Master of fine arts candidates from the Department of Art + Art History, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, present their thesis works at The Art Gallery, March 5—April 7. Each artist’s work is presented in a separate section of the gallery.
The Art Gallery will also host an opening reception with long-form, improvised, instrumental music by the Drowning Dreamers Band.
Exhibition Summaries
Kelly Ciurej (photography) presents Artificial Sweetener, an installation of digital prints.
This exhibition explores psychological “stickiness” and the misrepresentation of images as truth. The installation consists of approximately 15 photographs at larger than life scale, in a combination of found family photographs, recipes and staged performative studio photographs using sticky material such as sugars, food dyes, candies, pastries, processed foods, etc.
Hannah Day (printmaking) presents The Grove, an installation of prints and drawings.
These works in graphite and intaglio explore the uncertainty and perceived futility that consumes the life of the figure, a character explored through undefined narratives constructed primarily with repetitious imagery. A woman wearing a cage over her head like a helmet wanders the world of her subconscious, seemingly alone. At moments she is joined by a second figure, at others, she is isolated in a dense thicket of trees. A series of graphite drawings appear ghostly on the page, smooth and seamless impressions of unassuming portraits. In contrast, installations assembled of cut elements from line etchings are pieced together with the texture of a puzzle being put together with the wrong pieces.
Jan Dickey (painting) presents cover the earth, an installation of paintings.
The exhibition focuses on two forms of painting: covering wall panels and painting on canvas. This installation of panels and canvases can be considered in sections or as one single painting. In either case, they are fragments of the great Painthing that covers the earth.
Gallery hours and admission
- Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.—4 p.m.
- Sunday, 12–4 p.m.
- Closed Saturdays, Prince Kūhiō Day, March 27
- By appointment: Spring Break, March 28–31
Admission is free. Donations are appreciated. Parking fees may apply
For more information on the MFA artists and their statements visit the Art + Art History website.
