thresholds: New work by 1st & 2nd year Art MFAs

The group show in the Quarter Gallery features a variety of work by ten current MFA candidates in the Department of Art.
"Thresholds" with artist names on dark blue-gray glitchy background
Woodcut print of Chinese dragon swooping down on the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture
Mai Tran, that strange winter night, the apricot blossoms wisdom arrives when the Lý dragon appears over the land of ten thousand lakes for once, will there be hope after all, 2024. Woodcut print on Okawara paper, 36 x 48”
Abstract, plant-like textile assemblage on a white wall
Isabella Sanchez, Untitled, 2024. Naturally dyed cotton, wool, and silk.
Lane lanes on the bottom of a pool
Maeve Jackson, Untitled, 2024. Black and white analog film scanned and printed digitally, 17 x 22"
A screen print painting on a beige background with grey and black screen-printed images depicting a family’s care for their disabled son.
Isabela Escalona, Untitled, 2024. Ink on paper, 17 x 11"
Archway covered in various bags containing books
Aja Bond, The Carrier Bag Archway of Fiction, 2025. Steel, charred wood, bags, science fiction novels, bags, 8’ x 2’ x 4’
Pastel pink, baby blue, mint green, and light yellow paints creating a soft tone on top of a darkroom photograph of two running silhouettes.
Maria Oostra, Untitled Mixed Media, Black& White photo, digital print , spraypaint, qouache, acrylic, wallpapers, fabric,glitter glue, paint scraps- 9’’x12,5’’ approx
Pitch black horizontal bar with small orb of white light in the center
Anissa Cavazos, C L O C K, 2024. Video, 5:55
Abstract image of white scribbles and smudges on blue background
J Youngwood, Untitled, 2024. Cyanotype on muslin, 30 x 25”
Blue projection of person on their knees on the floor
Kayla J. Fryer, A struggle within-but I look to You , 2024. Digital film, projector, blue light, 2:28
Three pieces of paper printed in colored horizontal bars hang on a white wall
nouf saleh, الجنة بين يدها ٢
2024-5 . Silkscreen on Paper, 22x30"

thresholds

On view April 1 – 19, 2025

Featuring work by Aja Bond, Anissa Cavazos, Isabela Escalona, Kayla J. Fryer, Maeve Jackson, Maria Oostra, nouf saleh, Isabella Sanchez, Mai Tran, and J Youngwood.

Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

The three year MFA Program in Studio Art at the University of Minnesota is interdisciplinary and rigorous, balancing studio practice with critical theory and inquiry. Every year 1st and 2nd year MFA graduate students transform the Quarter Gallery into a dynamic exhibition that showcases their studio practices across a variety of media. thresholds offers a view into the wide ranging research interests of our MFA candidates and their interdisciplinary approaches to making.  Learn more about the MFA program here.

Exhibition statement:
thresholds can be doorways. thresholds can be limits to sound, space, and time. thresholds can be barriers, borders, and boundaries. a threshold is meant to contain, but can be refused, bypassed, and transcended. 

as first and second year mfa students, we explore the usefulness and uselessness of thresholds as they relate to our practice and the process of experimentation. in each of these works, a threshold is explored, accepted, rejected, or surpassed. 

Join the Department of Art in celebrating these artists on Saturday, April 5, 6:00 – 8:30pm with a Public Program and Reception in conjunction with the 2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition see through love.

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