Graduate Studio Artists Present Master’s Exhibitions

Graduate Studio Artists Present Master’s Exhibitions

Pictured left: Amy Smoot, “Touch,” ceramics, 14.5 x 6 x 12 inches, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist. . Pictured right: John Klosterman, “Self Portrait,” monoprint, screen print and photo transfer, 15 x 22 inches, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist.

By Alexandria Cashmer

The UA department of art and art history will hold a reception for graduate students Amy Smoot and John Klosterman from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at the Sella-Granata Art Gallery. Both artists are celebrating their Master of Arts exhibition. The event is free and open to the public.

Smoot showcases her graduate studies in ceramics through her artwork. She describes the meaning behind her art as “insignificant moments of discomfort” occurring in everyday lives.

“The focus of my work lies with the everyday insecurities that we experience as we move through the world,” she said. “What seems to lie dormant can suddenly bubble to the surface and alter how you react to what or who is around you.”

Smoot earned a BFA in ceramics at the University of West Georgia. She has since taught classes in ceramics and figure modeling at UA while pursuing her master’s.

Klosterman studies printmaking in the graduate program at UA. He uses his artwork to explore identity, growth and other questions about the human experience. Klosterman uses objects as metaphors for different aspects of our lives.

“The varying use of rope or knots are metaphors for my relationships,” he said. “The rope, much like family, can be strained or broken. On the other hand, rope can also be taken care of and used to tie a knot that cannot be undone. I aim to interpret the relationships I have had with these different figures or issues by use of the rope.”

Klosterman earned a BFA in printmaking with a minor in interdisciplinary studies from the University of South Alabama. The exhibit continues through Feb. 22.

A thesis exhibition is one of the requirements for the successful completion of the Master of Arts program in the UA department of art and art history. For more information about art graduate programs, visit http://art.ua.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/.