By DAVID DUPONT
BG independent news
The opening of the “Apexi” exhibition, presenting the work of the graduating masters of fine arts, marks the end of the academic year at BGSU.
The show is aptly titled. The work here represents the culmination of the visions these artists pursue.
This year’s exhibition features seven artists: Jordan Vigil, Elahe Afrouzan, Gazelle Dusty, Erin Main, Elizabeth M. Meadows, Laura Rose Graham, and Amy Beeler.
The scope of work is wide. Meadows’ hyperautobiographical installation to Amy Beeler’s finely crafted sculptural jewelry made from clothesline.
Meadows includes everything from household objects, a range of handmade dresses and casts of her body parts, as well as an X-ray in her installation. All of this is centered on a train of carts attached to her electronic chair. The work is a documentation of an artist determined to continue his work despite chronic health problems and the challenges of being a single mother with limited financial means.
Erin Maine tells a different story in her animated video Purrseverance. The story of an abandoned cat who finds love and support.
In his artistic statement, Maine says he wants to create “stories that emotionally and intellectually resonate with audiences, fostering connections between different backgrounds. … As an artist, I invite viewers to contemplate the profound interplay of love and discomfort in shaping our lives.”
Elaheh Afroozan uses video in a very different way in her installation “Resilience” at the Red Door Gallery.
Afruzan reflects that she grew up in a repressive society in Iran, but repression is not limited to place or time.
“Resilience,” she wrote in her statement, “evolved from my very personal drawings that I used to channel my feelings of anger, sadness, and shame as a result of suppressing sexual feelings and emotions. In this interactive installation, the presence of an empathetic viewer drives healing.”
One video shows scenes from BGSU that she decorates with drawings of a sexual nature.
Gazelle Dusty’s “Grey Matter” occupies the Wankelman Gallery. A human head glows green in response to sound. It reflects the interplay between “the industrial and the intellectual, the material and the ethereal,” the artist wrote.
In Since Forever, Laura Roe Graham creates abstract images of her own memories. “They reflect the timeline of my life, including traumatic memories alongside calm, powerful memories.”
The exhibit includes necklaces and a paper quilt that are memorials to loved ones. She also has small sculptures meant, she wrote in her statement, “to be handled like a rosary.”
Lots of knitted elements included. Knitting, she writes, is a “meditative grounding practice” for her.
Jordan Vigil draws on the ancient traditions of the West – she grew up in Denver. Inspired by the tradition of Latin American graphics, she sees her work as a form of political resistance.
Vigil invites the viewer to: “Join me in this dance of creation and reflection, where past, present and future merge in an eternal embrace, heart to heart, eye to eye.”
Beeler should be familiar to fans of the Black Swamp Arts Festival. She is a frequent exhibitor, having won several honors, including Best of Show for her nature-inspired jewelry.
Her work took a different direction when she returned to BGSU to earn her master’s degree. Now she creates intricate structures with clotheslines. They evoke, she wrote in her statement, time spent with several generations of family involved in simple household chores like laundry.
“Combining these personal reflections with my artistic process, I delve into the importance of domestic practices and their impact on intergenerational family ties. I invite viewers to contemplate their own family traditions through active engagement in a sensory experience that goes beyond the visual to include touch and smell.”
A table in the gallery allows viewers to handle clotheslines themselves.
“My goal is to capture the essence of these domestic traditions and reveal the beauty and meaning embedded in everyday moments,” she concludes. “By visualizing their enduring significance in our lives, I hope to foster a deeper appreciation of the ties that bind us to our past and present.”
