Exhibit Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Art Galleries

HOME SWEET HOME by JENNY WEINREIS

Posted on February 1, 2018December 2, 2021

March 4 – 22, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, March 22, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Home Sweet Home is an interactive installation piece that brings together aspects of the past and present to interpret the future of human interaction and communication. Jenny Weinreis uses a variety of mediums, such as needlework, printing, found object, and sculpture to explore the fast-paced, evolving world while staying rooted in the generations that came before.

THE BATTLE WITHIN by MAXWELL PREUS

Posted on February 1, 2018December 2, 2021

FEBRUARY 19 – MARCH 1, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, March 1, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

The Battle Within is a series of painted and stained wood pallets that portray the artist’s experience with depression. By utilizing sequencing and both the floor and the wall for installation, the work evokes a tonal journey spanning congested darkness to something simpler and calm.

Bio

Maxwell Preus is a current senior at Augsburg University and is twenty-two years old. His senior exhibit delves into themes regarding mental illness and overcoming obstacles. He is interested in portraying the complexities of the human mind and spirit.

Statement

I enjoy sculpting large pieces in clay, typically beginning with a basic idea and then letting the pieces take on a life of their own. I allow the clay to have its freedom because sometimes things shift on you overnight or even break in the kiln. I expect these issues to happen so I don’t let the frustration build but rather try to create something special out of possible imperfections. Kind of like life. Things happen.

This past year I decided to explore another media. Much like the clay, I found an analogy to life in my wood pieces, specifically as to how they developed through my experience with depression. As I began creating projects using wood and paint, I found myself drawn to working with weightier pieces and the emerging images were rather dark. This seemed to coincide with how I was feeling. Upon returning from a semester in Spain, I felt a disturbing sense of hopelessness. Everything in my life was overwhelming. I even considered quitting school as each day was a struggle. Working with heavy materials proved to be centering for me and, figuratively speaking, I could escape what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders. It was through the creative process that I could peek through the blinders. Gradually the depression lifted and I felt like myself again.

I feel that I went through this difficult time so that I can empathize with those who suffer. I am lucky. I experienced a brief, yet intense, glimpse into the depths of despair that can haunt people for months, years, a lifetime, and I worked to portray this through my art.

images from exhibit

BEYOND THE EYES by HANI MIRE

Posted on February 1, 2018December 2, 2021

FEBRUARY 19 – MARCH 1, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, March 1, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Beyond The Eyes is a series of photographs documenting three uniquely different African-American women. Inspired by the strong women that surrounded her as she grew up and the cultural intersection of Somali-American, the artist explores the identities that we create and their perspectives on the world around them.

Bio

Hani Mire is a digital illustrator and photographer based in Minneapolis inspired her projects that focus on community. She is currently working on her Beyond the Eyes senior show. She is anticipating her BA in Studio Art from Augsburg University.

Statement

My inspiration comes from my own personal background,especially growing up around strong women and as well as being young a Somali-American who grew up at the intersection of two different cultural viewpoints. Growing up with polar opposite cultures, I’m always finding a way to balance these two different worlds. My identity is an important role that shaped me into who I am as a person today.

Throughout my work, I focus on documenting three uniquely African-American women. I go along on their journey, and I explore my subjects through the lens of a Somali-American woman with a series of portraits and smaller images of each person’s viewpoint. My first subject sees her surroundings, including possessions, to be the most important to her. She brings a glimmer of her artistic upbringing everywhere she calls home. She sees the world through a creative mindset which has always led her to be aware of the world. My second subject uses her makeup sets of foundations and brushes to bring joy into her life. She is motivated to find new ways to be creative but also keep her natural features intact. My third subject finds her faith to be the most important thing in her life. She balances a world of influence with always keeping in mind where she wants to head in life. These three individuals demonstrate not only identity but a statement of being.

I am motivated to continue capturing individuals with complex backgrounds within overlooked communities. I want to show the world not only what they are dealing with in cultures very different from their own but that they are mixing the best of both worlds to make an identity of their own. Each individual uses what they find important to shape their own reality to depict their own understanding of their identity. I’ve followed my three subjects on their journey of finding their own identity, and my goal for this project was to discover how our identity plays a role in our perspective of the world.

images from exhibit

CONNECTIONS by TY TOMCZAK

Posted on February 1, 2018December 2, 2021

february 5 – 15, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, Feb. 15, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Connections is a visual journey into a complex family of eight individuals. By using line work and mixed-media watercolor techniques, Tomczak invites the viewer to connect to the loving family dynamic through an adventure of self-analysis.

Bio

Ty Tomczak is a watercolor painter living in Minneapolis, Minnesota working to receive his BA in Studio Art at Augsburg University. He specializes in portraiture, sceneries, and linework to convey individuality through watercolor paintings.

Statement

My work utilizes the materials of watercolor and food coloring to demonstrate the importance of family bonds. This demonstrates that family is important and would like others to see its importance. I am representing my own family as paintings and cut silhouettes that encircle a mirror. The central mirror reaches out to the viewer by including them in my family and reminds them that who they are isn’t limited by their reflection. Silhouettes respond to humanity’s judgment on appearances and demonstrate that what’s on the outside isn’t what makes a person. I am appealing to what’s on the inside, underneath the surface, because I believe that everyone’s different.

My work aims to represent the whole of a family by breaking down its complexities into parts. This can be seen by my choice to have two sections in my exhibition: a simplified, individual side, and a grouped, less defined side. Its simplified side shows the beauty of how well family knows one another. Its complex side shows how the family works through life as a group. I would like others to understand that family is important to me through both sides of the spectrum and that it is positive to be a part of something.

For me, family has been an encouraging force driving me towards loving who I have become. Through this encouragement, I am drawn to study human identity. This study on human identity relates to my contemporaries by my close analysis to the differences in humans.

Images from exhibit

DENOUEMENT by DAVID BABOILA

Posted on February 1, 2018December 2, 2021

February 5 – 15, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, Feb. 15, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Denouement combines photography and installation to ask questions about the notions of home and our relationship to it. Baboila depicts change in the physical context of home, moving beyond the physical space into one of emotion as he as he explores and poses questions about our memories and experiences of home.

Bio

David Baboila is an artist based out of Saint Paul Minnesota. He primarily makes photographs exploring themes of transition and vacancy. His practice stems from his formal training at Augsburg University and artistic engagement within his community of artists.

Statement

Denouement refers to the point in a literary work where the chain of events come together and the end result of the plot is made clear. This body of work started as the result of my parents marriage ending and impending sale of my childhood home. As the floors were refinished, the furniture moved out, walls repainted, carpets reinstalled, and as sentimental objects were placed into storage, I began to examine my own relationship to the physicality of home as it relates to the memories of the past.

Static, void, and sometimes violent, my images explore the physical home and why it holds emotional significance. The longing for the comfort and familiarity of a home we had or always wanted can be found in the now exposed and deconstructed spaces these images depict. As I confront this experience through this installation, the images move from the context of an objective study to a subjective reflection on our personal memories as they relate to the home.

Denouement calls into question the relationship between the physical space of home and our own emotions, memories and experiences with it. Is our memory or history defined through our experience our objects and spaces? What is the nature of our connection between memory and emotions and these physical elements of home?

Images from Exhibit

CULTURAL IDENTITY by TOU XIONG

Posted on February 1, 2018October 11, 2021

JANUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, Feb. 1, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Cultural Roots is a series of digital portraits that explore the ways in which culture affects our upbringing and our everyday life.

Bio

Tou Xiong creates digital portraiture through the layering of photography, exposure of images, making photomontages and collaging photos. Xiong explores art through the lens of a first generation Hmong American, exploring both the Hmong culture and the American culture. Prominent themes of his works include self-identity through cultural exploration. Xiong is a Graphic Designer who will receive his BA at Augsburg University in 2018. He currently lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Statement

Cultural Identity is a series of digital portraits that explores the ways in which culture affects our upbringing and everyday life. Culture is everywhere, whether it is the language we use in our everyday life, the way we dress, the way we think and act, our religious belief, and many more. As a Hmong American, I represented a part of the Hmong culture along with six other individuals.

Adobe Photoshop is the tool used to manipulate these portraits. They consist of blending effects, photomontages, and collages. This method is used to express the characteristics of these people, showcasing different aspects of the Hmong culture. The connection digital art have with culture is a change of generation from traditional art to digital. How I relate this generation gap to the Hmong culture is the idea Hmong Americans have both agreements and disagreements with the current customs and traditions. Growing up as a Hmong American, there are morals and values we learned from the culture of American society which conflicts with some of the Hmong customs and traditions and vice versa.

My artwork is inspired by Marumiyan, a Japanese graphic artist, and Minjae Lee, a Korean artist. These artists work with portraits and incorporates nature into their portraits. Their style really intrigues me as I would recreate it with my current artstyle. All of these ties back to culture as culture is always changing. The influence of another person’s work changes one’s own work. I have experienced several forms of art which includes drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, and digital art. My style of artwork has changed throughout the years working with art, from traditional drawing to digital art. Change is necessary for one to learn and grow from throughout their journey of finding oneself.

Throughout my experience here at Augsburg University, I have discovered more about my own self-identity. I have grown interest in learning more about my own cultural background and why it is important to learn about one’s own culture. As people look around the gallery, I want people to think about their own cultural identity when they see my work.