Thesis show reviews with Jane Lackey

The thesis show did indeed open on Friday April 18 with great fanfare and celebration. Seven students from the Fiber Department have their work included in the show. They are: Annica Cuppetelli, Carrie Dickason, Rachel Hunt, Wei-Hui Hsu, Roderick Klingelhofer, Haewon Yoo, and Jasmine Valandani. In their pieces we have work that addresses the relationship of fashion and art, representations of the natural world and what defines that world, interventions in the body, the cultural other or alien, the growth and decay of the city as a system, violence and forgiveness, and experiential presence. They all worked very hard and made tremendous developments in their work. More importantly they have provided a foundation of questioning and thinking that will continue in their work outside of the Academy.

The opening on the 18th was very well attended by current students, alumni, their families, and local supporters of the Academy. It was a beautiful evening that allowed people to see the pieces in the museum and those works on the grounds of the Academy.

On the following Monday we were fortunate to have Jane Lackey join us to review the work in the thesis exhibition. She had worked with these students in their first year, so this provided a reconnection for each of them. Jane spent time over the weekend with each of the pieces, thinking about the work each student had done during her time with them, the connections the work has to the work of other artists, and evaluating the formal and material usage in each piece. The entire department was present as Jane shared these insights about each of the pieces made by the seven Fiber students. That evening we celebrated Jane's visit with a dinner at a local alum's home which gave us a great time to chat with Jane informally.

On Tuesday we followed a similar program in the department as Jane shared thoughts about the work of the six first year students. Each day was thought provoking and exciting and we thank Jane for her generosity.

No calm before the storm

So what could be left to do after fourth and second semester reviews and a visiting artist? Only the thesis show. The second year students are all completing and installing their pieces for the show. Installation started last Thursday, April 10, in the Cranbrook Art Museum. People are working day and night and work is growing all about the department and campus. Most of the work will be inside the museum, but several pieces are on the grounds of the campus. I will put some pictures on the blog after the show opens. The thesis show will open on Friday April 18.

And the first years are not just sitting on their laurels and watching the hectic activities of the second year students. All of the students in the department will have critiques with our final guest, Jane Lackey, next Monday and Tuesday. So they are working on final projects as well as research presentations and papers that are due as the semester winds down.

Mary working in the studio and...

Mary, a first year student, working in the studio and



her T.V. needlepoint pillow from her most recent critique.