Reception: Friday, February 6, 4:00–5:30 PM
Don't Leave the Back Door Unlocked, an exhibition consisting of work made by everyone in the first-year cohort of The Ohio State University’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program, invites uncertainty to make its way in. Each artist embarked upon a journey this year in which they began growing and changing, leaning into their curiosities while experimenting with new ways of evolving their art practices. These circumstances have required us to actively choose to take risks, and to be vulnerable with each other and with the work that we have begun to make. This exhibition brings together artists working through different thresholds: inside and out, safety and exposure, the familiar and the destabilizing.
This exhibition engages a diverse range of mediums, including those that are analog, digital, or a bridge between the two. From images, video, and sound to drawings, textiles, and sculpture, each artist engages with the interdisciplinary aspects of the MFA program in their own way. Together, all of our different practices show several unique perspectives engaging contemporary topics. As a group, we have found a way of exploring vulnerability through both personal and collective experiences. The artists working with new media and technologies have found ways of altering digital landscapes to respond to a changing world and climate. Others are exploring communal histories and connections, and the way our pasts can shape the future.
As a collective group, our combined works remain unresolved, offering pieces of ourselves that don’t form a cohesive point of view. These first few months have served as only a beginning, an explorational time that has often resulted in many more questions than answers. This exhibition lingers in a state of becoming, where resilience is forged through fragility and belonging is shaped through moments of uncertainty.
Several overarching themes have begun to emerge as important points in our individual projects this year. The most common of these have been environmental instability, anxiety, technological acceleration, personal histories, and experiences of gender. All of these things question what it means to be at “home” within systems that can often be unstable or exclusionary. However, we are also posing the question of how people adapt and remain open in the face of these anxieties.
The more personal and reflective pieces in this show evoke warmth and familiarity, providing a stark contrast to the other topics being explored. Together this creates balance, as well as additional uncertainty.
Participating Artists: Shana Abdollahian, Nikodem Adamski, Taylor Dorrell, Mia Sweeney Gahrmann, Jenna Marti, Ashley Martin-Prideaux, Sofia Mastorakis, Riley Rist, Liesl Schubel, Tristan Turner
Visiting Hopkins Hall Gallery
128 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210
Hours of operation
Monday–Friday: 11 AM–4 PM