Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Works of two graduating art/photography majors at Mississippi State are on display through Dec. 4 in the university’s Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery.
Free and open to all, the “Contact F15: BFA Photography Thesis Exhibition” celebrates the final year of art department studies for Jessica L. Comer of Caledonia and Haleigh E. Parker of Foxworth.
The images reflect their successful conclusion of the department’s research, writing and presentation requirements, as well as four years of foundational coursework, survey, art history, and academic and emphasis classes.
Also open to all, a reception in their honor takes place 5-6 p.m. Thursday [Nov. 19] in Cullis Wade’s second-floor gallery at the MSU Welcome Center. Refreshments will be provided.
Regular gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, as well as by appointment.
Throughout their time at MSU, the seniors have been guided by professor Marita Gootee and assistant professor Dominic Lippillo. Both teach in the department’s photography emphasis area and Gootee is its longtime coordinator.
Comer said her work uses photography to bridge the gap between loss and retrieval of memories while seeking to bring back the life her grandmother is losing to Alzheimer’s disease. By using found family photographs that have been digitally projected into the former home place, Comer seeks to visually restore the fading layers of her grandmother’s mind.
Parker’s memories of past childhood and objects in interior spaces are frequent in her images. To encourage viewers’ reflections of their own histories and childhoods, Parker said she captured close details in a series that helps preserve her grandmother’s home as it exists, uninterrupted by time.
Additional information on the “Contact F15” exhibit is available from Lori Neuenfeldt, coordinator for gallery and outreach programs, at 662-325-2973 or LNeuenfeldt@caad.msstate.edu.
Part of the College of Architecture, Art and Design, the art department is home to the Magnolia State’s largest undergraduate studio art program. It offers a bachelor of fine arts degree, with concentrations in graphic design, photography and fine art (ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture). For more, visit www.caad.msstate.edu, facebook.com/CAADatMSU and twitter.com/CAADatMSU.
The Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery is one of several departmental venues that regularly features traveling exhibits, student shows, and group and solo exhibitions by professional artists. For more, visit bit.ly/MSUArtGalleriesFB.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.