Graduate arts students' work focus of exhibition

Zach Duer has worked with found media to create collages for almost a decade.

“I find the process of creating collages to be an intimate and sensual experience, and the resulting work speaks to me deeply,” said the new Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus, who received a graduate degree in kinetic imaging this spring.

But until coming to VCU, Duer had worked only with music and not video.

“After experimenting with other techniques of new media during my studies at VCU, like projection sculpture, interactive virtual worlds and live video performance, I wanted to use my thesis exhibition to return to the medium of found-media collage and discover how my exploration in other fields might impact this work,” he said.

The result is “nothings_nomeanings,” a collage of found video and found sound. The clips of media  — called samples — are unrecognizable as originating from anywhere specifically, but they carry the general feeling of the work from which they are derived, such as documentary video, or neo-Romantic music. It is Duer’s thesis and is on display through May 18 at The Depot as part of the 2014 M.F.A. Student Exhibitions at The Depot (814 W. Broad St.) and the Anderson Gallery (907 1/2 W. Franklin St.).

The exhibitions serve as the culmination of the graduate school tenures of master of fine arts students in the departments of craft and material studies, interior design, kinetic imaging, painting and printmaking, photography and film, and sculpture and extended media – all part of the VCU School of the Arts, the top-ranked graduate public arts program in the United States. More than 40 students are represented in this year's exhibitions. Their works are as varied as the number of artists.

At the Anderson Gallery, Cynthia Henebry’s “The Marriage Oaks” combines portraiture, still life and visual narrative to reflect the nature of childhood identity in the context of conflict. Henebry, who will receive her degree in August, has been working on the project since she started her graduate studies two years ago, and she plans to continue it beyond graduation.

“My life has an impact on my work,” she said. “The work keeps evolving as my life is evolving.”

The exhibitions run through May 18. Student show hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit http://arts.vcu.edu/andersongallery/exhibits/current-exhibitions/.

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