Art & Art History News - Spring 2021 BFA Thesis Exhibition

During the past year, masks have become a necessary accessory against the coronavirus. Essential for our protection against this unseen invader, masks have long held significance for various cultures throughout history. As an important part of ceremonies and rituals, masks are seen as a way to bridge the gap between the physical and spiritual world. The wearers are not disguised as spirits but rather become possessed by that spirit; they become a conduit through which the supernatural can operate within our world. Entranced, a wearer’s movements become the unconscious expression of something beyond our human understanding; free the conscious restrictions created by society. —More—

This body of work is titled A New Normal and is a collection of thoughts and anxieties relating to the last year. The disruption of normality due to the pandemic has fostered a drive toward physical isolation and emotional insulation. Responding to these changes, my works address fear, anxiety, and mortality through a collaboration of drawn memories and wax. The hardened wax displays evidence of “touch,” a controversial act amidst a pandemic. As the shift back to “normal” begins, A New Normal acts as a time capsule of a temporary, but inescapable, collective moment in our histories. —More—

My work explores themes such as my familial history, regional traditions, and personal experiences through forms of storytelling. By analyzing my own identity and what it means to be a woman within a predominantly Islamic setting I hope to uncover elements that are often stigmatized within my surroundings. I believe everything has meaning in it, I search through created symbols to understand why my surrounding sisters take the precautions they do and to retrace generational coping habits. —More—

In Oklahoma where I grew up, toward the end of my time residing there, my family lived in a house that was in the middle of nowhere. It sat atop a quarter mile long hill surrounded by 80 acres of wilderness. While I lived there, I encountered the native wildlife often in my day to day that existed in and surrounding that house and now live in my mind. My work serves as a sense of catharsis for me as I investigate my relationship with my past that has been closely and negatively intertwined with my mental health while I  finally begin to express what I’ve kept inside. —More—

My paintings serve as feminist adaptations of biblical stories set in the current year, emphasizing the power and influence the narratives still have in mainstream culture and politics in the United States. The paintings take scenes from the bible that villainize or oppress women, and bring the circumstances of the biblical text into modern times through the combination of commonplace contemporary settings and biblical symbolism. Through these images, I explore the harmful and oppressive underlying themes that the original bible passages allude to, such as villainizing women for indulging in pleasure or taking away their choices regarding their own bodies. —More—