MFA Group Exhibition @ Artspeak

 

Artspeak Gallery, located in the heart of Windsor’s Walkerville neighbourhood at 1942 Wyandotte St E, is pleased to present a group exhibition of works by current MFA candidates in the Visual Arts program at the University of Windsor. The exhibition runs from November 1-5, 2016, with a closing reception to be held on Friday, November 4 from 7-9pm.

The Gallery is open 1-5pm Tue – Fri, 1-7pm Wed, 12-5pm Sat

Featuring the work of:
Talysha Bujold-Abu, Adrienne Crossman, Sarah Kelly, Alex Curci, Katie Huckson, Justin Elliott, Shallen Chen, April Morris, and Anthony Saracino

 

About the Artists:
Talysha Bujold-Abu is a multifaceted artist, illustrator, and art educator. She holds an Honours BFA from McMaster University, and recently completed an artist residency at NZ Pacific Studios in New Zealand. Bujold-Abu’s practice is rooted in Afrocentric ideals; focusing on rejecting the constructs of race and stereotype in Western culture, while integrating the authentic perspective/experiences of a mixed-race woman. This lens is attempting to remedy the micro-aggressions and racism associated with an ‘unknown’ identity, racial ambiguity, and concepts of belonging. Talysha is a first year MFA candidate in the Visual Arts program at the University of Windsor.

Adrienne Crossman holds a BFA in Integrated Media and a Minor in Digital and Media Studies from OCAD University. She has completed residencies in Syracuse, New York, Montréal, the University of Windsor, and Artscape Gibraltar Point on the Toronto Islands. In the pursuit of creating a queer aesthetic, Crossman's work is concerned with the exploration of non-normative and non-binary objects and spaces, while attempting to locate queer sensibilities in the everyday.

Sarah Kelly is a musician and visual artist in her second year of the MFA Film and Media program at the University of Windsor. She creates videos of 3D rendered worlds, which are typically inhabited by various versions of herself, and serve as a setting to her electronic music. Kelly's research deals with themes of queerness and utopia, exploring the ways in which this can be manifested through digital forms.

Alex Curci received his BFA from York University where he majored in Visual Arts. He currently resides in the Windsor Region where he is pursuing his MFA at the University of Windsor. While continuing to explore his studio practice, his work includes sculpture, installation and digital based components. His interest and investigations into technology has driven his research into exploring the extensive depths of computational systems along with the accumulation of data and information. His work examines the wired infrastructure needed to support our mobile devices and communications, bringing recognition to the vast network of systems that are constantly at play.

Katie Huckson is an interdisciplinary artist working with video and performance to explore her own experiences/frustrations with eating disorders and their clinical treatment. Huckson is interested in the power dynamic between doctors and patients, which may serve to inhibit the presumed objective of health ‘care’. She explores these ideas through performances informed by her own clinical experiences and through research on these disorders from clinical, philosophical, feminist, and other disciplinary positions on the topic of eating disorders. Huckson tends to work with very personal material in a way that exposes the collective components of individual human experiences. Though her work is cathartic, she is also equally motivated by a desire to better understand.

Justin Elliott is a visual artist and musician from Windsor Ontario. Currently in his 2nd year in the MFA Visual Arts program, Justin explores the relationship of nostalgia and temporality within a local band environment. Using photography, he captures objects, relationships, moments, and spaces that nurture this lifestyle. His personal connection to the band scene allows his work to unveil emotional bonds musicians have to their time spent in this realm.

Shallen Chen is a Chinese artist working towards her MFA in Visual Arts at the University of Windsor. Her works include photography, video installation and interactivity with a focus on cultural ambivalence that resonant with people who share Chinese cultural background and now living in Canada. Shallen Chen emphasizes the perspective of seeing a hybridized society by digging into her own personal history, and calling attention to the emotional struggle that newcomers may experience within a transcultural setting.

April Morris holds a BFA and a Bachelor’s of Education from the University of Windsor. Within her artistic practice she utilizes diverse materials, involving the layering of paint, pencil, charcoal, and found natural objects. April’s process of collecting objects from the natural environment assists her in creating a combination of realistic and abstract representations. Her work plays with symbolic elements of space, form and colour, with the intention to observe and explore natural environments, and discover human connections to the natural processes that occur in our everyday world. Expressionism, naturalism, and formalism are resources she has used to understand the work she makes and the role she wishes to play as an artist.

Anthony Saracino is a visual artist from Welland, Ontario. Saracino has an Honour’s Bachelor of Fine Arts from Brock University, has completed two separate residencies at the Toronto School of Arts, and is a current candidate of a Masters of Fine Art from The University of Windsor.