GENERAL FINE ART 2013

The Drawing Department at the Maryland Institute College of Art is

pleased to present the 2013 Senior Thesis Commencement Exhibition.

The advanced development of drawing as a “high art” form with

this exceptionally tight-knit group embraces a community spirit and

commitment to produce remarkable work. A tradition of new beginnings

started with the Intro to Drawing course, the students refined their

skills with an exploration of personal expression and ideas. The journey

continued throughout sophomore, junior and senior years and has been

a process of discovery through different approaches of what drawing

can mean for the individual. Drawing is a discipline that runs through

all of the contemporary arts and I look forward to seeing what you

will do with your talent and skills in the future. I know you are highly

motivated to be the best you can be. You possess all the tools you will

need for meaningful expression within the social context in which you

live and work. The world is yours’ to conquer!

Bye for now,

Rex R. Stevens

Chair, General Fine Arts and Drawing Departments

GFA2013

When we gathered in Falvey Hall on the first Monday of our weekly

Senior Thesis meetings in late August of 2012, graduation seemed

really far away.

Subsequently, after being assigned a studio in the newly renovated

Studio Center and meeting your core peer group, you ventured on

a creative journey that led up to your fantastic commencement

exhibition.

“Visiting Artists at Noon”- our Monday Lecture Series included

- David Brewster, Jonathan Brand, Dawn Clements, Sharon Core,

Beatrice Coron, Mark Dion, Matt Evans, Julie Evans, Denise

Green, Marc Leuthold, John O’Connor, Clifford Owens, Christopher

Stackhouse, Eric Staller, and Victoria Wyeth.

Dawn Clements was in residence for the year, serving as the

Reba Stewart - Genevieve MacMIllan Endowed Chair

“Kalter Evenings at the Kramer” allowed you a chance to mingle

informally and up close with our visitors.

Your final Thesis Defense and first semester Review Board

provided intense, focused discussions of your artwork by a three-

person faculty jury.

You created professional quality artist statements, resumes,

narrative biographies and business cards, and you attended

numerous professional workshops. Some of you applied to

graduate schools, internships, residencies, grants, galleries

and prepared for life beyond MICA. Many of you participated in

exhibitions on campus and in the greater community.

Mainly you spent many hours in your studio developing your art.

This year’s Senior Thesis Core Faculty included Njideka Akunyili,

Ellen Burchenal, Gail Deery, Marian Glebes, Margaret Murphy,

Christine Neill, Barry Nemett, Phyllis Plattner, Robert Salazar,

Christopher Stackhouse, Jonathan Thomas, and Howie Lee Weiss.

Erika Diehl, a Hoffberger Graduate Student, was our Program

Teaching Assistant.

Various artists also visited your core groups at the invitation of your

faculty, enabling you to meet and discuss your artwork with

professionals in the field.

What a year!

I wish all seniors the best of luck for a rich and fulfilling artistic life.

Howie Lee Weiss

Head of Senior Thesis

GFA PTG DRW PRT

FEATURED ARTISTS

nicole ackerman • 06

susana reyes alcalá • 08

katie atkinson • 10

CHRISTINE BERGERON • 12

deandre britton • 14

cheyenne adams-brown • 16

ryssa buckingham • 18

antonio calzada-charma • 20

michelle cepelak • 22

irem cetinor • 24

thomas clancy • 26

jessie delaplaine • 28

rachel dolor • 30

caitlin engels • 32

MARIAH ENNIS • 34

donna gabriel • 36

anna gulyavskaya • 38

evelyn hoffmann • 40

melanie james • 42

justine kablack • 44

soo min kim • 46

beau lajeunesse • 48

sophie landry • 50

angela lee • 52

louise lee • 54

mike maher • 56

devin martin • 58

erin mcknight • 60

molly mercer • 62

sydney miller • 64

deanna nash • 66

aaron pennington • 68

patti pogodzinski • 70

andy rader • 72

emily robertson • 74

stephanie shoap • 76

kyle sullivan • 78

eliana teran • 80

kristen vetter • 82

rebekah yohe • 84

zein rifai • 86

NIcolE AckERmAN

Apartment 31

Installation

These works are a series of process-based installations in which I

weave, wrap and unravel rope. I begin with found wooden objects

I intuitively collect, such as chairs, fences and wheels, functional

pieces that have been discarded. These objects present to me a

problem that I solve by the time-consuming process of weaving the

rope in and out and pulling it tight to create tension. The obsessive

compulsion to perform this physical act provides me with relief from

anxiety and inner tension. The end result is a transformation of the

works into places of rest and comfort.

Nest

Installation

07

“Virgen Guardada de los Pobres Baltimoreanos”

Printed on Arches Watercolor Hotpress

22” x 30”

photo credit: Anna Robbins

“Virgen Guardada de los Pobres Baltimoreanos”

Printed on Arches Watercolor Hotpress

22” x 30”

photo credit: Anna Robbins

SUSANA REyES AlcAlá

Este es el language de mis raices

heart racing

in revolutions

searching for my wizard father

buscándote

reincarnated

(becoming his mother)

a galaxy burst into tears

karmic rotations and recycled reverberations

pathways unwinding

once again

intuitive awareness (mis antepasados)

I have entered and blessed are we 

to find this key…

Lotus-King-Citadel looming in dawns shower

light held by God’s hands lifted upon the breeze

night breath through moonlight beams it seems

from here the vastness shakes us steadily

tectonic plates rubbing one onto the other…

…to eternal blossoming tulips!

Spiritual warrior--truth be shield

and reflector!

Mountain drunken from the divine,

a struggle and suffering

the cripple devout

light catching air

and earth

reuniting the techno jaguar shaman

to her celestial cave

“El Flow de Humbelinda”

Lithograph, Photo Positive Plate

22” x 30 “

09

kATIE ATkINSoN

My current work is about creating an object through process. I go into each piece not knowing what I want

my final product to be, it is something I figure out during the process of experimenting. I use materials like

acrylics, watercolors and matte medium on tables, glass and plexi-glass. By using these fluid materials I

am able to throw, brush and wipe away to manipulate and create the textures I desire, nothing is permanent.

Through this process I am constantly trying to control materials that do not want to be controlled. Once the

piece has dried it is peeled off of its surface and sculpted into an object. I have begun to see these objects

as my own personal landscapes that are made through serendipitous movements of material and my own

personal manipulation. I am fascinated with the little moments of textures that are found within each piece.

Decompose (detail)

Matte Medium and Acrylic Ink

24” x 12” x 4”

Blemish

Matte Medium and Acrylic Ink

6” x 4” x 2”

Wrinkled

Matte Medium and Acrylic Ink

4” x 4” x 2”

11

chRISTINE BERgERoN

Christine Bergeron’s work is heavily reliant on repetitive

mark making, to an almost obsessive level. Inspired by

the infinite variety of forms, textures and patterns that

appear in nature, her work explores the way in which these

elements interact to create new, implied and unexpected

relationships. Christine’s drawings range from works

on large paper to small wooden panels and are mostly

monochromatic. The environments in her drawings

are created entirely from repeating lines, each made in

response to the previous. Her work is a constant collection

of visual observation, a collaboration of memory and

meditative drawing woven together through exploration of

shape and line.

Bubble

Graphite on panel

12” x 12”

Waves

Graphite on panel

12” x 12”

Rings

Charcoal on paper

43.5” x 29.5”

13

DEANDRE BRITToN

This body of is comprised of found furniture

and fractured objects from the city streets

of Baltimore. The level of decay evident in

each object dictates the extent to which I

formally intervene to develop sculptures,

paintings, and hybridized three dimensional

works of art. Methodically exploring

degrading structures, bolstering support

mechanisms, and considering elements of

weight mass, volume, color, and texture of

an object drives the aesthetic reflection in

my studio practice.

Present in each object are vocabularies

derived from painting, sculpture, and

digital media that I have become familiar

with through the pluralistic study of

contemporary art. Working with the

detritus of a working class city, I am able

to reconcile and explore the contradictions

inherent in the class difference in the

associative properties of varying kinds of

urban industrial waste and material media

indexical to fine art.

Plinthe

Anime Resin Figure, Pallet, Bonded Wood, and Cement Blocks

62” x 48” x 18”

Plinthe

Anime Resin Figure, Pallet, Bonded Wood, and Cement Blocks

62” x 48” x 18”

15

chEyENNE ADAmS-BRowN

Please Remove Your Shoes is an interactive installation for children of

all ages. Using items that provoke childhood memories within myself,

cardboard forts, chalk drawings, tic-tac-toe, pillow fights, blanket tents,

shadow puppets, and ghost stories, I have created a magical world

for everyone, no matter how young or how old, to experience those

memories, make memories of their own, and to play and have a good

time.

“Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun.”

–Mignon McLaughlin.

Greatly inspired by the children that I have worked with for the last for

years at Bolton Hill Nursery School, I wanted to do something to give

back. With Love, The Kids, is a pop up shop full of hand made goods,

t-shirts, postcards, and pillows, inspired and directly influenced by the

children’s artwork of BHN. The proceeds from the project will go toward

a special project in the schools new building.

Please Remove Your Shoes

Installation

With Love, The Kids

(1 in a series of 5 card)

Pen and watercolor on water color paper

17

RySSA BUckINghAm

My work combines printmaking and drawing using Xeroxed images, graphite, gel medium, and ink. I use

an image-transfer method to print, layer, and arrange selected imagery mined from nature magazines,

home shopping catalogs, photography books, and the Internet. Utilizing primarily images of landscapes

and the natural world I create unique compositions and spaces through my toolbox of color, pattern,

hand-drawn detail, line, and elements of original imagery. This work is the balance between the push of

what is to be obstructed from view through abstraction and inundation of images and the pull of what is

to be seen in moments of legibility.

Greenness, Greenness

Gel medium, xerox, graphite, pastel, marker, ink on Rives BFK

20”x 26”

Stroke

Gel medium, xerox, graphite, marker on Rives BFK

22”x 30”

19

ANToNIo cAlzADA-chARmA

The fungi Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi), that are

endoparasoitoids, a parasite that lives inside a host. Once the insect

is dead, a cylindrical, branched, or complex structure of fungi sprouts

from within the insect growing until it is ready to release its spores its

spores to infect more insects. Strangely enough Cordyceps only attack

a species of insects that are becoming to large for their environment,

presenting the dichotomy of destruction and rebuilding.

Through abstract representation of the fungi and its host, my work is

about the relationship between two living creatures that exist as one,

yet one destroys the other. My concepts have come from a multitude of

experiences that have affected my life. My work communicates the idea

of the dichotomy between destruction versus rebuilding that is vague

so as to allow the viewer to add their own voice to the conversation.

Untitled

Graphite

9” x 14”

Damaged

Seel, concrete, paper

2’ 5” x 14” x 4’ 6”

21

mIchEllE cEpElAk

Wilderness of push and pulling

Me, down into the violence.

You tear into the open

Obsession with, DONE.

(A)void.

I Don’t Think You Understand

Mixed media collage

17” x 26”

IN/OUT

Collage

8.75” x 11.5”

Haze Revisited

Oil on plastic

32” x 48”

23

IREm cETINoR

How can painting be done in

our digital era? This question

informs my accidental and yet

purposeful experimental process.

Coming from a graphic design

background, I understand that

well-balanced visual elements

effectively communicate ideas.

Moving away from applied arts,

but still using design ideas, I

make work that incorporates

unconventional materials, found

objects, and digital processes. I

make paintings on flat surfaces,

within three-dimensional objects,

and create spatial compositions.

The work can be identified as

explorations between color and

form synthesizing painting and

sculpture.

#4

Acrylic paint, enamel, nail polish

40” x 50”

Untitled

Acrylic paint and digital media

22” x 50”

25

ThomAS clANcy

My artistic process is a means of heightening the experience of

the moment. I work representationally because it is a way for me

to analyze/experience reality objectively. By employing illusionistic

form and depth I create a first person experience, an intuitive

experience, bringing viewers into the present moment.

Various aspects of the psyche cause us, often necessarily, to recede

into our minds; to flee from the moment. I draw upon elements from

nature that are psychologically significant to me, like the ocean,

specific animals, and darkness, to talk symbolically about the internal

conflicts that swing us from intuitive experience to contemplative

reflection, and back.

The psychological implication and aesthetic beauty of these individual

drawn elements are felt intuitively but the cumulative intellectual and

emotional effect causes one to recede into thought. The compelling

imagery urges viewers to find a balance between the inner and outer

worlds.

“The Tern and Cormorant Roost Together”

Charcoal with painted wood frame

44” x 88”

“Double Self Portrait; Backwards and Forwards”

Charcoal on paper

62” x 44”

27

JESSIE DElAplAINE

My artworks are inspired by old English and Scottish ballads from the 16th through 18th centuries.

The ballads pair beautiful, haunting tunes with gruesome, and fantastic tales expressed in archaic

language. I am fascinated by this junction of story, song, and history and am motivated to embody

the missing visual component of the balladryís mix in my work. In doing so, my intent is to give

this music a palpable presence in modern life and through my exploration of each ballad create a

visual experience as immersive as the music itself.

Willie O Winesbury

Slate, clay.

14” x 18.5” x 5.5”

29

RAchEl DoloR

My work is based on summer family vacations to Beals Island, Maine.

Over the years I have collected many found objects off the beaches

near my Grandparents home on the Island. I have always had such a

connection to nature and cannot go outside without finding things I

feel a need to collect. With these pieces of jewelry I am exploring my

passion for nature and recalling memories that I have created over the

years. These jewelry pieces are made from sea sponges, sea glass,

stones, jeweler’s bronze and sterling silver.

31

cAITlIN ENgElS

This is my story, my world; both the death of something old

and the birth of something new.

It is no statement, but merely the sole tangible product of

what I’ve gone through.

It has allowed for self-discovery through repetitive,

meditative process - abstracting the human language.

For language only restricts. We must do and feel.

I’ve exposed my perseverance, my transcendence. Just a

glimpse of the story but not the whole.

The cutting away of the negative helps delve into moments

I had left in the past.

Each cut the product of an experience, leaving behind a

history of my world.

This? What else but an outlet to constructively focus my

thoughts?

This, at its core, led to a transformation of self.

This is me.

Silence the Mind ( Detail )

Hand Cut Paper

38” x 28”

Silence the Mind

Hand Cut Paper

38” x 28”

Silence the Mind

Hand Cut Paper

38” x 28”

33

Multi-Faceted

Cut Paper, Collage, Ink

30” x 40”

Multi-Faceted

Cut Paper, Collage, Ink

30” x 40”

mARIAh ENNIS

My work is that of the different facets of a person’s personality.

The main image is one of a person whose mind is always thinking.

Observing, seeing, and absorbing. They want to take these ideas

and run with them, to have fun and shout their thoughts off of

rooftops and to anyone who will listen. The colors and patterns

depict the different aspects of this shared personality. The

collaged paper floating into the head and projecting out of the

mouth depicts the ideas and thoughts being translated from the

person’s surroundings to words and actions. The other silhouettes

surrounding my main piece reiterate and support the larger

piece in both it’s visual composition on the wall, but also in it’s

conceptual standing.

Multi-Faceted ( Surrounding Silhouette )

Cut Paper, Collage, Ink

30” x 40” 35

DoNNA gABRIEl

As an artist, I have found that the process in it of itself is a fundamental

part in my work. This means that this physical progression tangibly

informs the audience as to where the work and ideas are heading,

as well as what is happening in the studio. Whether I produce 2D or

3D work, the goal is to arouse a sentiment or reaction and evoke a

sensation by using the figure as the main subject.

Quiet

Charcoal

30” x 44”

Embrace

Charcoal and ink on an empty eggshell

3” x 2”

Figure Spread

Charcoal and ink on an empty eggshell

3” x 2”

37

ANNA gUlyAvSkAyA

Facial expression, body language, symbols, and materials are variables

in my work that I use to tell stories. Each artwork is an individual tale

rather than a means to an end. I explore my identity and ideas through

portraiture, and create conversation by juxtaposing a subject against an

environment.

Chay Ray

India Ink & Graphite

38” x 52”

Cosmic Catnip

Acrylic, Graphite, & Gold Leaf

24” x 38”

Tetris Master

Spray Paint, Acrylic, Charcoal,

Gold Leaf

30” x 42”

39

EvElyN hoFFmANN

Descriptive qualities of a place or moment rely on the surroundings for

its significance. Once those characteristics are removed, the place or

object becomes solely a memory. The sculptures deal with resurfacing

distant moments, nostalgic shapes, texture, color, and meaningful

places that cease to exist. Through resourced materials that once

inhabited industrial and domestic spaces I am able to repurpose their

meaning. The discarded is allowed to rebirth itself becoming a vital and

crucial entity once again, allowing a unity of coexisting memories to

exist of the past and present.

Forget It

Found Objects

25” x 35” x 40”

Surrendering Baldwin

Painted Shutters

34” x 49” x 40”

Forget It

Found Objects

25” x 35” x 40”

Surrendering Baldwin

Painted Shutters

34” x 49” x 40”

41

mElANIE JAmES

I am creating delicate organic wearable sculptures that are inspired

by nature such as roots, flowers, leaves, trees and fungi. I use the

processed called nonwoven ground and machine embroidery to create

the surfaces. I want to produce spontaneous organic fluid objects that

are over powering the body, growing, and having a life of its own.

Untitled (Pendant)

Thread

7” x 12”

43

JUSTINE kABlAck

Utilizing the formal framework of

installation and display aesthetic,

while questioning functionality in art,

my use of industrial materials and

readymade objects invests narrative

potential and personal stakes in

formalism and ephemerality. I aim to

bridge the gap between commercial

display techniques ( the shop window

) and gallery presentation of objects

to be fetishized ( art installation.

) Marrying a compulsive studio

practice obsessed with arranging

objects and images while being

sensitive to aleatory occurrences, I

combine material of serviceable use (

construction materials, office supplies,

excess packaging material, etc ) with

decorative design distributions that

are both discreet and assertive.

Objects A-J

(in collaboration with Anna Queen)

Readymade objects

Flat White

Latex, painters tape, poly-pro rope,

pegboard

45

Cloudy Day

Ink, nail polish

7.5” x 12”

Soo mIN kIm

Patterns create their own atmosphere in different spaces.

It’s like they have their own language they use to communicate

with their surroundings.

Reflection

Oil Paint

4.5” x 6”

Walk

Ink, Nail Polish

6” x 8“

47

BEAU lAJEUNESSE

My current series of work has been inspired by

a series of handwritten letters, a vast range of

personal correspondences between loved ones and

close friends. Although I was originally interested

in the idea of correspondence itself, I soon realized

that there was an inherent energy transferred

between individuals when they interact on this level,

that my ideas were growing and being manipulated

by the seemingly subconscious dialog, and that

our memories were being preserved in pen and

ink. While attempting to capture this momentum in

painting a vibrant spectrum of colors resulted, and

a wide variety of mediums were used to seal their

opaque richness much like a letter in an envelope.

As the paintings developed further it became

apparent that they weren’t paintings anymore, but

a visual correspondence with myself, from which I

can learn, grow, and preserve my memories.

Nothing in Particular

Mixed Medium

5” x 7”

I’m Coming Home

Mixed Medium

10” x 10”

Correspondence

Mixed Medium

8.5” x 12”

49

SophIE lANDRy

I’m extremely interested in the preconceived notion that a viewer has

when approaching an artwork hanging on the wall- that it is static, solid

and, beyond the viewer’s process of comprehension, resolutely there.

By introducing motion-triggered events to my work, I plan to challenge

the viewer’s relationship to an artwork and assert the question of what

it becomes when there is no viewer present.

 

To further exaggerate this contrast, I’ve recently focused on motion-

activated beetles and insects as central motifs. What is known as a

scholarly exercise when delicately pinned in a shadowbox suddenly

shifts to become a living being, grotesque in its predicament, upon

viewer interaction. The shock of that discovery, an individual moment

for each viewer, is what I will strive to call attention to. 

Remembered

Graphite, beads (sewn) on paper

14” x 22”

Pinned I

Graphite, beads on wood panel

5.5” x 5.5”

Pinned II

Graphite, beads on wood panel

5.5” x 5.5”

51

ANgElA lEE

Influenced by childhood memories and my surrounding environment,

my artwork encompasses a blend of story telling and observations. I

like to explore different mediums, using found objects or old supplies

that I’ve never found a use for. I make both two-dimensional and three-

dimensional work, in the form of books, illustrations and soft sculpture.

I make these so people can read my mind.

Friends

Acrylic on leather panel

40” x 12”

Faces

Acrylic on wood

36” x 6”

Leaf

Cotton and thread on paper

4” x 6”

53

loUISE lEE

All beings, with a will to live, settle in an environment that protects and

shelters them from external dangers. As know-hows and information

started to accumulate, humankind started to create and reside in

stable homes that provided security for the family. As lifestyle started

to progress, the idea of architecture expanded and, ultimately, the

definition of “dwelling” started to evolve. Heavily influenced by

Heidegger’s philosophy on the definition of dwelling in his essay,

Building Dwelling Thinking (1971), I started to see it as an abstract

philosophy of a physical place rather than just architecture. It is not just

the physical structural design of the dwelling, but it is the relationship

it has with the inhabitant, the mood it creates within and between the

space and the occupant, and the significance and memory it creates

for the person. My abstract paintings of “dwellings” are inspired by a

recorded conversation with an individual about his or her own “dwelling”

while I paint a portrait carefully observing the dweller. The foundation of

the paintings is the portrait which is completed during my meeting with

the subject. The portrait and my visual interpretation of the described

environment both react with one another on the canvas to create the

complete depth, history, and life a dwelling embraces.

Dwelling Study #2

Mixed Media on Canvas

12” x 18”

55

mIkE mAhER

Something after

Charcoal, Digital Print, Butcher Paper, Newsprint

115”h x 156”w, 115”x185”, 115”x156”, 115”x185”

57

DEvIN mARTIN

My photography uses the process of data bending, the intentional

manipulation and damaging of digital images to replicate various glitch

effects.

My take on this process involves opening and editing my own digital

photos in programs meant for text or music editing, the results of

which are not always predictable. Alongside data bending, I go through

an elaborate process of digital collaging with found and manufactured

material to arrive at a final composition. I enjoy playing with the taboos

of digital art; embracing visible pixels, jpeg artifacts, and computer

malfunctions.

I use my photography to explore the facets of my own identity, be it

though exploring landscapes of personal significance, or self-portraits

of my exaggerated burlesque personalities. Along with reveling in the

joys of camp and personal fantasy, I aim to address issues of sexuality,

gender expression, and idolization with my self-portraiture.

Space Babe

Digital Photograph

35” x 30”

Killiney Hill

Digital Photograph

44” x 29”

59

ERIN mckNIghT

As a child, Britney Spears was my god and the mall was my church.

A decade or so later, I remain unable to ignore the siren call of

American popular culture, a sea of hyperstimulation predicated

upon the pursuit of happiness, a vast expanse of optimism where

having fun is the meaning of life. I realize that much of this is a

sham, perpetrated to convince us that we need to buy in in order

to be fulfilled. Such knowledge causes me a certain anxiety, as I

want so badly to believe. Ultimately, my work comes from this split

consciousness; I am at once worshipping and criticizing the subjects

that make their way into my paintings, striving concurrently for

objectivity. By recreating archetypal American images and ideals,

I can produce work that is anti-elitist, endlessly familiar, and

therefore comforting to the viewer—an affirmation of their own

experiences and preconceptions.

Blue Ribbon

Acrylic on canvas

62” x 48” Cats and Mouse and Sponge

Acrylic on canvas

60” x 48“

Cats and Mouse and Sponge

Acrylic on canvas

60” x 48“

molly mERcER

Posie is a collection of garments about exclusivity, comfort, and

intimacy. The line is a reflection on the way that communication shifts

within tight bonds of friendship and the varying degrees of intimacy

that exist within a small web of relationships. It is an exploration of the

secrets, jokes, and promises held by a group from the world, and from

one member of the group to another.

From an outsider’s view, flowers serve as an emblem of this quiet

communication, a visual expression of an otherwise hidden connection.

The use of floral motifs is a response to floriography, the language

of flowers, as a device for safe, personal, and in many ways secret,

communication.

Posie ( Detail )

Batik and Applique

Posie Posie

Posie

63

SyDNEy mIllER

As an avid collector, I am attracted to vibrant and oversaturated

materials that seem otherworldly. These can range from a broken piece

of mirror on the street to a shiny plastic toy. Each item in my collection,

regardless of how I recontextualize it, possesses a unique narrative.

          

 In my work I assemble collected artifacts into tableaus creating an

artificial environment. Recently I have been using small figurines and

digital photography to create and capture dioramas and present them to

the viewer in a two dimensional format. In this way I produce cinematic

inspired photographs that walk the line between real and man made.

Yellow Quicksand

Digital Photograph

28” x 43”

Frozen Purple

Digital Photograph

28” x 43”

Green Cement

Digital Photograph

43” x 28”

Frozen Purple

Digital Photograph

28” x 43”

Green Cement

Digital Photograph

43” x 28” 65

DEANNA NASh

“If you think you’ll drop, you’ll drop. If you’re afraid to catch, you don’t. If you’d like to juggle but think you

can’t, I’ll tell you right now you won’t. If you think you’ll fail, you’ve failed, because out in the world you’ll

find success begins with self-confidence. It’s all in your state of mind, but some folks lose their confidence

before a ball is thrown, and many a juggle quits the stage before their name is known. Think big and

practice, and grow! Think small, and you’ll fall behind. Think that you can, and you will! It’s all in your state

of mind. If you think you’re outclassed, you are. Through confidence and practice you rise. Life’s battles

don’t always go to the strongest or best looking man, but the person who wins the juggler’s crown is the

person who says “I Can”.”

– Professor Confidence

Cross Dressing Clown Kisser

Digital Video ( Still )

Cross Dressing Clown Kisser

Digital Video ( Still )

The Year I Tried to Become My Mother: the Latch Hook

Acrylic yarn and latch hook tool

4’ x 3.5’

67

AARoN pENNINgToN

Sourcing my own elementary school yearbooks, these drawings recall

strange memories of grade school; moments when childhood identity

collapsed under cultural institution. The children’s forced smiles

and empty gazes become symbols of their surrender to social norms.

Colorful masks sit flatly atop the charcoal portraits as emblems of

identity. By referencing a variety of face painting traditions, from

chinese opera to professional wrestling, the masks present culturally

collaged manifestations of self.

Remember What We Came For #1 and #2

Charcoal, acrylic, gold leaf, face paint, enamel, pastel on paper

81 x 67 in.

pATTI pogoDzINSkI

I have been recreating scenes from a selection

of my aunt and uncle’s wedding photographs.

The series of photographs were taken in the

1970s, Poland. Working with mostly watercolor,

gouache and pencil, I utilized bright vibrant

colors as codes and marks. The purpose in these

codes are to let the viewers understand the

scene and composition of the image immediately.

Interested in graphic and illustrative qualities,

most of my inspiration comes from illustrated

children’s books, movie posters and book covers;

all of which are also from 1970s, Poland.

Untitled Sketch

Watercolor, ink

9” x 13”

Metamorphosis (Series)

Watercolor, Ink, Gouache

17” x 11”

Metamorphosis (Series)

Watercolor, Ink, Gouache

17” x 11”

71

ANDy RADER

My personal motto has always been, ‘’make noise first, have fun

next, and ask questions later’. I see my audience as victims of

whatever spectacle I am showing. With bright acrylic paints and

flowing fabrics, my pieces show off and grab your attention. When

making work, I give into the distractions that flow around me, thus

making my work somewhat a stream of consciousness.

I often find myself working between two pieces. Part of my studio

practice involves holding a glue-stick and scissors to work on

my collages and then contorting fabric to make soft sculptures.

Embracing myself as a personified “gray area”, I try to make light

of worldly binaries such as good versus evil, masculine versus

feminine, soft versus hard, faith versus science, etc. I approach

my work non-traditionally in terms of medium and technique but

the issues I explore are universal.

Gaia

Magazine clippings on Bristol

8.5” x 11”

Assertion

Tulle, fabric flowers, poly-fill, feathers, string

1’ x 4.5” x 3’

Fauna

Magazine clippings on Bristol

8.5” x 11”

73

EmIly RoBERTSoN

Every creature on earth has a specific and elegant design, whether

you believe that this came to be by way of a higher power or by

nature. My work highlights this sense of design in animals that are

typically considered elegant as well as those that may be overlooked or

considered disturbing. Understanding the unique texture of the animal

or the flow of its fur is essential to my work. My art finds the beauty in

the grotesque aspects of nature.

Deer Jar

Colored pencil

42” x 24”

Windhounds

Colored pencil

40” x 30”

Chicken Heads

Colored pencil

28” x 40”

75

STEphANIE ShoAp

Negative emotions and fears are the subjects with which I use to

create my work using ink and ink wash to illustrate inner demons and

disturbing biological abstractions that are either personify or evoke

these emotions and fears. Most of these emotions are personal to me

and to my past, but I allow for a general sense of these shared emotions

to allow the viewer to relate to them in their own way as well. The

tedious line work I make using ink and the quill has a nervous energy

that creates movement and tension in the images to communicate the

emotions that are portrayed. The fascination of opposites, whether it

is human curiosity or pity, drives me to create these images that both

attract and disturb the viewer and also to hate and yet pity the tortured

demons that act out the emotions that inspire them.

Fear of Commitment

Ink and ink wash on Reeves BFK

19” x 21”

Agony, Despair, Frustration, Shame

Ink and ink wash on Reeves BFK

19” x 21”

Inner Turmoil

Ink and ink wash on Reeves BFK

19” x 21”

kylE SUllIvAN

The freeways that dominate the post-urban American

landscape captivate me. These structures embody a

mixture between mysterious abstraction and mundane

reality. The dynamic shapes that are made when light

hits the ramps, overpasses, and elevated slabs of

concrete hold a surprising union of the clearest sort of

abstract vigor of bare geometric forms. In my paintings,

I close in on sections of freeways to take away the

peripherals, which allows the edges of the canvas to

frame a void devoted to shifting planes of light and

shadow. The cropping creates a spare and minimalist

abstraction that retains only a slight reference to the

landscape. The interplay among the shifting planes

of light and shadow create enriching ambiguity

between flat geometric forms and recognizable three-

dimensional structures. My paintings strive to find both

the union between abstraction and representation, and

the union between the mundane and the spiritual. Expressway Overpass

Oil on paper

15” x 30”

79

ElIANA TERAN

I draw figures constantly. They almost fall

out of my fingertips when there is a pen

in my hand. Their bones are jutting out,

and their curves are ever expanding. They

are elongated and contorted, on display

but showing an element of shyness. They

collapse and stretch their bodies with the

same rhythm I feel my heart pangs. These

figures to me are like a mental outpour

or an abstracted diary. I produce them as

my thoughts patterns interchange ideas

of femininity, ancestry, and relationships;

intertwined and at times, contaminated

by pop culture. I am currently working

on these figures with a strong focus

using drawing, painting, and sculpture

as a means to better understand my own

thought patterns.

Untitled

Plastilina

Each figure approximately 14” in height

Untitled

Oil on Paper

29” x 21”

ElIANA TERAN

Untitled

Embroidered Thread and Ink on Paper

11” x 13”

81

kRISTEN vETTER

No society is without good or evil; it is an injustice to all people and cultures to believe so. From my own

observations as a traveler, I have discovered that moral concepts are abstract and individualized, that nothing

is simple and perspectives are subjective and unique.

My series of photographs, captured in an area synonymous with conflict, are full of contrasting elements:

beauty, devastation, and the mundane.

I document architecture and people within their environments. I then manipulate each image by hand with

drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture to emphasize aspects of growth, change, and transition. The

images that are created from this process emphasize empathy, and careful looking to offer clues to our

common ancestry, common daily practices, and common struggles.

Rational Thought

Color digital print on Rives paper,

oil paint, sandpaper, varnish 

52’’ x 34.5’’

Dynamical

Color Digital print on Rives paper, marker, pencil,

sandpaper, masking fluid, color pencil, watercolor

41’’ x 27.5’’

Come, sit with me

Black and White digital print on Rives paper, stained with tea and coffee,

20’’ x 14’’

Dynamical

Color Digital print on Rives paper, marker, pencil,

sandpaper, masking fluid, color pencil, watercolor

41’’ x 27.5’’

83

REBEkAh yohE

As a child the first photographic images I remember were of people evacuating from the civil war in Beirut,

Lebanon. The pictures embodied both allure and destruction. I still remember the tulips growing in my

bedroom window and long walks by the sea with my father. I also remember the helicopters flying over our

house, and the constant rhythm of machine gun fire. In this series I have tried to juxtapose beauty and decay

through the exploration of urban blight. In abandoned architectural structures I search for a softness of light

and color in spaces of modern ruin that would otherwise be forgotten. Untitled

Acrylic paint

16” x 20”

Madonna

Oil Paint

18” x 16” 85

zEIN RIFAI

As a child the first photographic images I remember

were of people evacuating from the civil war in Beirut,

Lebanon. The pictures embodied both allure and

destruction. I still remember the tulips growing in my

bedroom window and long walks by the sea with my

father. I also remember the helicopters flying over our

house, and the constant rhythm of machine gun fire.

In this series I have tried to juxtapose beauty and decay

through the exploration of urban blight. In abandoned

architectural structures I search for a softness of

light and color in spaces of modern ruin that would

otherwise be forgotten.

87

For more information on featured artists and programs of study please visit the General Fine Art home page at:http://www.mica.edu/gfa

Founded in 1826, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation. The College enrolls more than 2,000 undergraduate, graduate, andcontinuing studies students from 46 states and 53 countries in fine arts, design, electronic media, art education, liberal arts and professional studies degree and non-credit programs. Redefining art and design ed-ucation, MICA is pioneering interdisciplinary approaches to innovation, research, and community and social engagement. Alumni and program-ming reach around the globe, even as MICA remains a culturalcornerstone in the Baltimore/Washington region, hosting hundreds of exhibitions and events annually by students, faculty, and other estab-lished artists.

This publication was made possible with the assistance of the MICA Alumni Association.

gENERAl FINE ARTS DEpARTmENTMaryland Institute College of Art

1300 Mount Royal Ave.Baltimore, MD 21217Office: 410-225-2260

DESIGN BY RYAN ANTHONY WOLPERRYANWOLPER.COM

To purchase additional copies of this catalog, visit www.lulu.com and search “Ryan Wolper”