TAMIU’s ‘State of Things’ Art Exhibit Signals Spring Semester Start
A new art exhibition, “The State of Things,” has ushered in the Spring Semester 2024 this week at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU).
A reception is Thursday, Jan. 18 from 5 – 7 p.m. There is no admission charge and the event is open to all. The exhibit opens Friday, January 19, and continues through March 9, 2024.
The exhibition, presented in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Center Gallery, offers a historic first for TAMIU: all participating artists are ceramics faculty members from throughout the sprawling Texas A&M University System’s campuses.
Participating ceramic artists and their home universities are Misty Gamble (West Texas A&M University), Leandra Urrutia (Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi), Christy Wittmer (Texas A&M University-Commerce), and Emily N. Bayless (TAMIU).
Gamble’s work is inspired by the human figure and its infinite capacity for communication. As a child, she was immersed in her father’s world of puppetry and the performing arts. In 1998, she was invited to be the first American to perform in Iran (since 1979) at the 7th International Puppet Festival. Her current work, life-size figurative sculptures, and installations of multiple figurative elements, focuses attention on issues surrounding femininity and challenges conventional standards of morality, normalcy, and propriety.
Urrutia is an object maker and storyteller. Borrowing parts of the human form, she makes powerful compositions and installations showcasing her wild and unconventional creative sense. Her studio work illustrates compelling female-centered struggles between body and mind, especially as one experiences injury, healing, and the aging process. Her Mexican-American heritage, Catholic upbringing, interest in aggressive sports, and visits to China bring an unorthodox influence to the ceramic/mixed media sculptures she dreams up.
Wittmer writes that she creates sculptures that challenge expectations of function and notions of stability. “My intricate porcelain forms are records of time, skills, and the process of making. Broken objects are repaired because they are needed or valued. Found objects are inconsequential debris that are collected and given purpose. The time spent in making, repairing, and finding become an act of caring embedded in the art,” she has said.
Bayless works in clay and fiber. Her studio research practice is focused on the history of ceramics, gender equity, craft, and installation. Her work challenges the technical threshold of clay with pieces that are precarious, fragile, and stretch the stable scale of ceramic objects. She has expertise in hand building, wheel throwing, mold making, sculptural installation, kiln firing techniques, and surface decoration techniques. She is also self-taught in various weaving and sewing techniques.
For additional information on the “State of Things” Exhibition, contact Bayless at emily.bayless@tamiu.edu.
TAMIU’s Late Registration ends Monday, Jan. 22. There is no tuition increase for Spring 2024.
To learn more, visit the dedicated Registration Hub at https://go.tamiu.edu/registration
The Spring Semester is previewed here: https://go.tamiu.edu/springpreview
