Kansas State University BFA students Patricia Adams, Zachary Droge, Alyssandra Gilbert, Garrett Heil, and Shannon Nicks are featured in the final of three BFA Thesis Exhibitions, opening December 12, 2011, in Mark A. Chapman Gallery
MANHATTAN —Kansas State University Department of Art will present the third and final BFA Thesis Exhibition for the fall season featuring Patricia Adams, Zachary Droge, Alyssandra Gilbert, Garrett Heil and Shannon Nicks. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from December 12 – 16, 2011 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 9am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, December 16th, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, in the gallery.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Raised in Pennsylvania, painter Patricia Adams credits her passion for painting to her inspirational high school art teacher. She took a detour from art for a few years – studying Business Management and raising her own family before returning to study painting at Kansas State University. Her love for landscape developed after her move to Kansas. It was then that, she says, “I began to see and feel the bond the people have with the land in Kansas.” Using the surface of natural birch panel and influences ranging from Edward Hopper to Lisa Grossman, a Kansas painter, she has developed her own approach to creating landscape work. She says, “Most recently my process has been to start my landscapes on location as representations in the traditional manner. I then develop them further by simplifying and abstracting elements.”
Sculptor Zachary Droge began using humor as a vehicle for his art in elementary school. He says, “I was working on making my friends laugh with my art more than working on craft. Looking back, my general concept of why I produce art has not really changed.” His interest in sculpture was reinforced in high school where he obtained the unusual opportunity to make sculptures in a welding shop. For his BFA thesis work, Droge has created his own kind of playground using airplane imagery, deployed parachutes, and child-like grotesque figures. He seeks a magical humorous quality in his work. He encourages, in his words, “the adult’s descent back into childish ways.”
The daughter and granddaughter of artists in Littleton, Colorado, printmaker Alyssandra Gilbert believes her choice to be an artist is genetic. This choice was reinforced with successes in art competitions in elementary and middle school. After exploiting her talents in soccer for a few years in high school, she discovered the transformative powers of printmaking while attending Kansas State University. Her BFA thesis work focuses on images of the human face using toner wash and aquatint techniques. These print techniques allow Gilbert to transcend simple representation and orchestrate an exciting dialog of faces emerging from within the ink on the paper surface. She says, “The faces, in my prints, are no longer defined by lines, but now float and weave on the paper.”
Raised in Olathe, Kansas, printmaker Garrett Heil likes creating with his hands –whether playing in the dirt or grounding a plate. He developed his passion for art in high school where he found friends who were also interested in art, got involved in art projects outside of classes, and began to win competitions. Line quality being a major interest for him, his discovery of printmaking was a revelation. He says, “Drawing through a thin rolled-on ground with an etching needle, I am able to create both a believable visual illusion and a highly structured form.” Inspired by medical oddity studies from real life victims of skeletal abnormality, Heil explores issues of diversity in his intaglio prints. He says, “The imagery in my prints depicts examples of people who are not, and don’t feel, the same on the inside. Like you and I, each one of these humans lives and will die in our world.”
Ceramics artist, Shannon Nicks considers working in clay a kind of therapy. She says, “Working with ceramics has always been medicinal to me, but it has never mattered much exactly what I was throwing or making until now.” Using her influences growing up in Turkey, her BFA thesis work is focused on researching and creating lidded jars. She uses many references of Turkish culture to develop her brightly decorated forms. The knob on the lid of a jar might reference the architecture of a mosque for example. She says, “The overall aesthetics is a tribute to this beautiful country and what a happy time this was in my life.”
The Mark A. Chapman Gallery on the first floor of Willard Hall opened in 2005. Cheryl Mellenthin and Mark Chapman funded a complete renovation of the former Willard Hall Gallery, increasing the exhibition space to over 1,400 square feet along with 400 square feet dedicated to exhibition preparation and kitchen facilities. The Department of Art hosts BFA and MFA student exhibitions in the gallery as part of graduation requirements each semester. The technology friendly gallery serves not only exhibition purposes, but also provides a location for an active Visiting Artist lecture program.
Funded in part by KSU SGA Fine Arts Fee