As we travel through life, we lose pieces of ourselves. It’s inevitable. Yet we are more than the sum of our parts. These pieces can be cast aside, lost to the wind or imply left behind. They can also be stitched back together, forming a patchwork quilt of sorts. The world is constantly changing, and now more than ever we live in a time of uncertainty. So, I feel the need to stitch together my reality. I am a Maker, and I choose to make a reflection of the world I want to inhabit; a world of my own making.

Brief Artist Statement by Jacob Phillips as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Unicorn Magic” in the Cora Stafford Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on April 12-22, 2021.

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "Trappings is a huntress’ vanity room installation, exhibiting the duality of being feminine while utilizing masculine skills and traits. Keela Dee Dooley is a metalsmith from southwest Virginia, in the Appalachian Mountains where southern culture has gender expectations, stereotypes, and misconceptions. Working in what is considered a “man’s world” she challenges the expected role of a young woman by being skilled in a traditionally male dominated field, ferrous metalsmithing, and referencing the traditionally male dominated practice of hunting. Breaking the boundaries of industrial equipment and material, she creates elegant yet intimidating wearable sculptures out of steel on the CNC Plasma Cutter."

I am an interdisciplinary artist whose work bridges mental health, body dysmorphia, and the visual arts together through sculptures, paintings, performances, and large installations. I work with traditional and nontraditional materials through a manual and digital process to physically represent my realities of living with body dysmorphic disorder. I use padding, paper, and other fibrous objects as metaphors for the flesh and manipulate these materials in numerous ways to create exaggerations of the body.

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "Photography lets one be a participant as a viewer and recorder of moments in the space around them. The impulse to capture moments is felt as urgent in our current social atmosphere, and the act of image making to depict true reflection and sense of the space around us seems to have gotten lost. My intention is to observe and make imagery of temporal details I see in place. Through the process of a walk, I emphasize being present in my current space and moment. Walking is an independent, autonomous action that allows one to witness, freeze and appreciate instances in time and place. The curiosity that sets a body in motion while walking lets the observer detect variation in a situation, and to never see the same thin g twice. My work presents glimpses of individual human trace, as well as transient marks seen in nature that one might miss because of the ephemerality of place and moment. It portrays awareness of the environment and expresses interest with the unknowns of life around us. By walking to observe my surroundings, I allow myself to discover hints of others’ lives, and to contemplate the …

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "My work expresses personal experiences dealing with race, identity, and social critique. As an African American woman born and raised in Texas, it is common for me to be the only black face in white spaces. Being framed as the "other" has been ingrained in my existence, affecting the way I navigate through life. Throughout my time in graduate school, I have constructed my own framework of identity. Referencing history and its permanent effects on the present, my work explores the internal and external complexities of being a black woman in America today."

My work explores the interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships we have with our physical, mental, and emotional bodies. Using techniques ranging from traditional carpentry to digital fabrication, the works are created to represent individual traumatic experiences as well as the universality of loss. My pieces are meant to elicit an empathic response from the audience. There are common traumas and pains that bring humans together as a form of bonding.

I make work that engages the porous and sensate body. The larger question for me is the interdependency of how we exist within our environment and how our environment exists in us. Caves, deep time, and the feminine landscape factor into my work, as well as thinking beyond a humancentered narrative to address concerns about the earth. My process involves using raw pigment, wax, rain, dirt, and the language of abstraction to point to a raw, interior space. My source material is equal parts imagination and field research, most recently into cave systems.

Brief Artist Statement by Kyung Hee “Kate” Im as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Entanglement” in the Union Art Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on April 5-22, 2021.

Brief Artist Statement by Maria Haag as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Maelstrom” in the Cora Stafford Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on March 15-23, 2021.

Juan Barroso's artwork depicts Mexican labor and the immigrant experience at the border. With the current political administration enforcing policies that dehumanize and force immigrants into the shadows, recognizing an immigrant’s humanity is vital. As the son of immigrant parents, he pays homage to his people and the dignity of their labor. He mixes 2- dimensional imagery, influenced by personal narratives, with 3-dimensional functional forms. Using a small watercolor brush, he paints his images with thousands of dots in a timeconsuming and labor-intensive process that becomes an act of devotion.

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "I did everything right. I counted my carbs, meal prepped, and joined the high school volleyball team (For exercise of course. Heaven forbid it be for fun). All growing up, I always assumed that things would get so much easier when I stepped into adulthood. I would be comfortable in my body. Spoiler Alert, that didn’t happen. Before this starts to sound like a Judy Blume novel, let me explain. A shot of apple cider vinegar, 13 vitamins, gluten free diet, and portion control. These are all aspects of my routine that I dread but they keep me going. The concept of routine as composition really resonated with me when I first made these dietary changes. Much like repeated elements in a composition, repeated elements in my routine are what keep me going, help me function, and make me a successful composition (or human, whatever you want to call it). So why do I get bogged down by the objects that are supposed to be helping me? As a woman who has been on some sort of diet since age 12, it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that your body …

Belief is our acceptance of an optimal truth. We embed a belief into the things in our life that give us comfort or strength. Whether they are recognizable in popular culture or are our own private object, their value shifts to what we need them to be. My current work is inspired by multi-cultural historic luck or from my own practice of object collection. They are physical objects that are representative of ritual or ones that “bring” luck. The objects are primarily wearable jewelry, although I have included the pocket as a location of wearability. Regardless of how or where they are worn, they are meant to be valued by the wearer in some capacity.

Brief Artist Statement by Augustine Uzor as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Memories of the Future" at The Gough Gallery Space in the Patterson Appleton Art Center in Denton, TX on February 20-28, 2021.

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "Through my art I strive to raise awareness towards the protection of the ocean. Plastic pollution, over-fishing, species extinction, and nuclear waste are some of the problems I symbolize in order to create conversations around the issues and do my part in starting a wave of change. The ocean is one interconnected circulatory system for our plane,t so anywhere that humans are abusing the oceans, it affects us all. I hope to remind people of the sacredness of the sea in order to help renew our reverence and respect for it."

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "This body of work contains digital photographs, sculptures and wallpapers to highlight a personal journey through motherhood. Traditionally, the roles of a new mother have been handed down from generation to generation. A mother teaches her daughter how to soothe her fussy infant, her domestic responsibilities, to maintain her feminine mystique. Though many of these traditions of mouth to ear to mouth familial heritage continue, today’s society inundated women with visual language to remind them that although they can challenge the traditions and their choice to participate, those same discarded ideals of how to act or perform will continue to tug at the shoulder. "

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "When I left my parents to venture out into the world alone, my white privilege was stripped. While my racial background is not white, I was raised by white parents who had two biological children. Being raised this way afforded me the comfort and ability to pass through life with little to no danger of being hurt, being granted permission to be anywhere I wanted, never shut out because of my color. I still have access to many of those things because I am still my parents' daughter. I am however increasingly aware of the color of skin and how I am perceived in the context of being on my own, a single, bi/asexual artist. I also learned of my membership in a club of other people of color that I didn’t know I belonged, small and yet furiously protective of its members. A language of nods, shrugs, and eye to eye glances are a part of the language of the club, our nonverbal communication that validates our presence in a white world. much of the work this group does involves teaching and explaining why we exist as a unit separate from the world …

My background in fashion relied on the use of sewing machines as tools to create garments made of new materials. My current artmaking has evolved away from the body and functionality to become relief sculptures in cloth. This work is the embodiment of moments in time and space that have stopped me mid-stride, compelling me to closely examine the details. As a fine artist, I translate these observations of nature into my art by using a needle and thread to hand stitch on reclaimed cloth. I invite the viewers to pause, wonder, and think about their place in the world.

Constructed Self is an exhibition of life-size forms that blur the line between photography and sculpture while being both stable and on the verge of collapse. These damaged concrete columns, slabs, and hand-formed bricks used to create walls are inspired by architecture's support structures to convey my internal psychic framework. Photographs are transferred on the surface of these forms that depict environments where I have processed and experienced my struggles with mental health. This work explores how to communicate and convey the interior and exterior of my emotional self in visible terms while bringing me healing emotionally through the process of making these sculptures.

Brief Artist Statement by Cosmo Jones as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Green Man Action Cycle” at Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas frpm March 15-21, 2021.

This work is a developing portrait of women workers who are involved in labor rights advocacy within the context of the maquiladora (assemblage factory) industry in Mexico. I have traveled to do research in Mexico by making photographs and through collecting recorded testimonies from the women workers I come to meet through an organization called the Comité Fronterizo de Obreras. The resulting artwork I make includes photographs, handmade books, video, sculpture and works on paper. Ultimately, my translation of the empowerment and stories of these women workers into works of art are at the center of my practice.

Brief Artist Statement by Loren Jones as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Objects of Wonder: Journey of Perception” at 23 Design Co., Denton, TX on April 15-20, 2021.

Brief Artist Statement by Matthew Johnson as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Phantom Pain” in the Cora Stafford Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on April 1-6, 2021.

Brief Artist Statement by Marianna Seaton as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Golden Anecdoche” in the Cora Stafford Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on March 15-21, 2021.