Exhibitions
SPRING 2022 BFA SENIOR EXHIBITION
Reece Museum (ETSU) / 363 Stout Dr. , Johnson City , TN March 28, 2022 - April 22, 2022
Mads Brewer, Dana Brown, JJ Cox, Jenesis Fisher, Erin Fitzgerald, Emily Flores, Keely Melton, Sierra Stanley, Eric Terry, Haeden Willis
The ETSU Department of Art & Design and the Reece Museum present the Spring 2022 BFA Senior Exhibition on display from March 28 to April 22, 2022 featuring ten Bachelor of Fine Arts students: Mads Brewer, Dana Brown, JJ Cox, Jenesis Fisher, Erin Fitzgerald, Emily Flores, Keely Melton, Sierra Stanley, Eric Terry & Haeden Willis. A reception will be held on Tuesday, April 12 from 5 to 7 pm at the Reece Museum.
The Derivative is a recreation of a family computer room in which the primary user is captivated by the use of samples in music. Mads Brewer shows the thought process and research this person does by including a series of purposefully hand-crafted investigations of sampling. These investigations take form in a timeline of sampling, a breakdown of this person's favorite songs and their samples, and a printed quilt which features the faces of significant musicians in this artform.
Final Girl Survival Co. is Dana Brown’s solution to a gap she saw in the fashion industry between trendy, everyday styles and self-expression. She grew up the odd one out since her love of horror movies began at such a young age and was always shocked to find others who shared her passion. Her brand takes a stab at the stereotypes of classic slasher movies in an effort to show off this interest through self-expression by clothing.
In the Alpha Male exhibit JJ Cox talks about the topic of his experience as a single dad with two daughters and how it has affected his masculinity. While walking through the exhibit you will discover how in contemporary American society, some men are concerned about being seen as an alpha or beta male. It is common that these men even degrade women as if they are inferior to themselves. JJ Cox goes against this idea with not only the presentation of his art work but the story behind each piece as it reflects a loving father doing what he needs to do for his children. His work shows examples of himself and other single fathers in nature.
Jenesis Fisher’s exhibition, entitled Jot Plot, is about a custom style planner. The planner book itself was constructed with book binding board and a three-ring binder mechanism to hold the customizable planner pages, but can also be used to insert any handouts that the user may need. Each page was designed with minimalistic design qualities so that there are not too many distractions when the user is trying to make their plans or lists. Although Jot Plot was designed to reach out to the audience of neurodivergent minds it can be used by anyone that needs a tool to organize their life.
Erin Fitzgerald’s exhibition Baby Hair addresses the traumatic childhood experiences that continue to affect her life. As a child, she struggled to articulate her emotions properly, repressing them or allowing them to smother her sense of self. Giving these experiences form and body through the act of painting brings a physicality to them that demands her attention. This connection is important, as it brings her closer to healing and moving on. Each of her paintings are created by thin layers of oil paint coupled with intense moments of emotionally expressive mark-making. The process of sharing her deepest emotions with viewers has been healing. Instead of allowing these experiences to dictate her life, she chooses to grow and forgive.
Emily Flores’ exhibition is a typography project entitled Flodex, which features a font created to help the Dyslexic Community. Its typeface is based on previous research collected and combined to come up with its unique appearance. Flodex’s type design adds increased spacing within the letters, words, and lines of its text. The increase in spacing is designed to improve the viewers' reading speed and reading comprehension. Flodex is beneficial to all, especially those in the early stages of learning who suffer from dyslexia or dyslexic-related impairments. Emily Flores is based in Kingsport, TN. In 2019 she won the Art and Design Student Honors Show Award for photography. She holds an Associate’s Degree of Applied Science from Northeast State and will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Graphic Design from ETSU.
In Hearme, Keely Melton explores her personal identity as a hard of hearing individual. From a young age, she dealt with multitudes of hearing problems that led to hearing aids in her teen years. She quickly realized that many people around her didn’t know how to respond to her being hard of hearing. Hearme is her chance to show others how different things really are for her. Through visual interpretations of her disability, Melton strives to create discourse as to how the world can become a more accessible place to not only those who are hard of hearing, but for anyone that needs it. Melton, from Marion, North Carolina, is working on her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design, and is expected to graduate in May of 2022.
In The Religious Trauma Project, Sierra Stanley takes on the topic of Religious Trauma by giving those who have been through traumatic religious experiences a safe space to talk about them. Throughout the past year Stanley went around campus with a sign saying “Do you have Religious Trauma?” allowing people to voluntarily come up to Stanley and tell them their stories. This has resulted in a website featuring the interviews they have gathered as well as resources to get help with recovering from Religious Trauma. If visitors to the website choose to they can also submit their own story anonymously and have it featured under the story submission tab.
While doing research for a project, Eric Terry was shocked to see the rising number of victims of human trafficking in Tennessee. Impacted by the lack of awareness in his community, Terry created Silent Auction, a traveling poster campaign meant to inform and help the people most vulnerable to human trafficking.
Haeden Willis’s exhibition entitled La Petite Mort explores the relationship between humankind, mortality, and nature. Willis’s surrealistic figure paintings combine grotesque and beautiful imagery to make the viewer contemplate existence. Her work reflects her own views regarding the cycle of life and death. Inspiration for her work comes from historical paintings in which artists would use imagery of fruit and foliage to represent death. The oil paintings are created with thick layers of paint and blended by glazing. Willis received her associate of Art Education from Walters State Community College. She transferred to ETSU in 2020, and she will be graduating with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art.
The Reece Museum, housed in the Department of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University is a unit of the Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services, which resides in the same department. The Reece Museum is located on the campus of East Tennessee State University and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, please visit www.etsu.edu/reece or phone (423) 439-4392. ETSU is an AA/EEO employer.
