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2021-2022 Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Student Exhibitions

2021-2022 Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Student Exhibitions

Spring 2022

May 9-13, 2022

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the fourth of four BFA Thesis
Exhibitions of the spring semester featuring Andrew Heiman, Lexi Coffel, Marion Farnet and Zoe Abner. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from May 9, 2022, through May 13, 2022, in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, May 13, 2022, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Zoe Abner is a ceramicist and graphic designer currently based in Manhattan, Kansas. Her current ceramic work focuses on growth and self-reflection using a variety of methods including hand built and ceramic 3D printed work. She seeks to combine her interests in art, music, theater, and dance. “I have found that I cannot limit myself to just one type of art because each is inspired by the last and will go on to inspire the future.”

Alexis Coffel is a printmaker from Mound City, Kansas. She uses her works to tell stories. She uses her carvings to depict narratives that are personal to herself and ones that viewers can relate to. She says, “My latest series of prints are about my struggle with mental health and show the pain in a physical way”. Her prints are carved into blocks and printed to reveal their stories.

Printmaker and Graphic Designer Marion Farnet from Lenexa, Kansas, uses her work as means to express her faith. Marion spends hours mezzotinting copper plates and burnishing the faces of those in her life who have passed in a way that is soft and hidden, but definitely apparent. She focuses her woodcut reliefs on the grotesque parts of the bible steering away from the classical idea of beauty. She wrote, “Love is your willingness to lay your life down for your friends. This love is often covered in pain, sweat, and blood, but it is still beautiful.” Marion is not normally meticulous, but in her artwork, she takes her time to pay homage to the things that have impacted her most in life.

Andrew Christian Heiman is a multimedia artist born and raised in Kansas City. Since he was a child Andrew has loved expressing himself through illustration, painting, and experimentation with digital technology. According to Andrew, his latest series will, “capture the essence, beauty and stories of different people in life that cannot be expressed through language.” His latest series will consist of a colorful array of copper etchings and screen-prints.

The Mark A. Chapman Gallery on the first floor of Willard Hall, across from the art office, 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.

May 2-6, 2022

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the third of four BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring semester featuring Jordan Hill, Neely Joyce, Desiree Powell, and Zelie Thompson. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from May 2 through 6, 2022 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, May 6, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Jordan Hill is a printmaker from Saint Joseph Missouri who primarily specializes in creating
black and white intaglio etchings on copper plates. The imagery in his work involves
claustrophobic, intimate compositions with strange creatures that inspires a sense of isolation and unease while retaining an element of levity. He says that, with his work, “I want to capture my own experience with what a wandering mind conjures from the dark.” The deep aquatint from acid etching into the plates creates a strong contrast with deep blacks and bright white highlights, contributing to a sense of mystery around what you can and can’t see in the composition.

Painter Neely Joyce of Manhattan, Kansas makes colorful large scale oil paintings. Her work involves imagery that combines both geometric and organic forms in a visual journal. She says, “every painting represents a snippet of my personal experience with growing up, aging, and the changing that occurs during adolescence”. Her paintings reveal an investigation of the self and invite the viewer to look deeper to explore the hidden pockets of space that can be found within.

Metalsmithing and jewelry maker Desiree Powell of Ottawa, Kansas makes organic and
technological sculptures as well as rings of different environmental conditions. She says "These
pieces are meant to contemplate the ways that humans have influenced and changed the
environment around them." Viewing these pieces may make you reconsider your everyday
choices.

Photographer Zelie Thompson of Houston, Texas, creates work that explores familial connections and the evolution of humanity’s relationship with our environment in the body of work Far Away, But Not Forgotten. Her work is influenced by her familial ties to Kansas, the Farm Security Administrations 1930s documentary project featuring the work of Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Gordon Parks, and the work of Sally Mann. She says, “This series has given me a sense of fulfillment by allowing me to discover more about my ancestral ties to Kansas through my photographic journey and allow viewers to learn more about how a smaller farm has been able to survive in a time when everything seems increasingly corporate”.

The Mark A. Chapman Gallery on the first floor of Willard Hall, across from the art office,
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.

April 25-29, 2022

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the second of four BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring semester featuring Lindsay Ebach, Gabrielle Perdomo, Adam Schrader, Chris Watson, and Julian Williams. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from April 25 through April 29 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, April 29th, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Lindsay Ebach of Wichita, Kansas, creates drawings using mixed media, and collage techniques. The works shown are a series about queer visibility, and the experiences she has faced personally while planning a wedding in a same-sex relationship. The bright colors and esthetically pleasing imagery is a stark contrast to the text panels, which are separated by a torn sheet of paper to represent the rough experiences she has faced.

Drawing and multimedia artist Gabrielle Perdomo is from Kansas City, Missouri. She is a student for fine arts emphasizing in drawing at Kansas State University and will graduate in the spring of 2022, continuing as a graduate student for the landscape architecture planning and design program at KSU. The images she creates are reminiscent of perspective on the contemporary American dream, she is wants to reflect on her ideas and thoughts to create order for those drawn to the loudness while still observant of organic intertwining and contrasting subjects which unlock Gabrielle’s subjecthood. “Sourcing my mood boards from collages I am often pulling material representing a western mood, which through iteration I am ultimately finding elements that intersect and have a relationship with popular culture”

Ceramicist Adam Schrader of Perry, Kansas, makes hand-built ceramic pieces with colorful glazes. His finely crafted pieces involve the idea of adding, subtracting pushing into the piece and using slip to create different texture on to the pieces. He says, “Every piece shows my interest making glazes that combine colors and seeing how the mixture of glazes changes with each firing.” His pieces reveal evidence of an investigation of larger vessels that have interesting form that have different characteristics to them.

My name is Chris Watson and a Printmaker of Shawnee, Kansas. I make prints from etching plates. I try to incorporate my graphic design knowledge into printmaking, so I tend to bring images together to make a different image. A quote that I love is “A man who has no imagination has no wings.” – Muhammad Ali.

Fine Arts major, with a concentration in Drawing; Julian Williams of Leavenworth, Kansas is known for his detail in most of his artwork. He uses ink wash and copic marker to express his creative process. He states, “My body of work draws inspiration from Marvel and DC Comics but does not entail exact appropriation.” His drawings emphasize the creative process of creating a comic book, the old-fashioned way, not with computer technology or graphic design but with a pencil and paper.

April 18-22, 2022

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the first of four BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring semester featuring Taylor Hashenberger, Pedro Melendez, and Neoshia Shockley. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from April 18 through 22, 2022 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, April 22nd, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Taylor Hashenberger, a photographer from Wichita, KS, explores the connection between monetary value and societal beauty standards through her photographic work. She says, “Society is always trying to tell us what we should look like or what we need to buy to achieve the standards that they set for us.” Strongly influenced by her friends, family and own life journey, she wants to speak out against the manipulation of society and the way it controls us.

Pedro Melendez of Manhattan, Kansas, makes drawings with charcoal on paper, adding color in acrylics to emphasize the main point. His work involves macabre imagery representative of issues that come with mental unhealthiness. He says, “I wanted to show what we deal with behind closed doors instead of the masks that everyone sees on a day to day”. Using darks and lights as a contrast to the bright colors, helps push his ideas to the for front of his narrative.

Photographer Neoshia Shockley of Eureka, Kansas makes naturalistic photographs with dancers and barks. She overlapped images of bark from trees onto dancers to display dance in a natural light. Her prints showcase a sense of what has been lost from the early age of simple dance movements.

Fall 2021

December 13-17, 2021

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the last of two BFA Exhibitions of the fall semester featuring Cenon Galupar, Madison McGrew, Nathan Rapue, Sam Ropp, and Zihao Zhao. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from December 13 through 17, 2021 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, December 17, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Cenon Galupar was born in Davao, Philippines. This artist earned a BFA with a concentration in painting from Kansas State University in 2021. His artworks are all about Philippine cultures and traditions; his paintings showcase having close family ties, which is one of the outstanding cultural values that Filipinos have and are well-known for. Aside from music and literature, arts play a big role in the Philippine culture, because Filipinos are very creative. Galupar wants to use his paintings as a platform to promote patriotism. His painting techniques and styles were influenced by Fernando Amorsolo and Kehinde Wiley.

Photographer Madison McGrew of Leawood, Kansas, has created vibrant and fantastical images using Photoshop and her camera. This series of chaotic imagery depicting colorful knick-knacks and photoshop edits depicts her personal experience with ADHD, how it feels, and the struggles that come along with it. She says, “If it seems overwhelming, that is absolutely the point.” Her prints give the viewers some perspective on how one with ADHD may be faring inside their own head, focusing on unnecessary things instead of much more looming and important responsibilities.

Printmaker Nathan A. Rapue of Olathe, Kansas, creates unique prints on copper and woodblocks. He crafts his plates using the techniques of aquatint, soft/hard Ground, multi-plate, and viscosity. His woodblocks consist of relief, reduction, and multi-block techniques. Nathan stated, “My work has an illustrated style that draws inspiration from Japanese figure prints and psychedelic styled art. In my prints I push the boundaries on human figures, giving them unrealistic proportions and unnatural body parts.” His plates spend hours in ferric chloride acid to give them texture, variable line quality, and a unique original style.

Multi-media artist Sam Ropp of Hutchinson, Kansas is concentrating in ceramics. “Anyone can be creative, passionate, and expressive in their art and that goes beyond Fine Arts for me. I think anyone can make art even if it’s not conventional or commonly seen as art. As long as you’re passionate and expressive about what you’re creating/doing, why shouldn’t it be seen as art?” Her BFA Exhibition, Unmythical Creatures, will display multiple neurodivergent disorders’ feelings or characteristics as mythical creatures. This exhibition intends to impact the viewer by getting them close to the pieces in an unconventional way that can make them relate to these symptoms or traits despite their differences in nature. Empathy and relatability reign over this exhibition.

Photographer Zihao “Johnny” Zhao was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The covid pandemic that started last year made everyone stay at home for more than half a year. Looking back at history, a similar influenza epidemic that swept the world occurred in the 1930s. How similar is this epidemic? Is it a repeat of history? Johnny’s theme was inspired by this. He looked at photos taken during the epidemic period in the 1930s and coupled them with the three-dimensional image of the crystal ball, giving each one a different feeling. Will history repeat itself? Will everyone continue to prevent and pay attention to the epidemic as before? Of course, he hopes that the epidemic will go away as soon as possible.

December 6-10, 2021

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the first of two BFA Exhibitions of the fall semester featuring Vania Davis, Carrie Grant, Lexi Gruenenfelder, Branden Lawless, and Baylee Weis. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from December 6 through 10, 2021 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, December 10, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Vania Davis of Kansas City, Kansas creates visual narratives in her prints through woodcut, linocut, and etching. Her work features monsters (primarily werewolves) and stylized characters in dramatic settings. She says, “Every artist’s imagination is many things; simple, unique, bizarre, wholesome, or disturbing.” Her prints often present the bold use of black to emphasize the intensity and power of the carved imagery.

Carrie Grant, an oil painter from Salina, Kansas, explores the theme of horror by placing figures in a variety of dark situations. The semi-realistic nature of her paintings enhances the surrealistic imagery. Her small-scale paintings offer an intimate view of the works, creating a comfortable space for the viewer to engage with the disturbing scenarios. The use of bright and soft colors in her paintings creates an appeal to aesthetics while adding to the unsettlement viewers feel.

Photographer Lexi Gruenenfelder from Stilwell, Kansas, works with the camera to reflect truths and understandings around the emotions we face as a society. Her detailed inkjet prints frame specific aspects of the way people deal with their emotional state from a microscopic lens. She says, “Everyone, at some point, will cope, it’s just human nature. How we cope is a completely different story.” Each image is crafted to show different personal descriptions of living conditions and emotional states, from behavioral habits, purchases, productivity, and screen time.

Ceramicist Branden Lawless of Derby, Kansas, creates large scale sculptures from clay that can have a deep underlying meaning but are often bright and colorful on the surface. His work is often portraits of himself or personified ideas that he feels connected to. He says, “I like for my work to be enjoyable and mysterious at first glance, but when you really take the time to look at my work it reveals my true ideas.” His sculptures are essentially decorative to many, but heavily thought provoking when given the chance.

Baylee Weis of Hutchinson, Kansas, makes colorful photomontages from magazines. Her works include current events that are happening in the world, while injecting her views and opinions on the subject through her imagery. Baylee will tell others that “Even when life seems overwhelming, you can still make something.” Her works relay messages for others to interpret.