Tomashi Jackson
The second installment of the School of Art’s sculpture thesis exhibition opens Wednesday in Green Hall gallery.
Featuring pieces by six artists — Tommy Coleman ART ’16, Sam Davis ART ’16, Tim Sint Tillo ART ’16, Tammy Kiku Logan ART ’16, Alex Stevens ART ’16 and Jayeon Yi ART ’16 — the show presents a culminating body of work by students graduating from the sculpture department’s MFA program this May. It builds on its previous installment, on view from March 5 to 20, which included works by five sculptors: Raza Kazmi ART ’16, Virginia Lee Montgomery ART ’16, Douglas Rieger ART ’16, Constance Tenvik ART ’16 and Masha Vlasova ART ’16. According to Tenvik, the show was divided into two installments to ensure that each artist had ample space in which to exhibit his or her works. Tenvik said the exhibition will showcase a multifarious vision of contemporary sculpture, which may borrow and incorporate practices from other media, such as drawing, video art and performance in addition to more traditional forms of three-dimensional expression.
“The Yale Sculpture thesis exhibition is for the 11 of us in class of 2016 to have an art show and sort of wrap up our time here,” Tenvik explained. “It’s a good chance for us to show our stuff to the Yale community and beyond. I’d say our group is quite varied … and each artist have spent their time here to nurture their own path … I hope visitors come and enjoy the various voices and that it can take them into a different zone.”
Both Tenvik and Sam Messer ART ’82, associate dean of the School of Art, emphasized the overlap between this installment of the sculpture thesis exhibition and the school’s Open Studios, which will take place this weekend.
Messer noted that the Open Studios event — part of which will take place in studio spaces just upstairs from the show in Green Hall — will give viewers a glimpse into the processes by which the thesis works are created, allowing exhibition visitors a deeper understanding of the pieces on display.
“The MFA departments are similar to the laboratories one might imagine in a science lab,” Messer explained. “[They are] a place for experimentation, research and trial and error. Bookend this with the Sculpture Thesis exhibition, work considered ‘finished.’ This juxtaposition for anyone in the Yale community could provide insight into the creative process of our students and artists in general.”
Kazmi echoed Messer and Tenvik’s remarks, expressing his hope that the unique convergence of the Open Studios and the thesis exhibition could give students, and members of the broader community, deeper understanding and awareness of sculpture as a medium.
In addition to providing an opportunity for wider audiences to gain a more nuanced view of sculpture, Tenvik said, the thesis exhibition presents a crucial learning opportunity for the artists themselves.
“I’ve learned a lot from dragging some of my stuff out of my messy studio space and into a bright and empty place, the conversation before and after the show has given me a lot to think about, and will hopefully help the development of my work,” Tenvik said. “I always learn from putting the work out in there. That’s when a dialogue really starts happening.”
A reception celebrating the opening of Part II of the thesis exhibition will take place on Saturday, April 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Green Hall.