Last Updated on May 17, 2021 by Indiana University Kokomo
SOURCE: News release from Indiana University Kokomo
KOKOMO, Ind. — View the best of the best artwork created by Indiana University Kokomo’s New Media, Art, and Technology (NMAT) graduates, in the annual Senior Thesis Exhibition.
The show is open through Friday, May 28, in the Downtown Art Gallery, 102 N. Main St., Kokomo.
Erik Deerly, professor and department chair for NMAT, said the exhibition provides the public an inside look at the work IU Kokomo students create, as well as an opportunity for classmates and faculty to evaluate it.
Violence Mullins is among the nine artists featured, with an installation relating to consumer products, and the impact those items have on the environment and people. It includes not only the products, but quotes, QR codes, and clues, to encourage viewers to research them to learn more about how they are made, the people who create them, and the long-term impact once they are discarded, “providing them with some level of freedom and authority over their purchasing decisions,” she said.
Mullins, from Kokomo, said the exhibition provides an opportunity for people to see what the emerging artists in the area are doing. She is proud to be among them.
“This exhibition gives us the chance to explore our mediums of choice, and our subject matters of choice,” she said, adding that it’s also an opportunity to show growth during the students’ time at IU Kokomo.
“I am more considerate of conceptual aspects of my work, rather than being visually precise,” she said. “I used to be nitpicky about capturing everything exactly as I saw it. I’ve come to learn that there is a lot of meaning in the lapse between what you are trying to capture, and how you get there.”
As a May 2021 graduate, Mullins is beginning an apprenticeship as a tattoo artist, and is considering graduate school in the future.
The Gallery is open from 1 to 7 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. It is also open from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 19.
Students featured are listed by hometown. They include:
Frankfort: Nancy Santiago
Kokomo: Megan Gaines, Violence Mullins, Alyssa Pier, Raelee Puckett-Sharpless
Lafayette: Mason Pate
Logansport: Adrian Gazcon
North Manchester: Drew Terrill
Westfield: Emily Matthews
Education is KEY at Indiana University Kokomo.