The Foster Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is pleased to announce the opening of “Turning the Page,” the bachelor of fine arts (BFA) senior exhibition. It features artwork by eight BFA candidates: Grace Burgess, Anna Buss, Christopher Ehlert, Kay Ex, Bethany Mennecke, Erin Phelps, Abigail Saari and Natalia Sexton.
The exhibition will be on view from April 26-May 12, with a closing reception from 5-6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11. All Foster Gallery exhibitions and events are free and open to the public. Visit uwec.ly/fostergallery for hours.
Grace Burgess is a photography BFA candidate from Golden Valley, Minnesota, and will be exhibiting a series of black-and-white photographs with text projections – some text addressing the theme of gender stereotypes. Burgess says, “My photographic images focus on gender we have for ourselves as well as what we force onto other people. In this series, I projected words of affirmation onto the people in the photographs. The text interacts with each subject as if the words speak from each individual experience. This work was intended to be interactive; it is my hope that viewers will replicate some of their own images with text that speaks to them. In the photographing stage, I encountered and embraced the technical challenge of using projected text. I experimented and learned the importance of using appropriate shutter speed and lens focusing to capture the text with sharp focus in each different photographic scene.”
Anna Buss is a graphic design BFA candidate from Appleton and will be showing a series of “sculptures” that explore the relationships between type, materials and textures. These works range from textile to readymade, all composed of different nostalgic materials. Buss says, “I love to create pieces that are bright and playful, yet have a sprinkle of cynicism here and a touch of nihilism there. Illustrator Emma Bers once said, “if I’m not having fun, I scrap it,” which I have taken on as my artist motto. I want to spark a smile, laugh or even an eye roll from my audience. A big theme in my work is using humor as a coping mechanism to get through the everyday horrors of life, so I enjoy taking a more witty and sarcastic approach to being an optimist. As a graphic design student, my work is very text heavy, and I am drawn to bold, vintage, and quirky text. My work in this exhibition is a combination of both my love of typography and my love of quippish remarks.”
Christopher Ehlert is an illustration BFA candidate from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and will be exhibiting a series of needle felted dolls of his own imagined characters, along with sketches that show some of his process in designing them from the body shape to the color scheme. Ehlert says, “My art is fantastical, peaceful and cartoony. It is influenced by comics, animation and furry art, and it features anthropomorphic characters in fantasy settings. I am more of an illustrator than a sculptor, but I enjoy needle felting as a method for me to exhibit my love for character design.” He is interested in illustrating for comic books or collectible card games after graduation.
Kay Ex is a graphic design BFA candidate from Eau Claire and will be exhibiting three books telling a singular tale, across three perspectives, genres and formats. Ex says, “Sometimes, in life, you meet people who impact you so immensely, their influence echoes through time. This series of books is an investigation of choices based on differing senses of morality, ala Friedrich Nietzsche. Presented in childlike formats, themes circling identity are explored. The juxtaposition between the serious subject matter and its twee appearance captures how we dismiss the truth in favor of what is easier to digest. Or how the storyteller curates the narrative to fit their needs.” After graduation, Ex plans to travel.
Bethany Mennecke is a graphic design BFA candidate from Rochester, Minnesota, and will be exhibiting a small-sized book of plant-care tips for nearly 30 different plants, including general plant tips as well as other plant themed items. The book consists of mostly beginner-friendly plants and is meant to be easy to follow to make plant care more accessible to those interested. Mennecke says, “My artwork is a combination of graphic design and illustration. The style of the illustrations is a graphic style with primarily flat colors and minimal blending while capturing the intricate details in the many different plant leaves. The work is inspired by my love of plants, that has grown exponentially over my time at UW-Eau Claire, and the calm I feel when I am around plants. I found the design of many plant books in the world to be lacking, whether in design or content, or to be inaccessible for many people. I decided to create my own version as I had wished I had when I first started plant collecting in the hopes to make this hobby more accessible to others.”
Erin Phelps is a drawing and painting BFA candidate from Green Bay and will be exhibiting works from her apprenticeship journey in the tattoo community. Erin has spent the last year building this body of work. She says, “While most of my tattoo flash has been different than the other art I make, I find myself interested in similar themes surrounding memento mori as well as the different concepts and characters of life. My tattoo style is typically more traditional, and I find myself leaning into the American and Japanese traditional style the most.” After graduation Erin plans to continue her apprenticeship at Dutch Tattoo and continue working on community projects for the city of Eau Claire.
Abigail Saari is a graphic design BFA candidate from Kronenwetter and will be exhibiting a set of three coloring books each with different themed illustrations. Her focus when creating the images was to make them inviting to a wide variety of ages. She wanted to create images that felt simple and approachable yet more advanced than a children’s coloring book. Saari says, “I chose to create coloring books since they were where my love for art began. I am interested in the nostalgia and joy that coloring books and pages can bring for all ages and wanted to explore that concept for this project. The idea for this project stemmed from wanting a color book that felt mature like an adult coloring book, but not quite as complex and overwhelming in subject matter. I chose to create books with themes that I enjoy (western, coastal, and botanical). The illustrations in these books are a mix of hand drawn and digitally created images.”
Natalia Sexton is an illustration BFA candidate from Eau Claire and will be exhibiting three oil paintings, each featuring a different animal hybrid character. Sexton says, “My artwork recently has been focusing a lot on themes of animal-human characters, character design and narratives. Each piece’s character has a relation to myself in some way, such as what emotion it displays, symbolic meaning, color palete, etc. I am inspired by work with bright colors, unique themes, characters/figures and nature; these themes often find their way into my own work even when dealing with other subject mater.” Sexton will remain in Eau Claire after graduation before traveling and pursuing art as an independent, freelance business.
