Current Graduate Student Work
Joanna Cleveland
Nathan Barnes
Paul J Dodez
Catherine Reinhardt
Dustin Hinton
Lori McPherson
Joanna Cleveland
Memphis, Tennessee
Area/s of Emphasis: Painting/Papermaking
In my current work I aim to translate interdependence of life on an internal and external level by referencing symbiotic relationships that occur within the human body. These internal interactions, much like the interactions we experience with each other, are not always mutual or beneficial but have the potential to become parasitic. By using interrelationships that occur within our own bodies as a visual metaphor for external interactions that individuals experience, I explore the similarities of human networks on a microscopic and macroscopic level. I find these similarities to be fascinating, and through my artwork I am able to connect and further investigate the similarities of these relationships through abstracted representations of human pathogens and human interaction in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works.
Nathan Barnes
Shelley, Idaho
Area/s of Emphasis: Painting
My work is an investigation of threshold spaces, realms of pure possibility where the real and imagined are intertwined. I draw upon personal experiences that exist just outside of my typical state of consciousness and on the verge of places other, such as night terrors, encounters with the sublime, the uncanny and the ecstatic. Like a mole, I try to move in a subterranean manner, navigating not by sight alone but with a mind embroiled in smell, sound, touch, taste, memory and culture. By situating my work at a point of both entry and escape, I can paint the world the way I experience it, as an expression of both deterministic and inexplicable forces.
Paul J Dodez
Sweetwater, Tennessee
Area/s of Emphasis: Interdisciplinary
I've always been a seeker who loves to play. I am interested in my art being an extension of my being. I use art as an expression of my thoughts or ideas and as a way to understand my life and its relation to the cosmos. I like having a direct relationship with the media I use. I want to understand the media while manipulating it and learning from it. The forms I create are ritual objects. These ritual objects are made from a meditative state where my energies automate forms. These forms serve as tools for self-discovery. Art is my serious play, which allows for great risks and deep personal growth.
Catherine Reinhardt
Daphne, Alabama
Area/s of Emphasis: Painting & Printmaking
I am drawn to and inspired by the forms, colors and life sustaining processes of the natural world. My fascination with the story of a plant or process, fed by folk knowledge, scientific understanding and a conservation mindset , frequently leads me to find parallels and contrasts to our human experiences and our own complex struggles to survive and thrive. My paintings, prints and mixed media pieces, which often combine printmaking, graphite, and oil explore connections between human experience and the natural world in hopes of creating poetic imagery that celebrates both.
Dustin Hinton
Boulder, CO
Area/s of Emphasis: Drawing
In the large drawing I use maps and images to weave together memories of being in nature. The spaces between map topography lines shift from foreground to background to intertwine the memory together. Some of the drawing is rendered with much detail suggesting favored memories. Other parts are rendered with less detail - these memories may be beginning to fade. In the cut paper drawings I deconstruct an imagined topographical map into shapes and then reconstruct it into a three-dimensional representation. In a way this work is self-referential - I analyze past encounters, thoughts, and actions and I form an association. These works are attempting to map those associations or memories.
Lori McPherson
Connecticut
Area/s of Emphasis: Painting
Having been influenced by the Abstract Expressionists, I'm attempting to re-discover color/texture and bold mark-making while figuring out how to make it relevant in a post-modern world. Presently, the content involved in my work is more formal, working with contrast and texture. Abstraction fosters an excitement in me that grows from working with unsure outcomes so each piece becomes a new experience. I work by mainly focusing on how color/texture work together with abstract forms. Nothing is predetermined except the beginning layering process. I keep myself flexible to give the painting what is requires at the moment.
