Lincoln, Neb.—Nine graduating Master of Fine Arts students in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Art, Art History & Design will present their MFA Thesis Exhibitions in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery in Richards Hall beginning March 20.
The simultaneous solo shows will be on display in four rounds, with a new pairing of artists each week between March 20-April 21.
The final round runs April 17-21 and features the work of Maxwell Henderson (ceramics) and Penny Molesso (photography). Artist talks will take place on Friday, April 21 from 4-5 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15. A closing reception will be held on Friday, April 21 from 5-7 p.m. in the gallery.
In addition, Gretchen Larsen (sculpture and emerging media) will present her MFA Thesis Exhibition from April 7-21 at the Turbine Flats’ Resonator Gallery, 2124 Y St. in Lincoln.
General hours for the MFA Thesis Exhibitions are Monday–Friday, 12:30-4:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
The Eisentrager-Howard Gallery is located on the first floor of Richards Hall at Stadium Drive and T streets on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln city campus.
Please contact the School of Art, Art History & Design for more information at (402) 472-5522 or schoolaahd@unl.edu.
Follow the Gallery on social media via Instagram @eisentragerhoward or Facebook @EHArt Gallery to be informed of any gallery updates.
Below is more information about the artists and their exhibitions.
Andy Bissonnette | Silhouette
The work in “Silhouette” is an exploration of form, surface and function. These elements are intrinsically connected, and the most successful pots are able to balance all three in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and practical.
Originally from Minneapolis, Bissonnette is a potter and teacher currently pursuing his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His background in graphic design is evident in his work, which can be seen through the use of grid, hierarchy, form and repetition.
Asher Rey | Until Morning
“Until Morning” is an installation-based body of work that is rooted in fantasy through storytelling. It is focused on a narrative about processing trauma through the self at their various stages of recovery. This exhibition consists of paintings, sculptures, audio and videos reflecting a world built to regain authorship over unsettling memories that demand closure.
Rey is a queer and Cajun artist born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2019. Since 2019, Rey is focusing on earning their Master of Fine Arts by working through various disciplines in studio art.
Carlie Antes | bound by matter
Antes is an artist/craftsperson/designer living and working in rural Syracuse, Nebraska. Her work comprises an exploration of systems and the points at which they fail or thrive. Antes explores biological and ecological structures, along with human inventions and behavior. Wire, beads, wool, hair, and clay serve as metaphors for people, places, and emotions.
Objects derived from nature are occasionally introduced, speaking directly to systems created by the living world—contrasted by human invention. Antes utilizes an abundance of these varying entities as modules which are then assembled, layered, and woven together—resulting in complex networks that are interdependent upon the make-up of their distinct components.
Jamie Ho | magic mirrors
Ho’s exhibition “magic mirrors” engages with GIFs, photography, sound and installation to explore the long-term impact of assimilation through references of historical Chinese traditions and objects. Ho’s work reimagines connections to her ancestral roots and builds an alternate world where Chinese American femmes can exist outside of a patriarchal society and thrive.
Ho is an interdisciplinary artist from Fort Myers, Florida. Her art practice engages with photography, new media and installation to trouble history of display and public spectacle of Chinese-American femme bodies. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Mexico and is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Laura Cobb | am I another you?
In “am I another you?,” Cobb documents a personal search for meaning as she explores her identity as a donor-conceived person. Intimate portraits reveal her search for herself in her family, half siblings and biological father. Paired with the Platte River, water becomes a metaphor for birth and becoming.
Cobb is a photographer from Overland Park, Kansas. She is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Cobb has been an artist in residence at Ucross, Jentel and Brush Creek Foundations. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Courtney Kuehn | all I am, all I am not
Creating is Kuehn’s way of communicating her frustrations, anxieties and insecurities.
“I have always felt this severe indifference about myself that has forced an unhealthy view of my body,” she writes. “Drawing my body makes me view myself differently and forces me to really confront the innate and learned shameful view I have of myself both physically and mentally.”
Kuehn is from Kenesaw, Nebraska, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2019 from Concordia University in Nebraska.
Maxwell Henderson | qualia
Henderson’s work requires relentlessly questioning his identity, searching for answers by drawing from his emotional landscape. He is particularly drawn to ceramic materiality and its essence of natural phenomena, how glaze ebbs and flows to the whim of gravity. His vessels imply, yet resist, utility, suggesting his commitment to ceramic tradition and desire to transcend dogmatic conventions.
Henderson is from Tempe, Arizona. He is pursuing his Master of Fine Arts, teaching and is an artist who prioritizes ceramic materials. Though he has been working with clay for over a decade, he feels fraught with anxiety about unpromising prospects of an art career. But for some reason, here he is trying to do it.
Penny Molesso | SPIT BRIMMING WITH FUTURES
“SPIT BRIMMING WITH FUTURES” will feature an experimental ASMR short film and gross, little objects that whisper. The show explores embodiment, desire and cultivating queer joy in the midst of a political climate that aims to eradicate trans people.
Molesso is a transmedia artist and shapeshifter from Fayetteville, Arkansas. They use video and soundscapes to explore embodiment through visual and non-visual forms of trans representation, and the intersection of their identity as queer and disabled.
Gretchen Larsen | Why sweep the cinders. . .
Larsen’s thesis exhibition will be on display at the Turbine Flats’ Resonator Gallery from April 7-21. Larsen builds light installations and sculpture. Her work is an exploration of electronics, woodworking, digital fabrication methods, projection design and creative code. She designs and builds objects for public and private spaces in order to pursue her own questions about living.
“My creative practice allows me to gently build a life where I am in tune with its shape and its particular shade,” Larsen said.
Originally from Lincoln, Larsen teaches creative coding at the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts and is a doctoral candidate in Teaching and Learning with Innovative Technologies at UNL. She researches pedagogies for teaching technical material to artists and avidly nurtures students’ personal and critical involvement with creative media. She has led numerous experiences that aim to bring emerging technologies into everyday life.