The Glassell Gallery is currently hosting exhibitions for graduate students studying fine arts, a culmination of their work and expertise built through the program.
The works of Sarah Miller, a ceramics student, and Mia Pons, a printmaking student, are on display from April 6 to April 11.
These two students, like others in the program, have spent the last three years building up to this moment. Starting out as teacher’s assistants and then becoming instructors themselves, they have worked to cultivate their skills and build up to their capstone theses.
“They’re working independently with faculty, doing thesis research, which is fundamentally not that different from a PhD. dissertation, except that it’s got a practice component,” said Rod Parker, a professor and director of the School of Art. “So the work itself that they produce is the substantial body of work rather than it just being an intellectual, theoretical thing.”
From this culmination comes the exhibitions, with the students defending their theses in the gallery itself. Here, they must stand in front of a board of professors and experts and argue why their thesis is substantial and degree-earning.
Both Miller and Pons’ exhibitions are personal to their experiences, turning their lives and memories into a story for viewers to consume.
Miller’s exhibition, “to be closer,” is a collection of ceramic and photographic art, focusing on the connection between people and internally with oneself.
“‘To be closer’ is an exploration of the intersection of yearning and unease,” Miller said. “The series of sculptures, prints and functional vessels use the visual language of the body and its thresholds to explore how each of us build interpersonal relationships and understandings of self.”
Her ceramic art ranges in size, with some pieces as large as a full-scale body. Each symbolizes a component of connection.
“I’ve been doing work for a while around the innate human need for connection,” Miller said. “I find it hard to make friends. It can be difficult being vulnerable with another person, to push past your own uncomfortableness to be able to make those really meaningful connections.”
Those who have similar experiences can connect with these pieces, bringing people with shared emotions and memories together.
Pons’ exhibition, “this body held others,” is a collection of art that reflects her life thus far, with a focus on the storage of memories in the body.
“The exhibition ‘this body held others’ examines the body’s invisible depths, the unseen, and its interpersonal memories,” Pons said. “These ideas are explored through printmaking, book arts and papermaking. I am interested in how these mediums connect and respond to the materiality and nature of the body.”
For Pons, her main motivation is the ability to tell a story through her work. It drives her decisions, leading to pieces that are personal to her experiences and all connect to the way the body stores these stories.
“I have always felt an embodied weight — emotions and experiences — connected to me but not belonging solely to me,” Pons said. “The body stores memories, revealing them through physical and emotional responses. I use my practice to process my feelings and explore how others’ experiences have been carried through the body.”
With such a personal collection of pieces on display, Pons’ thesis project reflects the hard work and dedication she has put into getting this degree.
“It’s really satisfying to have it all up and finished to share, but it’s also emotional and scary to share yourself like this,” Pons said.
For both Pons and Miller, the help of their peers made their exhibitions possible. Each of the artists worked alongside their cohort members and professors using the resources of the program to get to the finish line.
“When you work that big, you have to ask for help,” Miller said. “I can’t lift most of my work on my own. It’s difficult to get in and out of kilns and to get it to and from the gallery.”
For the staff of the Glassell Gallery, Master’s of fine arts candidate exhibitions are a time of excitement. Director of Galleries Courtney Taylor has followed these students through their growth, making this final showing a fulfilling event.
“It’s an exciting time,” Taylor said. “It’s chaotic but it’s really fun. Since I’ve been in this role, this is the first group of students that I’ve gotten to see from the first year they come in all the way through. So, I love being close with them and working with them in other ways, leading up to this point, because I’ll be involved in grad walk.”
Those looking to support the artists can attend the final reception on April 11 from 6-8 p.m. before the exhibition is closed.
For anyone who would like to view the shows of Pons and Miller or other graduating students, you can visit the Glassell Gallery website for hours of operations and the event calendar.
The following showings will be Serena Corson’s “Touching Grass: Reimagining the Commons” from April 18 to 25, Nicholas Roberts’ “Within These Walls” from May 2 to 16 and Jacob Mills’ “AEX26: Arts & Electronics Expo,” also from May 2 to 16.
