MFA Student Exhibitions

Spring 2024

Kyra Litwin

The Kansas State University Department of Art will present the exhibition, “Disintegrating Permanence,” by MFA Candidate Kyra Litwin from March 18-22 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery in Willard Hall, Kansas State University campus. A reception will be held from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm on Friday, March 22 in the gallery. Events are free and open to the public.

Kyra Litwin is originally from Appleton, Wisconsin and earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, with a major in art and minor in archeology. She has participated in numerous regional exhibitions and has won several awards for her drawings and prints.

In her exhibition, Kyra explores her family history, and the palpable impact of generational exchange through drawing and printmaking processes. Her charcoal drawings, dry pigment screen prints, and three-dimensional works created by printing dry, unbound pigment onto sand emulate the passage of time and the concurrent, fading of memory wherein certain details are retained and immortalized, while others deteriorate, becoming blurred, distorted, and forgotten with time. Printing with dry unbound pigments, images are clear, concise, and intact in their initial state. When subjected to time and handling, they begin to distort and blur, becoming at times, reincorporated into the background of the page all together. Extending the conversation of her prints and drawings further, dry, unbound pigments are printed onto sand, producing sharp but transient impressions that will last only for the duration of the show. As the particles break down and the imagery becomes indiscernible, only its essence, and that of the moment remain.

www.art.ksu.edu

Instagram: @kstatemfaart • @kyralitwin

Support for this show was provided in part by the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Small Grant Program for K-State Graduate Students, and funding by KSUSGA Fine Arts Fee.

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 theformer 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.

Spring 2023

Bryan Raymundo

Barking Cropped

The Kansas State University Department of Art will present the exhibition, These Things Happen At Night, by MFA Candidate Bryan Raymundo from March 20-24 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, in Willard Hall. A reception will be held from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm on Friday, March 24 in the gallery. Events are free and open to the public.

Bryan Raymundo is originally from Wichita, Kansas and earned his BFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in Printmaking from Wichita State University. He has participated in regional solo and group exhibitions nationwide and has won multiple awards for his prints. While an undergraduate student at WSU, he organized three steamroller events which brought art and local communities together.

As a first generation Mexican American, Bryan Raymundo uses his own personal experience to reflect on notions of cultural displacement and stereotype. Portraiture and representations of the human figure combine with a rich range of images combed from Mexico and America in both the prints and ceramic sculptures. Dissecting lines carved into the plates and blocks before printing create a sense of fragmentation and separation, and large sections sharply cut away during the working process take on meaning through their absence. Combined with the linear, metal pedestals that surround and protect the ceramic pieces, the prints and ceramics in the exhibition create a visual parallel for the feeling of otherness, and the cumulative challenge of navigating two cultures.

Instagram: @raymundoprintmaker

Cursed of the Comp

Funding for this show was provided in part by the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Small Grant Program for K-State Graduate Students. These events are also presented and funded in part, by KSU SGA Fine Arts Fee.

Makenzie Burmeister

Collisions

The Kansas State University Department of Art will present the exhibition, Collisions, by MFA Candidate Makenzie Burmeister from March 6-10 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery in Willard Hall, Kansas State University campus. A reception will be held from 5:00 pm - :00 pm on Friday, March 10th in the gallery. Events are free and open to the public.

Makenzie Burmeister is originally from Gretna, Nebraska and earned her BFA in Art Education with an emphasis in Ceramics from the University of South Dakota. During her time there she played soccer and won multiple awards for her sculpture and ceramics pieces.

Collisions showcases site-reflective installation, drawing, and assemblage sculptures that combine the use of new digital applications with conventional ceramics and drawing processes. Cast and found materials evocative of construction and labor are recontextualized and combined through meditative, rhythmic, and highly repetitive action, transforming them from the mundane and industrial into explorative, expressive, and introspective works.

Instagram: @burmeisterceramics

www.etsy.com/shop/BurmeisterCeramics/items