INTERSTITIAL: RECENT WORK FROM GMU ART AND DESIGN MFA CANDIDATES

INTERSTITIAL:
Recent work from GMU Art and Design MFA Candidates

Buchanan Partners Gallery at Hylton Performing Arts Center
November 12, 2024 – January 11, 2025

Interstitial is a showcase of recent creative research from the MFA program at George Mason University’s School of Art. The title refers to spaces of transition—places where boundaries blur and new possibilities emerge. The exhibition features a diverse range of projects from current MFA candidates Mackenzie Hoffman, Liz Louise Johnson, Steven Luu, Traci Reynolds, and Angela Terry. The works presented address themes such as memory and loss, physical and emotional healing, mythology and metamorphosis, and the intersections of theory and practice.

The work of Steven Luu, Traci Reynolds, and Liz Louise Johnson is united by a shared exploration of memory, the human experience, and the relationship between labor, identity, and the natural world. Luu’s art, crafted from recycled materials, serves as a vessel for healing, transforming memories of hardship and survival into tangible objects that connect the past and present. Reynolds’ abstract paintings allude to microscopic worlds and themes of life, death, and interconnectedness. Johnson’s photography captures the physical toll of Alaska’s fishing industry, while examining themes of cyclical time, labor, and self-discovery in a formidable landscape.

Meanwhile, graphic designer Angela Terry and painter/illustrator Mackenzie Hoffman explore the intersection of traditional and digital media in their work. Hoffman blends oil painting with experiments in augmented reality to transform viewer experiences and push the boundaries of storytelling. Terry’s Print is Precious: A Design Manifesto serves as both a personal branding guide and a celebration of the tactile beauty and interactive qualities of print design in the digital age.

About the MFA Program in Visual Arts at GMU School of Art
The GMU School of Art’s MFA Program fosters the development of a self-directed studio practice, rooted in both personal exploration and engagement with contemporary discourses. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a terminal degree that prepares students to become professional artists, work in arts-related fields, or teach at the university level. The College of Visual and Performing Arts offers MFA degrees in both Visual Arts and Graphic Design.

art.gmu.edu

Angela Terry,  Print is Precious: a design manifesto, 2021, laser print, risograph, screen print, french fold, wire-o binding