The Edward J. and Helen Jane Morrison Gallery at the University of Minnesota Morris has announced its spring semester exhibition schedule.
Exhibits by Rebecca Vaughan and Ziba Rajabi will open the semester and are scheduled to run from Jan. 22-Feb. 16.
Rebecca Vaughan’s exhibit, Foundlings, is based on the archives of 'textile tokens' from the Foundling Hospital in London. A foundling is a child who has been abandoned by their parents or guardians, whether through hardship or conflict, and cared for by another. “My series of paintings are particularly personal for me, as I have spent my life looking for my own biological family.” Each painting reveals a foundling, who harbors the marks of textile tokens, and are meant to refer to any person who may be seeking their family, whether separated by choice or lost through hardship and conflict. The history of the Anishinaabe and Dakota/Lakota people forcibly schooled at the American Indian School, now the site of the University, is particularly relevant regarding the lives of those confiscated children, and separated families.
Ziba Rajabi’s show is, That Lost Folio. Her work revolves around the desire to reconcile her relationship with her native land of Iran and the U.S., where she resides. “Due to the situation where I am far away from my homeland, I can feel my memories of home fading away. By utilizing memories from my past, I take aspects of images that are no longer recognizable and, therefore, are abstracted into shapes that allude to elements found in my homeland.” Consequently, aspects of everyday life such as architecture, furniture, gardens, or a specific time of day become the basis for her work.
Other spring semester exhibits at the Morrison Gallery include the 2024 annual juried Student Exhibit. As is tradition for the student art exhibition, a guest jury will select the featured work. An opening reception for this exhibit is planned for Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. with the exhibit open through March 22.
Students from many parts of the studio art program will fill the gallery with amazing temporary drawings using the low-tack Washi tape developed in Japan for decorative uses. They have only had five days to complete these works, and the results are impressive in scale as well as occupying some unusual parts of the gallery. This annual exhibit runs April 4-11.
The 2024 Studio Art Senior Exhibition will round out the spring exhibition. Works by the senior studio arts students will be on display April 17-May 13. An opening reception is planned as part of the Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 17 at 7 p.m.
The Edward J. and Helen Jane Morrison Gallery is located in the Humanities Fine Arts Building on the University of Minnesota Morris campus. Hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon-4 p.m. on Saturdays.