Artists end on high note with student thesis exhibit

As the spring semester comes to a close, four UNO art students bid adieu to their undergraduate careers with a thesis exhibition, showcasing their final works.The 2009 Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibit at the UNO Art Gallery opened April 10 with the usual wine, cheese and crackers spread featuring the works of seniors Ashley Rodriguez-Reed, Angela Drakeford, Ryan Carroll and Ramanda Fuelberth.

"I'm sad to graduate," Drakeford said.

Students put long hours into the thesis exhibit, a process that began during the spring semester before their senior year and culminates with the BFA show.

"People are always the most happy at student shows," Studio Art professor Russ Nordman said.

Nordman advised Carroll and Fuelberth through their thesis projects. He called the exhibit "a really supportive atmosphere" which celebrates the process of artistic expression.

Unlike past exhibits, however, this year's show was made entirely of installation art, or sculptured pieces that incorporates everyday materials with new media devices. For instance, Rodriguez-Reed hung patterned fabric sculptures from the ceiling, creating a layering effect whose context shifts depending on the viewer's place in the room.

Investigating "nature and its structure," Rodriguez-Reed said she crafted these sculptures to create the "dichotomy [which] exists when images resemble a viewer's distant vantage point while simultaneously feeling microscopic."

Carroll created an interactive piece through which the manipulation of knobs on a modified keyboard console, allows the viewer to modify Carroll's images.

In his artist's statement, Carroll likened his style to painting and wrote, "The work has a meditative property that becomes apparent after a short time when the details and movement begin to appear."

Fuelberth used multi-channel videos, projection and televisions to create the aptly-titled "Fruitless Search for Random Redemption."

The piece bombards the viewer with a mishmash of news snippets, weapons, commercials, static and an audio track of the "Nicene Creed."

Drakeford, on the other hand, created a text-based installation.

"I am fascinated with the lingering ability of words to resonate with us long after they have left our mouths," Drakeford said. "I have begun to wonder about what happens to these words after they are spoken and fill the space between two people."

Using 3-by-5 notecards and her mother's old Remington typewriter, Drakeford typed various sentences 100 times each, then stacked the cards in piles around the typewriter on a simple wooden table.

The sentences are direct and heartrending, like "I will stop looking for reasons to leave," and "I can stop wanting to die."

On the walls surrounding the piece, Drakeford used handmade paper and string to write very direct, very intimate sentences which the viewer can imagine being said between two lovers struggling to define their relationship.

"I was trying to give the language used in relationships a visual weight," Drakeford said.

Nordman said he was pleased with the exhibit's outcome.

"It's really good work," Nordman said. "I think it's probably the most cohesive BFA show since I've been here."

The BFA Thesis Exhibit is free and open to the public.

It will run through May 1 at the UNO Art Gallery, located at the northwest end of the Weber Fine Arts Building.

The gallery is open from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.