November 26 – December 13, 2018

Gallery 720, Christensen Center

Stories From Seven

Bridgette Boone · Kealie EspindaBanick · Melissa Flores Jaimes ·

Laura Fricke · Elizabeth Ihekoronye · Kris Leathers · Victor Sanchez

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January 14 – 24, 2018

Gallery 720, Christensen Center

SHADES OF OUR STORIES
Megan Johnson

Bio

Megan Ellen Johnson is a Minneapolis born and raised graphic designer. Publication design and web development are her primary focuses. However, Johnson also has work experience in print and social media marketing, branding, environmental design, and gallery installation. When she works on passion projects, her love of writing and human psychology come into play. Her most recent self-initiated work is focused on story-telling, publication design, and human connection.

Artist Statement

This exhibition consists of over one-thousand saddle-stitch booklets that are sorted into twenty colors. Of the one-thousand booklets, there are eighty individual stories. These stories were gathered through a survey that was filled out by over two-hundred undergraduate and graduate students at Augsburg University. Each story is assigned a color that is associated with an attribute that the author needs from the reader in response to their story. This process of categorizing and curating the stories was also the organizing principle for the installation itself. Viewer interaction is essential to publication design, so I ask that the viewer picks an attribute they are interested in and then finds a story, that is categorized as such, to read.

I developed this exhibition through my love of story-telling, publication design, and our innate need for human connection. With our culture’s dependency on social media and emotional affair with the internet, people are sharing more about themselves than ever before. However, I’ve found that we don’t typically speak open and honestly about our most personal memories or aspects of our lives. That is made even truer when people are asked to share in front of people we see every day, like our peers on campus. With that in mind, I decided to keep the stories completely anonymous in an attempt to get to the individual’s real-life story. Once I had gathered enough stories, I began to develop a design and grid that was strong enough to support the vastly important lives that were written about. The grid reflects the layering quality that the community of these stories creates.

My main goal for this exhibition is to help build connections between the students at Augsburg. I believe that only by relating to those we perceive as opposite of ourselves will we as a community be able to grow stronger together, despite our current political climate. I hope you take solace in how you may relate to one of these stories because it means that you have just found another connection on campus.

Photos of Exhibition

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OCTOBER 1 – NOV. 1, 2018

Gallery 720, Christensen Center

WHERE ARE ALL THE BLACK DESIGNERS?
Olivia House

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Going Down South:
Music and Cultural Production on the Mississippi River

SEPTEMBER 10 – 27, 2018

Christensen Center – Gallery 720

Artist Talk: Thursday, September 27, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center – Gallery 720

We often think of water as a resource, and the river as a tool that aids us in production and industry––barges loaded with cargo traveling from the Great Lakes region to the Delta. But the Mississippi River has also proven to be one of our most potent sources of cultural production. Along its banks, through each state it touches, artists influenced by the river have created some of America’s most powerful and timeless music.

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APRIl 9 – 19, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, April 19, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

The Illusion of life mixes acrylic paint with digital art, analyzing how storytelling can be the means to better understanding the human condition.

Statement

Famed director, illustrator, animator Hayao Miyazaki suggests ( in the article The idea-the origin of everything) that a story doesn’t truly start with a story being made, it begins with the experiences we have stored up in our lives. “ The stories and original work- even initial project planning-are only triggers.Inspired by that trigger, what rushes forth from inside you is the world you have already drawn inside yourself, the many landscapes you have stored up, the thoughts and feelings that seek expression.”

Kohba merges digital illustration and design to express the emotions that defined the estrangement from my father. The story follows Kohba, A young wolf cub, who in the midst of being deserted by his father, must decide if he will fall into anger or accept the reality of what has come to be. Dealing with themes of abandonment, anger and regret, this body of work uses, color, landscape and character to explore the flaws of the human condition while also showing storytellings significance as a form of expression and communication in society.

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April 9 – 19, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, April 19, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

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MARCH 26 – APRIL 5, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, April 5, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Desire to Explore is a series of digital collages that invite the viewer to examine daily busyness. By exploring regular routine, Fox asks if there is more to life than the schedules we create.

Statement

Through reflection and making these pieces, I began to see the routine of life that can put restrictions on new experiences. Exploration starts a journey one may take to an unfamiliar place or a familiar place they have been but didn’t explore and learn from those experiences. The range of ideas flows naturally based on past and present events. These events are created by cultural knowledge of what is going on in today’s society or what has happen in the past.  As I began preparing for this show, I came up with so many ideas that they could not all be expressed in one show. I didn’t know what I would do or how it was going to happen, but suddenly it hit me like a burst of water hitting my face as I got ready for the day. Everyone has a routine in the morning to start the day. This routine of work, school, social media, and entertainment are what I think of as busywork or distractions for today’s society; it is something we consume regularly. You may not know whom to blame, but it has been regularly becoming more ingrained for decades and will be an ongoing practice that frankly will be hard to break. As I look at my work, I notice my pieces reflect what is happening or what happened in my life whether it was with my own experience or listening and learning from others. This time around, I wanted to change; I wanted to look at what could be possible, to see what we as humanity could do without an institutionalizing society. I desire to explore more.

I have been drawing for as long I can remember. I would even draw my favorite cartoon characters with my little brother. Throughout my life, I have wondered. My wonders became daydreams and my daydreams became reflections. As I get older, these became my art pieces. DESIRE TO EXPLORE has been my favorite wondering. I wondered what life would be like if no one had to work or attend school; what would society look like? What kind of person will I be? Although I know I am hardworking and I do love school and work, I question if there is more? One day knowing I could leave and walk without a location in mind would be a dream come true. As I walk, I would begin an authentic journey learning about today’s society. I would not only learn something new about myself but also about the environment, the human condition, and how everything connects. I feel I would begin a journey connecting with the earth using my senses to explore the universe. I remember as a kid looking at the lines in the blinds. They appeared to be moving or lying on the ground, and, as I looked up into the sky, I began to feel as if I was floating. DESIRE TO EXPLORE is a series of digital collages that reflect my longing to capture my senses and walk into the universe using photography and drawings. However, DESIRE TO EXPLORE isn’t just for me. It questions the sense of reality and if there are multiple realities to explore.  A reality where people might find their true selves and connect to the universe.

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MARCH 4 – 22, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Reception: Thursday, March 22, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

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March 4 – 22, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, March 22, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Home Sweet Home is an interactive installation piece that brings together aspects of the past and present to interpret the future of human interaction and communication. Jenny Weinreis uses a variety of mediums, such as needlework, printing, found object, and sculpture to explore the fast-paced, evolving world while staying rooted in the generations that came before.

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FEBRUARY 19 – MARCH 1, 2018

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

Artist Talk: Thursday, March 1, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery

The Battle Within is a series of painted and stained wood pallets that portray the artist’s experience with depression. By utilizing sequencing and both the floor and the wall for installation, the work evokes a tonal journey spanning congested darkness to something simpler and calm.

Bio

Maxwell Preus is a current senior at Augsburg University and is twenty-two years old. His senior exhibit delves into themes regarding mental illness and overcoming obstacles. He is interested in portraying the complexities of the human mind and spirit.

Statement

I enjoy sculpting large pieces in clay, typically beginning with a basic idea and then letting the pieces take on a life of their own. I allow the clay to have its freedom because sometimes things shift on you overnight or even break in the kiln. I expect these issues to happen so I don’t let the frustration build but rather try to create something special out of possible imperfections. Kind of like life. Things happen.

This past year I decided to explore another media. Much like the clay, I found an analogy to life in my wood pieces, specifically as to how they developed through my experience with depression. As I began creating projects using wood and paint, I found myself drawn to working with weightier pieces and the emerging images were rather dark. This seemed to coincide with how I was feeling. Upon returning from a semester in Spain, I felt a disturbing sense of hopelessness. Everything in my life was overwhelming. I even considered quitting school as each day was a struggle. Working with heavy materials proved to be centering for me and, figuratively speaking, I could escape what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders. It was through the creative process that I could peek through the blinders. Gradually the depression lifted and I felt like myself again.

I feel that I went through this difficult time so that I can empathize with those who suffer. I am lucky. I experienced a brief, yet intense, glimpse into the depths of despair that can haunt people for months, years, a lifetime, and I worked to portray this through my art.

images from exhibit

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