MFA Thesis Exhibitions open March 18
calendar icon05 Mar 2024
Lincoln, Neb.—Six 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 this spring beginning March 18.
The simultaneous solo shows will be on display in four different exhibitions. All events are free and open to the public.
• MFA Exhibition I runs March 18-22 in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery and features the work of Kim Tomlinson (printmaking) and Christy Aggens (painting). A closing reception will be held on Friday, 22 from 5-7 p.m. in the gallery. Aggens and Tomlinson will present artist talks beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 22 in Richards Hall Rm. 15.
• MFA Exhibition II runs April 1-5 in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery and includes the work of Casey Beck (ceramics). A 2nd year MFA exhibition will run simultaneously. Beck and Williams will present artist talks on Friday, April 5 beginning at 4 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15. Beck’s closing reception will be Friday, April 5 from 5-7 p.m. in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery.
• MFA Exhibition III runs April 15-19 in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery and features the work of Jewelya Coffey (painting and drawing) and Matthew Meyer (sculpture). Coffey and Meyer will present artist talks on April 19 at 4 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15. Their closing reception will be April 19 from 5-7 p.m. in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery.
• In addition, Christopher Williams (ceramics) will have his MFA Thesis Exhibition on display at the Lux Center for the Arts, 2601 N. 48th St., from March 19-April 5. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A closing reception will take place on Friday, April 5 from 5-8 p.m. at the Lux Center. In addition, Beck and Williams will present artist talks on April 5 beginning at 4 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15. There will also be a live performance at the Lux Center on Saturday, March 30 at 3 p.m. Williams will also present an additional gallery talk at the Lux Center on April 5 at 6:30 p.m.
General hours for the MFA Thesis Exhibitions in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery are Monday–Thursday, noon to 5 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 first four students exhibiting. Additional information will be released later on the remaining exhibitions.
Christy Aggens | In This Time and Place
“In This Time and Place” explores time through the lens of outdoor experience. The paintings, sound and video in the exhibition seek to remind that the world outside is always moving at its own pace.
Aggens is an artist who uses painting to expand the influence of nature on her life. She seeks out and spends time in relatively wild outdoor locations and, using a variety of media, creates two- and four-dimensional art based on her observations. Aggens lives and works in Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally from north suburban Chicago, she studied art and English at Cornell College (BA 1991) in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.
Casey Beck | permutations
Beck makes pottery not only out of a passion for his material, clay, and for the complex processes of wheel throwing and atmospheric firing, but also out of a passion for living with, using, and sharing handmade objects. For Beck, using pottery daily is an act of celebration. His philosophy of making pots comes in part from the particular history of utilitarian pottery that has developed over the last 60 years in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, where he went to school and his career began as a potter. More recently, the form language that he employs in his work has developed out of a study of historical pottery, glass, and metal vessels, along with architecture and his daily habits. His tight forms are contrasted with enigmatic surfaces that undulate around the surfaces of the vessels, speaking to a sense of timelessness and natural process.
Beck is a potter. His current research focuses on the process of soda firing, which utilizes sodium carbonate, and its volatilization inside the kiln at peak temperature to glaze his wares. After completion of his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2019, Beck spent two years living and working in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. During this time, he continued to make pottery and research soda firing, work in the sales gallery at Northern Clay Center (NCC), and taught classes. Beck has been a resident artist at the Cub Creek Foundation in Virginia and Faenza Art Ceramic Center in Italy, was awarded the 2020 Jerome Ceramic Artist Project Grant through NCC, was a 2023 Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist and has taught workshops internationally.
Kim Tomlinson | Is It Gonna Be Fun?
“Is It Gonna Be Fun?” uses printmaking and playful installation to explore themes of love and connection. Viewers are invited to interact with the work.
Tomlinson is a multidisciplinary artist working across printmaking, installation, playing, drawing, and writing. Her work follows a recipe of one part humor, one part formalism, and one part autobiography to facilitate connection and honor personal memories that feel significant. Originally from Fayetteville Arkansas, Tomlinson received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from the University of Arkansas in 2020.
Christopher Williams | or to be eaten alive
“or to be eaten alive” is a multimedia exhibition that uses fantasy and mythological ecology to communicate with a past self. Through an animated fantasy world, the exhibition introduces moments of adoration, death, growth, joy and failure. The title confronts the consuming feeling of choosing your destiny—can you run away forever, or will you be eaten alive? What are the consequences of desire? How do you belong? This work offers complicated answers through overly saturated ceramic objects, drawings, animated projection and sound installation.
Williams is a visual artist who earned their Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and finished a two-year Post-Baccalaureate at the University of Arkansas. Williams has spent time studying traditional fresco techniques and classical painting in Florence, Italy and spent time in residencies across the United States. They are a storyteller through colorful hand-built ceramics, drawing, installation, performance, video and hand-drawn animation.