On Thursday, April 25, the BFA Thesis Exhibition, “Truly, Lovingly, Viciously” opened at the Mullennix Bridge Gallery at NMSU’s University Art Museum with a panel talk from the artists. The artists of various talents are all from the BFA capstone class taught by Motoko Furuhashi.
To begin the discussion, the students introduced themselves and what type of artwork they specialize in.
Eleazar Maslian typically focuses on photography, but for his piece in the exhibition, he experimented with laser engraving images into jeans. He said the meaning behind this work revolves around labor in the Filipino culture.
Pamela Herrera-De Los Santos also dove into a new medium than she is used to – sculpting. She was raised with a fusion of American and Mexican culture, growing up in Las Cruces but also in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, and Chihuahua. She was inspired by her father, who was an architect in Mexico and worked on modern Mexican architecture. He helped her with the transition to a new medium.
Ace Gabrentina currently works with ceramics. His work experiments with large form vessels, channeling Filipino/Asian-American pop culture, iconography, scale and texture.
Reyes Chavez creates oil paintings, many of which currently focus on bringing awareness to childhood trauma and its effects on adults.
Trisha Quintero, who is also an oil painter, crafted pieces centered around living a healthy lifestyle and the difficulty that comes with that.
Thaddaeus McRae, another artist with a focus in ceramics, said his inspiration comes from religious and cultural motifs, related to asking oneself what living entails and how one can encounter faith.
“There is something that happens when you live and experience a lot of different places where you don’t hold anything too sacred,” McRae said. “I think that plays into the way I approach the concept of faith and spirituality and religion in a genuine and earnest way. I like to poke fun at things but also seek real answers.”
The audience asked many questions, from the artists’ inspirations behind each of their pieces, to their creative processes, to what led them into the art world.
One of the panel attendees, Christine Szymber, is a Justice, Political Philosophy, and Law (JPPL) major. She takes several art classes as electives, including painting and ceramics. She has worked alongside each of the panel speakers and said Maslian’s artwork using jeans caught her attention the most.
“He did something that is more impactful and tells more of a story versus just saying something trendy or something nice,” Szymber said. “I have watched Eleazar throughout his career and Eleazar has always been the type of person to try new things and do new things.”
All the students remarked that they were very grateful for their instructors who helped with their creative processes. Furuhashi expressed her gratitude to attendees, as well.
“This couldn’t have been possible without you all attending and all of you coming to this talk,” she said. “It has been lovely to hear all your questions and I hope you enjoy the show.”
Today, May 11, is the final day to see “Truly, Lovingly, Viciously” showcased at the UAM. For more information, visit the museum’s webpage.
