Eight graduating Master of Fine Arts students from the School of Art, Art History and Design will present their MFA Thesis Exhibitions April 3-21 in the Eisentrager•Howard Gallery in Richards Hall.
The first MFA Thesis Exhibition is April 3-7 and features the work of Larry Buller, Michael Villarreal and Rana Young. A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. April 7.
The second MFA Thesis Exhibition is April 10-14 and features the work of Louise Deroualle, Stuart Gair and Bryon Hartley. A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. April 14.
The third MFA Thesis Exhibition is April 17-21 and features the work of Emily Reason and Stephanie Wright. A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. April 21.
Gallery hours for the MFA Thesis Exhibitions are 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission to the gallery is free and open to the public.
Larry Buller’s exhibition is titled “Domestic Curiosities.” Buller creates ceramic objects that explore issues of sexual identity, the phallus and fetish objects. These highly ornamental and kitschy works masquerade as items that one might typically find in a domestic setting. However, upon closer inspection, the viewer will discover a more subversive intention.
In 2016, Buller’s work was exhibited as part of the national juried student show at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts annual convention in Kansas City. He has also shown work at Doane College in Crete, Metropolitan Community College in Omaha and Tugboat Gallery in Lincoln. A native of Nebraska, Buller earned his bachelor of fine arts and master in education from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He taught ceramics at the high school level before pursuing his master of fine arts.
Michael Villarreal’s exhibition is titled “Whitetail.” Villarreal was born in Austin, Texas, and raised in Lockhart, Texas. He received his bachelor of fine arts from Texas State University with an emphasis in painting. He has exhibited his work nationally at multiple commercial art galleries. He was recently awarded the Mayor’s Arts Award in Lincoln, which includes a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center in Nebraska City and a stipend. In the coming months, he is participating in a group exhibition at Nebraska Wesleyan and Tugboat Gallery in Lincoln and will have a solo exhibition in Lockhart, Texas, at Spellerberg Projects.
Rana Young’s exhibition is titled “The Rug’s Topography.” Through photography she investigates foundations of gender expression. She is interested in how normative values shape maturation and impact an individual’s gender performance and perception in adulthood. The photographs employ themes of tension, voyeurism and transition to represent interpretation of the self.
An Othmer Fellowship recipient, Young serves as an Installation Photographer for the Sheldon Museum of Art. She received her bachelor of fine arts in studio art from Portland State University. Recently, she was included in Detroit Center for Photography’s “New Directions Gallery,” awarded second place in the “2016 Lenscratch Student Prize” and was a recipient of Society for Photographic Education’s “2016 Innovations in Imaging Award.”
Louise Deroualle’s exhibition is titled “Substrato para devaneios.” She is interested in creating objects that can reach individuals in an emotional way through their formal qualities.
After receiving her bachelor of fine arts from the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in 2001, Deroualle became an apprentice to Brazilian ceramic artist Lucia Ramenzoni with whom she worked for the next seven years. In 2009, she opened her own ceramic studio in which she taught ceramics classes and designed and produced a line of handmade functional pottery. Since 2010, she has been involved with both the Curaumilla Art Center in Chile, and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen, Colorado, as a studio and teaching assistant.
Stuart Gair’s exhibition is titled “Object Landscape.” The functional vessels he makes are for use and display.
Gair received a history degree from Ohio University. Recently, he completed a residency program at Watershed Art Center as the Salad Days artist, which required him to make more than 500 plates for an annual fundraiser held in Newcastle, Maine. Gair examines a wide range of wares that have endured through time with a particular interest in how form follows function, silhouette and volume. All of the pieces that he creates are fired to cone eight in a soda kiln. His background in the study of history provides him with insight about his own work in reference to a larger historical context. This summer, Gair will attend the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, as a resident artist.
Bryon Hartley’s exhibition is titled “Pause.” He is a sculptor who works with glass, wood and metal.
Hartley grew up in central Illinois and currently maintains a residence and studio in Dawson, Illinois. He earned his bachelor of fine arts from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He has presented his work in countless group exhibitions and has several public art pieces on display across the country.
Emily Reason’s exhibition is titled “Ephemeral Permanence.” Reason sees beauty as inextricably linked to nature and spirituality.
Reason is a graduate fellow with the Center for Great Plains Studies. She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received her bachelor of fine arts from West Virginia University. Between her degrees, she completed two artist residencies, taught workshops, co-founded a gallery of fine craft in North Carolina, authored an instructional book on wheel-throwing pottery and operated her private ceramics studio. Reason uses clay to memorialize culture and poignant personal experiences.
Stephanie Wright’s exhibition title will be announced at the exhibit. The subjects of her prints are in performance for a human audience. Wright grew up in Louisiana and earned her bachelor of fine arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
