2015-2016 Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Student Exhibitions

MANHATTAN —Kansas State University Department of Art will present the fifth of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring season featuring Emma Donley, Lauren Kuykendall, Ursula Hagstrand, Madison Hoffman, and Chad Ostermann. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from May 9 through 14, 2016 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Monday evening, May 9, from 5:30 to 8:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Photographer, Emma Donley of Kansas City, Kansas, is currently working as an installation based artist by folding origami shapes out of her photographs. Emma has always been interested in nature, particularly the simplicity of its beauty and perfection and how it interacts with her life. Her photographs involve abstract, color field images of natural subjects that she then tries to relate back to the Fibonacci Series through the use of origami. “Intrigued by the Fibonacci sequence, I found that this series of numbers actually explains the way a lot of plants grow in nature…I wanted to find a way to make photography to represent these forms without necessarily taking direct pictures of them, and origami allowed me to do that.” Her installation utilizes Japanese rice paper with visible fibers, further making the connection between nature and her art.

Ursula Hagstrand is a sculptor from Topeka, Kansas who grew up surrounded by art. She has always been fascinated with metal and intrigued by abstract compositions. Her finely crafted sculptures utilize light and color to compliment her welded steel wall hangings. She said, “My work is a practice of creating control and tension through the application of formal aspects of design and an abstract composition.” She takes pride in the quality of her craft and enjoys the process of welding and the sense of control she creates.

Photographer and digital artist, Madison Hoffman grew up an only child in the Kansas City area. Her passion for helping people and bringing about positive change is the driving force behind all of the art work she creates. Her current piece addresses the toxicity of gender roles through an interactive video installation. The bathroom setting of the installation creates an environment of intimacy, while pushing the viewer to question his or her own identity.

Photographer, Lauren Kuykendall, an artist from small town Weskan, Kansas, always had a creative mind towards the world around her and had a desire to express her memories and experiences through her photography. By using human subject to interact with the different objects and space, she explores the sense of suspended time and memory. Different elements of the photo are more prominent than others, which can spark the idea of remembered experiences in the past, present and future.

Chad Ostermann is a Digital Media artist from Sylvan Grove, Kansas, whose work mashes a wide array of technologies meant to create an eye opening and emotional experience. He has always grown up around technology and has been fascinated with it since he was a child. His current works includes projection mapping on a physical sculpture with music and a narrative, which is supposed to shed light on the beauty of life. “I want to highlight the seemingly limitless potential of science and technology, and stir up emotions in an often emotionless society.”

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.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Funded in part by KSU SGA Fine Arts Fee

MANHATTAN —Kansas State University Department of Art will present the fourth of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring season featuring Brad Brackin, Nicole Conroy, Megan McKain, Ben Webb, and Lu Wu. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from May 2 through 6, 2016 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, May 2, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Brad Brackin is an artist born in California but grew up in Yorktown Virginia and later retired from active duty after twenty two years of service from the United States Army. After a brief encounter with an improvised explosive device (IED), a decision was made to return to school and become a painter. Earliest influences come from childhood where he drew from siblings, parents and friends trying to emulate from life. Recent paintings involve the use of elaborate colors in studies of the human figure - its imperfections and the beauty it brings to the surrounding space. God created us in his image, and images therefore are created onto canvas.

Drawing concentration, Nicole Conroy, from Topeka, Kansas creates charcoal drawings with a retractive process using erasers. She describes her artwork as being, “focused on the mental activity of consistently correcting, intensely looking, and the reworking of different marks. My end goal is not to create something beautiful but rather to struggle and grow through the process of creating and find beauty in that.” Her artwork reveals evidence of studying the human figure through the layering of values.

Megan McKain is a photographer from Osawatomie and Osborne, KS. Growing up in small towns gave her the chance to experience nature and life in a different way. She has always been interested in landscape and nature during to traveling but also interested in dreams and memories. Her photography captures what a landscape would look like in a dream or memory by using the blur that the Lensbaby creates. Megan wants the viewer to feel like they are part of the dream or memory when they look at the image.

Ben Webb is a new media videographer from Osborne, KS. Inspired by technology, music, and art while growing up he naturally acquired his style influenced by observation of music videos. His art practice consists of the manipulation of videography and photography integrated with a mixture of sounds and experimentation. Incorporating the concept of time travel merged with an aesthetic style of vintage surrealism, his gallery installation depicts a story about chasing a disposition with a paradoxical twist. Ultimately Webb strives to authenticate his narrative by steering it in an outlandish direction, consequently provoking the viewer with a sense of curiosity and humor to keep them intrigued. His goal is to subconsciously inspire the viewer to analyze the link between personal apprehension and intuition of the underlining message.

Metal and jewelry designer, Lu Wu, is from Hunan City, China. Her metals work involves detailed animal rings and whistles. She uses silver and brazen. When she was child some funny ideas influenced her work. Her works are very detailed, using handmade wax models, casting to silver or brazen. For the animal box, first she made the box, then the wax model animal part and casting. Her final stages of the project are to solder them together.

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

MANHATTAN —Kansas State University Department of Art will present the third of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring season featuring Tucker Claxton, McKayla Gonzalez, Marcantony Mohn, Emma Onyx Nassif, and Clarissa Werth. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from April 25 through 29, 2016 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, April 29, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Tucker Claxton is a ceramic artist from Lenexa, Kansas, whose work focuses on the fetishization of fast food. In a culture surrounded with advertisement where sexualization is a selling point, Claxton cannot help but to make these connections. His work uses brightly colored clay, slips, and glazes to replicate greasy burgers, sloppy condiments, and personal lubricants.

McKayla Gonzalez is a photographer born in Manhattan, Kansas, and from an early age she has always been interested in photography because of her mother. Having a parent who was always interested in photography, McKayla was inspired to find different ways to take photos with her mother. In her work, McKayla creates photographs that play with different lighting and materials on the body. She says, “By altering the body with various materials, you lose the identity of that individual and see what’s really important, the beautiful sculpture that is in fact our body”. Her photographs explore obscuring the human figure to make it look unrecognizable to prove of what our bodies are capable of regardless of race, gender, and other factors.

Marcantony Mohn, the expressionist, is an artist who works diligently to create thought-provoking pieces that speak to society. He spent hours as an adolescent drawing on the floor of his home in Kansas City, Missouri. Specializing in dry mediums such as charcoal, graphite, and pen allows him to freely express himself. Making adjustments was a part of everyday life as he grew up, moving from place to place. He refuses to be limited to certain mediums. Each line, tear, or brush stroke is a reflection of time, space, color, dimension, creativity, and life experiences. His figural works expose a creativity and investigation through a process revealing a mirage, utopia, or nightmare, depending on the point of reference.

Emma Onyx Nassif, a printmaker from Vermilian, South Dakota, spent time as a child developing a vast imaginary world through constant drawing. Her work focuses on this world and its inhabitants. She says, “The viewer encounters a mythic world where strange situations are accepted rather than questioned.” The work encourages immersion in this fantastical place through unique presentation.

Photographer, Clarissa Werth, started out in the art world when she joined a 4-H club. Volunteered her photography for many years throughout high school and community college. Her art work is meant to bring out different types of emotion that we do not see everyday. She says "I knew what I was going to do as a career when I picked up my first camera." Her prints reveal that not every picture is happy or cheerful.

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

MANHATTAN —Kansas State University Department of Art will present the second of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring season featuring Kathryn Haverkamp, Kristin Haverkamp, Josh Nolan, Abby Schleicher. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from April 18 through 22, 2016 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, April 22, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Painter, Kathryn Gloshen, a Kansas native, makes colorful paintings reflecting segments from her rural upbringing. To embellish her everyday life, she used imagination to recreate purpose of objects and places. The organization generated from shape and color in her work stems from a prerequisite for balance. Her paintings show exploration of space, coloration and the body of oil paint on canvas.

Photographer, Kristin Haverkamp, grew up in Bern, Kansas, a small farming town, where she always had a camera in her hands ready to capture any moment. Being from a small town and living in the country she got to experience the beauty of Kansas landscapes and see the world in a different way than most people. Her photography explores movement of the body and how the body can appear as landscapes. Kristin creates images that portray the human body as a landscape to make the viewer slow down and look at what is in front of them.

Drawing concentration, Josh Nolan, from Holton, Kansas, makes large, light drawing with figures in the process of moving. Finding solutions to problems by reworking them in different ways was important being an only child, as well as an important factor in his work. Working these surfaces like this give his figures implied movement. He says, "If I'm not happy with how something looks, I just draw it in correctly and leave a ghost image of what was there before." His drawings explore the idea of movement and memory of a figure alone in space.

Abby Schleicher is an artist from Lenexa, KS. She works with multiple medias including drawing and printmaking but is concentrating in painting. Abby enjoys observing people in her surroundings and capturing the way they move. She says, "Even when seemingly at rest the human figure is not static, constant motion is evident in the smallest muscular movements and changing facial expressions." Abby's paintings explore movement through lines, shapes and color.

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

MANHATTAN —Kansas State University Department of Art will present the first of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring season featuring Christopher Blazen, Devlin Caldwell, Madeline Middleton, Jessica Tucker. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from April 11 through 15, 2016 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, April 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Digital illustrator, Christopher Blazen, of Lenexa, KS, creates fictional environments through digitally painted layers in Photoshop. Constant sketching of futuristic images throughout his schooling inspired Chris to bring those images to life in a hyper-representational way. His pieces are meticulously rendered to create a selective focus on a subject in a landscape coupled with an element beyond the current era. The images Chris creates provide an imaginative insight into the concept of a realistic near-future world built upon humanity’s current innovations.

Painter, Madeline Middleton, grew up in a creative home in Prairie Village, Kansas. Her family traveled quite a bit and she grew up with a love for the lands they visited. Her paintings use landscape to depict space. She says, “the depth and atmosphere I am representing place both the viewer and myself in the illusionary space created by water media on panel.” Her paintings transport the viewer through washes on panel into these spaces that she and her family have been to.

Devlin Caldwell is an artist from Manhattan, KS. He primarily works in printmaking and digital media. He is finishing his second concentration in printmaking this semester. His print work is comprised of etchings and engravings that show the variety of insect life, as well as and example of the variety of print processes. This exhibition features prints that range from multi plate colored prints, to black and white etchings with meticulous hand coloring. In the future, he is interested in taking digital processes and merging them with traditional printmaking practices.

Jessica Tucker is a digital media artist from Chanute, Kansas. She works across several platforms of digital media to create art that is both interesting and engaging to the viewer. Her love for traveling and nature often influences her art, as seen in the content on display. Her piece is an interactive work that explores the relationship between man and nature, focusing on local areas around Kansas.

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

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the fifth of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the fall season featuring George Corey, Chad DeVore, Morgan Foitle, Elizabeth Griffin and Alexandra Olson. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from December 14 through 18, 2015 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Monday evening, December 14th, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

From Overland Park, Kansas, world traveler and painter George Corey grew up spending long hours by himself always able to practice art. He creates representations of nature as beauty. He uses color and a focus on light to pull his painting into reality.

Chad DeVore is a digital media artist raised from Andover, Kansas. Inspired by technology, science, and art; Chad naturally developed a strong affinity for the digital medium. He finds the subject matter of space and the cosmos imperative to the future of humanity, and capable of instilling emotions of humility and aspiration. He proclaims, "The project on display explores a feeling of calm enlightenment known as the "Overview Effect" in which astronauts report feeling after returning to earth." Aspiring to inspire others, he uses the digital medium to explore humanity's position in the universe.

Photographer, Morgan Foitle, of Overland Park, Kansas, creates figurative photographs for viewers to feel a sense of closeness and detail. Living in a fast paced world her whole life, these pieces help viewers slow down and appreciate the small things. Using the medium format Mamiya camera, it provides an organic way to view photographs and it shows detail no digital camera could show. She says, "As humans, we always seem to press the fast forward button in our everyday lives, so when people view my photographs, they are forced to press the slow motion button and appreciate." Her prints give the viewer no choice but be intimate with the models provided, and helps see what normally they would overlook.

Kansas born painter, Elizabeth Griffin has always been interested in nature. She uses her fascination and observations of the Midwest countryside to influence her paintings. She draws attention to the alluring aspects of the prairie. She says, "Overall, my work is a homage to the prairie and foliage that I've been exposed to throughout my life. The work on display focuses on exploring this subject matter as I find it's content blissful and serene." Her paintings rely on monochromatic colors and texture to establish depth and atmosphere.

Metalsmith and jewelry artist, Alexandra Olson, of Kansas City, Missouri, makes skeletal bird forms that narrate the emotional toll of death. Since the loss of a relative last year, her work has focused on the death of loved ones and the grief that follows their passing. Her intricately shaped skeletal jewelry involves coping with the harsh reality of death and finding hope through symbolic forms. The ridges of the spines in her skeletal pieces are complexly created to encourage a closer more thoughtful look at the meaning behind the curving forms.

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

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the fourth of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the fall season featuring Tiana Brooks, Jena Gray, Alexandra Klemovich, Tim Weiser, and Joshlynne Ziegler. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from December 7 through 11, 2015 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, December 11th, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

From Chapman, Kansas, Tiana Brooks is a digital artist who creates work that is dynamic, unique, and thought-provoking. Her work is influenced not by her own background, but rather her peers around her. With the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement, the initiative to combat police brutality, as well as battling racism in her community, she was influenced by the tenacity and strength of those who took to the streets to send a message to the world. She says, "The piece is meant to create emotional response and show the irony of the issues we face by combining clashing entities together into one piece of artwork. It is also meant to expose people to a reality they may have never experienced before."

Jena Gray is a mixed media artist from Hutchinson, Kansas who as a child liked to journal about plastic bags stuck in trees. Disheartened by the puzzling and contradictory world around her, Gray turned to her imagination to create a place with rules she could control. This world, her "psychic space," and her background in sewing and painting are what currently influence the imagery and processes in her work. She says, "Sometimes I get lost in my world of kangaroo-wiener-cats, tornados and satellites… and sometimes I paint ramen noodles. My inner and outer worlds are constantly colliding in ways that I don't expect and I like to indulge them both as they feed and grow from each other."

Alexandra Klemovich is a photographer from Lenexa, Kansas who has traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad. This, along with her grandfather's photography, has inspired her interest in the medium. She likes to pick subjects at random, inserting herself into their lives for a brief moment to capture their unique story. She says, "Their soul is there to see if you look closely."

The artist Tim Weiser was born a military brat in Massachusetts. Many of Tim's family members were artists or architects, making art an important part of his life. As he creates, Tim is aware of his place in the world and how he can be a positive force. Tim has always been influenced by the craftsman style. He says he is drawn to the rawness that shows in the hand of the artist. His current body of work is a study of appropriation, how we take from others and leave what does not work. While he primarily works in clay, he often utilizes other materials.

Digital and Experimental Media Artist, Joshlynne Ziegler, of Milford, Kansas, spent most of her childhood learning to draw from her older brother and drawing anime characters from her favorite series. Growing up with an interest in how animation and video games work, she taught herself how to use digital techniques to bring her pieces to life. Her animation uses figures typically found on bathroom doors to show how marriage has evolved throughout the centuries. She says, "I wish to examine the ever-changing world that we live in. We have evolved from forming partnerships for the sake of self-preservation to forming them for the sake of love and loyalty." Her work examines partnerships from different cultural practices throughout history. Using colors stereotypically associated with gender, she gives them life through animation.

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

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the third of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the fall season featuring Lisa Allen, Katharina Bossmann, Darlene Clark, Spencer Pellant, and Kendra Smith. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from November 30 through December 4, 2015 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, December 4th, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Lisa Allen is a ceramic artist from Manhattan, Kansas who creates playful environments using clay and recognizable objects. Youthful materials reminiscent of childhood crafts are building blocks and problem solving components resulting in an expression of her love of color and composition. She says, "Artistic exploration is a valuable way to process all sorts of ideas." Her playful works are indicative of her energetic approach to learning and creating.

Printmaker, Katharina Bossmann, was born in Oak Park, Il, but has spent many years living in Germany, where her family originated. Her time living in the "Schwarzwald" (Black Forest) in Germany has left an impression on her work with its colors and graphic quality and ultimately dealing with the questions of "roots" and "home". Her reduction woodcuts use transparent layers of color to evoke the images of the forest, all coming from one block of wood. She writes, "For me, these layers are abstracted and reminiscent of poetry – describing something that is in the shadows, barely there." Her prints investigate the emotions of color and size, and the imposing nature of forests.

Artist, Darlene Clark from Cheyenne, Wyoming, shares her talent in ceramics with functional vessels. This work comes from her childhood memories of being a granddaughter of a cook, and being a mother herself. She believes "functional vessels are useful, and the more useful they are - the more interaction they will have in everyday scenarios. I want people to touch my work, to experience their functions beyond just looking at the piece." Darlene also works in other various mediums, and wishes to inspire others with her experience.

Painter, Spencer Pellant from Overland Park, Kansas makes colorful paintings which are essentially places taken from his imagination and memory. He has always enjoyed the creative process, and the idea of building a new place – often drawing his dream house as a young boy. His colorful paintings combine his interest in shapes and angles, and he carefully paints in thin watery layers to bring the places to life on canvas. He says, "Painting and the creative process is so beautiful, you are in complete control, but the pleasant surprises the paint gives you is the best part!" His compositions reveal an appreciation for geometric shapes and imaginative places.

Photographer, Kendra Smith, of Topeka, Kansas makes images that reflect her interests of capturing people and places in her environment. In her work, Smith digitally weaves two images together to present two different spaces to the viewer. Her photographs make the viewer contemplate and question their own environment. Smith is interested in the viewer evaluating and connecting with her work on a personal level, and making the viewer consider her representation of the world versus theirs.

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

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the second of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the fall season featuring Lindsey Bender, Erin Killeen, Heather A. Laurence, and Caitlin Southwick. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from November 16 through 20, 2015 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, November 20th, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Painter Heather A. Laurence of Lansing, Kansas, spent most of her childhood tying things together. Connecting the objects in her world, worked as a mirror for connections in her mind. Her paintings and installation explore her imagination and the connections in her mind. "I want viewers to have the sensation of opening a door or turning a corner from light to dark or dark to light and discovering something new and exciting." Her paintings explore the labyrinth of her mind through string, light, positioning, color emphasis, and detail.

Lindsey Bender, a printmaker from Wichita, Kansas, has been working on large scale copper etchings (36" x 24") of the figure in dynamic poses. She uses color in subtle ways to change the mood of the prints and overlaps the figures to create interesting spatial relationships. Her prints inspire a feeling of movement and intimacy, and echo with the history of traditional portraiture.

Erin Killeen is an artist working in drawing from Olathe, KS. Growing up, her family exposed her to science, history, and art museums, and engaged in numerous outdoor activities. Through these experiences, Killeen's family instilled in her a passion for learning through exploration. This methodology plays a prominent role in her thesis work, wherein Killeen takes a scientific approach to creating. Her non-representational drawings are ultimately left to the audience to imaginatively explore and draw their own conclusions.

Caitlin Southwick is an artist with a concentration in drawing. Raised in Leawood, Kansas, Caitlin found her passion in art at an early age drawing from still life and later transforming her work into more abstract pieces. Caitlin had familial influences as both her aunt and grandmother also had artistic backgrounds. They would always have plenty of art related activities to work on and share. Caitlin's work has deviated from the very traditional realism of her family's artwork. She now spends more time on abstracting her work into various figures and landscapes. Her charcoal pieces are heavily loaded onto the paper to where her material is practically leeching off the page.

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

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the first of five BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the fall season featuring Devlin Caldwell, Rachel Carter, Mike Frost, Grant Haun, and Madison Hoffman. The artists will present an exhibition of their work from November 9 through 13, 2015 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. There will be a reception for the artists on Friday evening, November 13th, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the gallery.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Digital Media artist Devlin Caldwell is from Manhattan, KS. He works with machinery that combines traditional mark-making practices with experimental technology. His current work is an audio driven drawing robot that interacts with the environment within which it is installed. The exhibition features a drawing that is created from readings from three different religions in three different languages. He is interested in taking digital processes and merging them with traditional printmaking practices.

Painter, Rachel Carter, was born into a family of artists in Mission, Kansas. Capturing her family and friend's originality is one of the main goals of her paintings. Her exhibition is comprised of nine small portraits with energetic facial expressions. She says that, "An essential element of my work revolves around the idea that individuals are stronger together than they are apart." The paintings give the viewer a brief glimpse into the authentic personality of the individual portrayed.

Photographer, Madison Hoffman, grew up an only child in the Kansas City area. Her love and fascination of people led her to begin exploring portrait photography, which then influenced her to explore many other photographic avenues. Her current body of work is a representation of her personal experience with practicing yoga. Hoffman says, "Practicing yoga and creating art are linked together as therapeutic activities." Her photographic work is presented in a diptych format where the left image represents the external elements of practicing yoga and the right image represents the internal elements of the practice.

Printmaker Grant Haun was born in Texas, but has lived and created in the Flint Hills for over 30 years. The artist's frequent travels for concerts and nature, both above and below the water, influence themes of space and alien location in his work. In the same way improvisational music can lead a listener to experience the delightfully unexpected, the artist hopes to invoke the same emotions in the viewer. Grant's works are being represented by three etchings/drypoints on copper plate, and two large-scale relief woodcuts.

Photographer, Mike Frost, spends hours exploring things related to history while using a camera. Listening to the old timers' stories as a child sparked an interest that contained history with a personal connection. He photographs the remains of derelict limestone homesteads to capture a time in history that is losing its presence in a face-paced world. Using a Mamiya camera with black and white film, he is able to create images that create a conversation with the viewers. His prints reveal a time that we have moved on from.

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