back around in my work. The wheel never stops turning.
8
9
HENRY DANIEL GATLIN
SARA HEIDERICH
Henry Daniel Gatlin received his Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in sculpture and photography, from
Sara Heiderich completed her undergraduate work in sculpture and painting at Wisconsin Lutheran College in
University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2008. Prior to finishing his undergraduate education, Henry spent fifteen years
Milwaukee, WI. She spent a year balancing a variety of jobs at home and abroad, among them a gallery internship at
pursuing a career as a guitar player, and ten years in the field of photography. After a year and a half of working with a
Brancolini Grimaldi in Florence, Italy. While pursuing her MFA degree in sculpture at UMass Dartmouth, she has been
blacksmith, he applied and was accepted into the MFA sculpture program at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
a partner in designing and fabricating a public sculpture for a new community park in Dartmouth, MA.
in 2009. I make art that references my personal history with upholstery. My earliest aesthetic influences are rooted in my father’s
My figurative sculpture can be seen as self-portraiture: an internal dialogue written out in lines. The masses of tangled
upholstery shop. Through the use of upholstery related materials and processes in my work, I reconnect with memories
line materialize how I analyze myself. The overlapping snarls of thin, tenuous thread represent the directions of thought
and emotions from my childhood. At the same time, my intent is that the work will stimulate individual and personal
running through my mind. For me the body and the mind can be represented as a fragile, sensitive shell of thinly
associations for the viewer, in addition to providing a unique and memorable aesthetic experience.
scribbled lines. These works focus on the notable shifts that affect my life and my artistic practice. They observe vanity in the life of an artist as they examine internal questions of moral and ethical judgment.
10
11
GRACE HILLIARD-KOSHINSKY
LAUREN LOUISE DESERRES KELISCHEK
Grace Hilliard-Koshinsky holds a BFA in sculpture from Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus Ohio. While
Lauren Louise deSerres Kelischek grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She graduated from North Carolina School of
an MFA candidate in the Artisanry department, Grace’s work has ranged in size from jewelry scale to large sculptural
the Arts and attended East Carolina University where she received her BFA in sculpture. From there Kelischek moved
objects. Outside of the studio environment, Grace works from a public policy standpoint on issues pertaining to Foster
on to graduate studies at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she is earning her MFA in sculpture.
Care and Adoption. In addition to legislative research and testimony, Grace has presented at national conferences for
Upon graduation, Kelischek plans to live and work in Brasstown, North Carolina.
organizations such as the American Adoption Congress (AAC) and the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC). Grace moved east to pursue her MFA with the goal of finding the intersection between the world of art and
The installation, “What is Left at the Table, What is Brought to the Door,” is a theatrical representation of a dysfunctional
object making, and her desire to facilitate a direct social impact through policy reform.
family’s interactions. Out of recycled clothing and bedclothes -- materials that are at the same time comforting and sweet, oppressive and decayed -- I have created a large undulating table, a chandelier, four bulbous chairs, an entire
I am exploring the notion of “being kept” versus “being given away” as it relates to the world of the foster child.
set of crockery and victuals, the family dog, and as large costumes, the family members. The furniture and the staging
Through the ordinary, yet iconic, format of luggage -- which I restate, or recreate, in metal -- I pair respected “valuable”
bear witness to the condition of its human occupants, bringing into the open their stained deformities. The drama and
materials with “cheap,” easily discarded ones, such as cardboard and garbage bags. Through “tromple l’oeil,” I try
dynamics of the family can also come alive when actors are placed inside the costumes -- which are otherwise hung on
to alter our visual expectation of luggage in order to comment on the notion that the value assigned to materials is
hooks on the wall -- but the performance aspect of the work remains evident even when they are static.
directly tied to whether people or objects are kept or given away. In some instances, I recreate and exaggerate objects that would be considered rather odd “transitional objects”. In this way I intend to evoke a state of mind that oscillates somewhere between the past and the present, in order to depict visually what it’s like to experience doublethink. In her book, “Trauma and Recovery,” Judith Herman describes doublethink as, “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and accepting both of them”.
12
13
CHRISTIAN KOZAKI
LILIYA KRYS
Christian Kozaki began his career as a fashion designer and illustrator. After graduating from The Fashion Institute of
Liliya Krys was born in the Ukraine, and moved to the US in 1998. She completed her BS in Art Education, and her
Technology in New York with a B.F.A. in design and illustration in 1995, he moved to Paris, where he designed and
BA in painting, at Rhode Island College in Providence, Rhode Island in 2008. Her work has been featured throughout
illustrated for several fashion houses, including Givenchy, Madame Gres, and Chloe. Returning to New York after
New England, including at The Ames Mansion at Borderland Park in North Easton, the Fuller Craft Museum, and the
seven years, he designed under his own label and continued to illustrate professionally. His work as a designer has
Danforth Museum of Art.
appeared in several publications, including Time Magazine. Since moving to Cape Cod in 2004, and concentrating on his own work as an independent artist, Christian’s paintings, prints, and drawings have been in solo, group, and
In my recent paintings, the focus is on the darker side of human relationships, on discomfort, on fear, on stress. I seek
juried exhibitions throughout New England. Christian Kozaki teaches art and design at Bay State College in Boston,
to deepen my awareness of the ways in which people relate. On an intuitive level, I perceive an act of communication
Massachusetts, and at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island.
as shifts of light and dark. In my paintings, I depict how I perceive the dramatic moments in people’s relationships as large, light fields, with gray areas creating the different forms of communication. My paintings are created out of a
My recent work utilizes the integration of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and CAD (Computer Assisted
sense of necessity, but they also give me a strong sense of fulfillment.
Design). By layering the five mediums in various ways onto canvas, a hybrid work is produced. This hybrid enables me to simultaneously reveal and depict, hide and conceal. The process, and the work, serves as metaphors and analogies for censorship. My focus is on our shared cultural context, especially how we depict the erotic; that which is forbidden, that which is desired. The canvases are dialogs representing love and sexuality, and they describe my personal dreams, experiences, and relationships. In my work. I seek to demonstrate alternative options to dealing with archaic and outmoded stereotypes in order to push through past barriers built by organized religion, ignorance, and intolerance. In my work, the male form is expressed with freedom, exuberance, and an explosion of color and energy, and with complete freedom and abandon. In essence a no holds barred voyeurism.
14
15
AVERY LUCAS
CLAUDIA MASTROBUONO
Avery Lucas was born and raised on the ocean, on Cape Ann in Massachusetts. She graduated summa cum laude
Claudia Mastrobuono’s involvement with three-dimensional form began when she was young. Growing up in
with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Rhode Island College in 2009. While a graduate
Providence, Rhode Island, her father owned a jewelry factory, and she and her sister began working with him at an
student, Avery Lucas has been teaching metals and design undergraduate classes. She has also been working
early age, mastering the stamping, soldering, and polishing processes used in the design and creation of jewelry.
commercially as a bench jeweler in Providence, Rhode Island. Avery has been the recipient of a Woman’s Jewelers
Mastrobuono’s interest in metal work took her to the industrial-design program at Syracuse University in Syracuse,
Association scholarship, the Marion Hamlet Award, and she has won numerous International Precious Metals Institute
New York, where she studied form, function, ergonomics, materials, and processes, and also the philosophy and ethics
student design competitions.
of design. After leaving Syracuse, she moved to Boston and began working odd jobs, which led her to start a freelance upholstery design business called Jane of All Trades. During this time she accepted a teaching position in the fashion
My studio practice has become a push and pull of tool marks against copper, as I cultivate my relationship between
merchandising and marketing program at Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts. Mastrobuono began teaching
material and my own hands. Each piece I make is like a lover teaching me how to touch, respond, and pay attention. I
a class in home furnishings, and was soon asked to lead an introductory class on textiles and a handwork studio, which
am learning tenderness and strength through process. In this way, I hope to understand my own humanness by using
included knitting and embroidery. This experience encouraged her to apply to graduate school and pursue a profession
my work as a conduit into the self. The current body of work is an investigation of my own worries, fears, hopes, and
as a fine artist and teacher.
uncertainty. I see the visceral as being inherent in the emotional and physical state of being. By using the gestures of my hands and flesh to convey emotion, the skin of the metal becomes a reflection of my own body. I ask myself, what
By using the dynamics of emotional relationships as the basis for my work, I illustrate the coping mechanisms that
is this mass of meat that I am and how can I feel so deeply? My work catalogues my process of discovering what is
humans use to deal with their insecurities. The pairing of anthropomorphic clay forms with mixed-media support
within myself.
systems speaks to the vulnerability and desperation that can occur within the self.
16
17
JOHN MCGOWAN
PAULA ERENBERG MEDEIROS
Raised in the suburbs of Boston, John McGowan grew up obsessed with two things: drawing and Ninja Turtles. When
Paula Erenberg Medeiros was born in Manhattan in 1972. She grew up in the rural town of Krumville, New York. Paula
a career as a crime-fighting reptile proved unlikely, he attended Stonehill College where he discovered a passion for
received a BS in Textile Design from Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science in 1994, which included a semester
animation. This medium freed his characters from the confines of his notebooks and allowed them to live and move on
abroad at the Scottish College of Textiles in Galashiels Scotland. After graduating, Paula was hired at the University of
the screen. This development in his work sparked an unexpected journey to University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s
Massachusetts Dartmouth to teach and maintain the newly acquired textile computer aided design software and lab.
graduate program in Digital Media. After graduation, McGowan plans to pursue a career in the animation industry.
After working many years at the University, Paula is currently studying for her MFA so that she can continue to share her skill and knowledge of textile design with students.
Using digital media I combine animation with storytelling in order to create entertainment for children (and grown-up children alike). The short film included in the MFA exhibition is about a young sloth who dreams of flying, just like
I have visited the island of Vieques annually for most of my life. I am fascinated by its history and landscape, and
the tropical birds that live in his tree. Faced with adversity, the sloth must find the inner courage to chase his dream
curious about how industrialized farming has affected the culture and traditional farming practices of Vieques and
despite the heckling of naysayers. The story touches on subject matter such as friendship, bullying, and believing in
other Central American and Caribbean cultures. Vieques is a small island, four by twenty-one miles, off the southeast
yourself. It is ideal for children ages 5-9, but hopefully can be appreciated by viewers of any age.
coast of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. Vieques has an endless growing season, punctuated by the rainy season, which generally runs June to November. The shores are lined with both lava deposits and mangrove swamps, creating rich waters and lush vegetation, which serve as strong visual inspiration in my work. I’m drawn to repeating patterns occurring in nature and I am constantly snapping photos of foliage, flora, fruits and vegetables. My sensitivity to repeating pattern never stops, and I’m always absorbing new occurrences in nature. My work is close to life-size and is representational, as I am relaying visual experiences I have had in my life. It is intended to be recognizable to the viewer, providing the viewer with a sense of scale, density, color, and climate, to feel as if they themselves are living it.
18
19
SUNG PILL PARK
AMY UTHUS
Sung Park is an immigrant from the Republic of Korea, one of the most important fashion countries in Asia. After
Amy Uthus was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1983. She graduated from North Dakota State University in
graduating with an Associate Degree from the Division of Visual Production from the Dong-Ah Institute of Media and
2007 with a BA in Art and English. In 2008, she was a work-study student at Penland School of Crafts in North
Arts in Ansung in 2007, Park worked as an assistant director within the film and advertising industry.
Carolina for three months, where her days consisted mainly of washing dishes and making art. She loved it, and the experience led her to pursue her MFA in ceramics. While a graduate student at UMASS Dartmouth, Amy spent a
In my work, I am exploring ways to capture and create beauty. For me, beauty is what is desirable, what has a story
semester at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemét, Hungary, as an International Student Resident. After
in it, and what is endlessly changing. I use digital media to capture and modify images. The digital media presents
graduation, she will be Artist-in-Residence at Guldagergaard, an international ceramics research center in Denmark.
an almost unlimited amount of creative choices, and my work is constructed with motion images left intentionally dreamlike and vague. I believe that motion follows rhythms, that rhythm creates emotions, and that emotion is a
I believe we all have, to varying degrees, an inherent desire to connect to something else -- something intangible,
reflection of an audience’s gaze into images. The storyline is an important element of my work. Metamorphosis is a
indescribable, profound and infinite. Perhaps the most accurate way to state it would be our desire to connect to
series of four fashion films and the accompanying series of photographs. Each story is inspired by the myths of Arkane,
the numinous. I draw on my love for wide open landscapes and the beauty of light interacting with porcelain to
the Mermaid, Icarus, and the Minotaur. I find these myths especially relevant within the world of fashion photography.
create quiet, fragile works of art. This work aims to simultaneously provoke and provide sustenance for our deepest
Fashion photography is all about being desirable. These ancient myths show people’s subconscious desire of being
yearnings, allowing viewers to transcend, at least momentarily, their everyday troubles and worries.
changed into another form, another appearance.
20
21
ERIK WILHELMSEN Erik Wilhelmsen was born in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1982 and grew up in New Hampshire. After graduating with a BFA in ceramics from Maine College of Art in 2005, he worked as a production potter at Salmon Falls Pottery in New Hampshire and Chilmark Pottery on Martha’s Vineyard. He continued to work in clay at Cub Creek Foundation for the Arts in Appomattox, Virginia, before enrolling in the graduate program in Artisanry, pursuing a degree in ceramics. My work focuses on the relationship between objects, with careful attention toward craft and the examination of nature. I look to the natural world to give me insight into myself and to what I create. Specifically, I am interested in the deteriorating forces that occur in nature that imply change. In my work, I seek this in the dark spaces created through the proximity and depth of walls. In my recent works, I have been creating vessels out of ceramic, adobe, wood, and paper. Each material responds differently, and their individual characteristics can assist in furthering a dialogue between materials and objects.
22
UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY College of Visual and Performing Arts University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY College of Visual and Performing Arts University of Massachusetts Dartmouth