UH Artists Taking Talents to DiverseWorks for MFA Thesis Exhibition

Student Works Showcased April 28 - May 12 at Noted Houston Art Space

Each spring, the University of Houston School of Art bids a fond farewell to graduating master of fine arts (MFA) students. Before these students embark on new creative journeys, they will share their latest works at the MFA Thesis Exhibition.

This year, the popular exhibition celebrates 34 years of providing the community with a look at new, provocative works of art.

The 2012 MFA Thesis Exhibition runs April 28 - May 12 at Houston's DiverseWorks Art Space (1117 E. Freeway). Admission is free.

"Our MFA students in general, and this class in particular, range widely across the different materials and approaches to contemporary art making," said Rex Koontz, director of UH's School of Art. "Diversity of approach and background are important to us. All of our students develop a sophisticated dialogue with the best of contemporary art during their stay here."

Traditionally, the MFA Thesis Exhibition is presented in UH's Blaffer Art Museum. As the museum undergoes an expansion and renovations, the city's noted art space DiverseWorks will host this year's event. Amy Powell, Blaffer curatorial fellow, is curating the exhibition.

Learn about the 11 artists showcasing their works at this year's exhibition and and see a preview of their work below.

~ Mike Emery

RELATED LINKS

• Houston Press: New Work, New Venue for UH MFA Thesis Show
• The Great God Pan is Dead blog: UH MFA Thesis Exhibition part 1: Comic Con!

Abi Semtner

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Born in 1982, Abi Semtner grew up close to the ocean in Corpus Christi, TX. Currently she is a 2012 Master of Fine Arts Candidate at the University of Houston, where she teaches Fundamentals of Drawing. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Texas. Never far from her birthplace, Abi’s current work is a meditative process of selecting and manipulating familiar and domestic materials.

Chuck Ivy

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Chuck Ivy is a multi-media artist completing his MFA in Interdisciplinary Practices and Emerging Forms at the University of Houston this spring. He received his BFA in Photography and Digital Media at UH in 2009. His work has been shown in Houston, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Danilo Bojic

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Born in Belgrade, Serbia, I am currently an MFA candidate in Graphic Communications at University of Houston. As a Serbian national studying in the United States, I utilize my diverse cultural and academic experience to channel my research and design practice. My primary goal in my work is to better understand how communication at different speeds affects human cognition.

Emily McGrew

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Emily McGrew is a 2012 Master of Fine Arts Candidate at the University of Houston where she currently teaches Fundamentals of Painting. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University in Saint Louis in 2007. Her work has been exhibited in group shows in Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland and Texas. Most recently, she received the “Rising Star” award at Artclectic in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lisa Garret

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I am an MFA in Graphic Communications candidate at the University of Houston where I also received my BFA in Graphic Communications. My professional practice currently examines the visual grammar of the urban landscape, and in particular, the semiotic relationship between the structural form of environmental signage and its message. Upon graduation this spring, I plan to teach graphic communications at the college level. My ongoing research will seek to map the urban landscape within the context of a community’s economic, political, and/or social constructs relative to both vernacular and commercial signage.

M’kina Tapscott

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I am a Houston native artist-educator whose work is informed by a desire to teach and create. My unique approach to art and my life experiences have molded my work. As a community based artist who also works in ceramics, my work juxtaposes and contrasts themes of identity and identification.

Natali Leduc

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Natali Leduc creates objects and situations as solutions to real and imaginary problems, with a fondness for contraptions and puppet shows that involve fire and real animals. Mostly impractical, her work alludes to needs or desires pertaining to the imaginary realm, where humor and absurdity start to make sense.

Rosine Kouamen

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Rosine Kouamen, was born in 1982 in Douala, Cameroon, West Africa. She immigrated to the United States at the age of 14 where I received my secondary. She earned BA at Washington and Lee University, a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute. She presently a MFA Candidate at the University of Houston, where lives and works in Houston, TX.

Sebastian Forray

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Sebastian Forray’s work has been included in exhibitions at The Joanna, Houston, TX; Lone Star Studios, San Antonio, TX; and Domy Books, Houston & Austin, TX. He has curated exhibitions at Domy, The Joanna, and Lawndale Art Center. Sebastian is a member of the Houston collective Sketch Klubb and Lawndale Art Center’s Programming Committee.

Ted Closson

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Ted Closson graduated from the University of Maine at Augusta's studio art program in 2009 before traveling to Houston for his graduate program. Since arriving, his work has focused on the potentials of visual narratives and most recently on their ability to create memetic paradigm shifts within culture. His current body of work consists of a graphic novel titled The Lorica (2010- present) and is a genre work couched in the language of detective and thriller fiction, which addresses cultural ideas of sexuality, isolation, religious guilt and violence against women through the actions of the main character, a gay police detective.