First-year MFAs showcased in “Making Art is a Mistake”

Emily Dean
Thu, 26 Jan 2017 06:03:26 +0000
Arts & Life, Fine Arts, News, arts, department of art, Making Art is a Mistake, Master of Fine Arts, MFA, ohio state department of art, osu arts

“Delicate Revolution” by Teri Bailey is on display in Hopkins Hall. Credit: Emily Dean | Lantern Reporter

New master’s candidates are considering whether art is worth their time, or so it seems, in a new exhibit.

“Making Art is a Mistake,” brings a mixed bag of visual mediums from first-year students of the Master of Fine Arts program to the first floor of Hopkins Hall.

Artist Jamie Battersby said he finds the title of the exhibit humorous. ?

“It’s less of a normative statement,” Battersby said. “Rather, it’s more reflective of an anxiety that what we’re doing in the Master of Fine Arts program for the first year is not the most productive use of our time.”

The exhibition showcases work from 14 first-year students in the program, which usually takes three years to complete. The students’ visions are presented in an array of mediums, with specialties ranging from photography to ceramics and sculpting.

Teri Bailey specializes in glasswork, but used wood with her piece on display. Her featured work, titled “Delicate Revolution,” had to be constructed entirely on site. Bailey said the use of wood in ribbon-like form threaded through eye-hooks took roughly 15 hours to craft before the exhibit’s debut.

“A lot of my aesthetic revolves around softer art forms, like knitting and ribbon work, and I try to incorporate a lot of that into my glasswork,” Bailey said. “It wasn’t really much of a leap for me; rather, it was more like a detour.”

Battersby’s piece, titled “Go Bucks (?),” celebrates the spirit of Ohio State football. It depicts a moving football player in a combination of sculptural and paint-like textures. He said he draws from a variety of source material, such as movie stills and personal experiences, to incorporate in the various aspects of his works.

The gallery in Hopkins Hall is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A reception will be held on Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The gallery will be on display through Feb. 16.