Fine Arts Center Gallery

Master of Fine Arts candidate Tanya Johnston will be the next featured artist in the UA Fine Arts Center Gallery with her thesis exhibition, “Meditative Spaces”, opening on April 7 and continuing through April 18, 2008. A reception will be held on Thursday, April 10 from 5 – 7 pm in the gallery.

Johnston’s work evokes the feeling expressed in the exhibition’s title. She describes her current body of work as “an investigation into memory, identity and personal mythology (in which) all of the work possesses still and meditative qualities and craft is a crucial element in each piece.” The exhibition features paintings, shadow boxes and several hand-made books. The paintings include landscapes, figures and still-lifes, or a combination of all three. The boxes consist of layers of printed transparencies or painted glass that give an illusion of space that is much greater than the depth of the actual box. The books represent many different permutations of the book form, such as pullouts, foldouts, traditional bound books and books that are folded map-style.

Johnston’s emphasis on craftsmanship is evident throughout and allows the viewer to connect with the work on a technical level, before they consider the symbolic elements in her art. “The use of images with archetypal qualities is employed as a way to evoke an emotional response, yet not all symbols are universal, many are personal, and my desire is that the private begins to relate to the universal.”

Tanya Johnston graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2002 with a BFA in painting.

Master of Fine Arts candidate, Kelsey Felthousen, will be utilizing the Fine Arts Center Gallery as a “survelliance site” for her thesis exhibition, myspace, from March 24 – April 4. Felthousen will construct an inverted home in the Union Mall of the University of Arkansas campus, in which she will live during this time period. Gallery visitors will have the opportunity to sit and watch the artist in her “home” via an internet connection and large screen television, set up in the gallery for viewing. The irony of this situation is that the “viewer/voyeur” can also be watched, since the gallery is fronted with glass windows and doors.

Felthousen explains her thesis concept, as “(dealing) with the notions of an overexposed, vulnerable society that…feels unprotected. When creating this work I chose to broach the subject of sacred/private space and how that space is being given away freely, without thought of the consequences.”

“Sacred Space, as defined in this exhibition, is the preciousness of close relationships and the privacy within our lives and homes. One need not search far for evidence of this exposure. It can be seen in all aspects of our society, from television programming to technology.”

Construction on the outdoor installation piece will begin on March 14 with a house-warming to be held on Friday, March 21 from 6-9 pm. A reception for the artist will be held on Friday, March 28 from 5 – 7 pm in the gallery.