2023 Exhibit

2023 Creative Works on Exhibition

Amanda Kowalski

What Else Would You Have Me Be:

I was once a concert photographer, and now my son is. We still take trips and go to see bands together. It is so much fun to see how my pictures and his pictures are similar and how they are different. This moment, it was quiet between songs. A sip and a set up for the next song. This is when I love taking pictures, but my son sat his camera down. He prefers action. This is action to me, there is a story here. This is when the heart and soul appear. When they are playing, then it is programmed and set… but this candid moment is when the magic happens for me. (Location Mohawk, Austin Texas, Band: Lucero, Ben Nichols taking a drink)

Typeset:

Texture always draws the eye and this set of letters caught mine. I always travel with my camera for just such moments. I was in Austin traveling with my family and shopping at various antique stores. I took pictures of keys, dice, books, and other tiny vignettes. Instead of collecting things, I was collecting moments. Each moment connects to a joke or story made and the image itself is striking but every snap has a different meaning for anyone and that is what makes them fun. Others might simply love the texture of this image, but I think of my mom joking that this is how her generation texted. (Location Uncommon Objects Austin Texas)

These images are not for sale

Image of a man with a guitar, taking a drink from a clear cup. The man is with other musicians on a stage at night time.

What Else Would You Have Me Be?

Artist Statement

Collection of physical types, including numbers and letters in a variety of sizes. The types are laid out flat, edge to edge, to create a block of types.

Typeset

Artist Statement

Jeff Janko

These items are for sale

Shrimp Boat at Sunrise $150.00

Pier in the Fog $150.00

Colorful image of a shrimp boat in a harbor at sunrise. The boat is reflected on the water and the horizon is cloudy.

Shrimp Boat at Sunrise

Pier in the Fog

Trent Thigpen

Complex systems fascinate me and inspire my artwork. The complex psychology of creativity and the potential experiences of viewers motivate me to do artwork. At the beginning of a project, I work intuitively with great effort not to overthink or to overanalyze my choices. I choose images and materials that invoke, in me, a cognitive dissonance, a state of unrest, or a strong emotion.

During the planning and sketching phase, I continue to work with as little thinking as possible, focusing on the visual impression. In the making phase of a project is when I allow myself to slowly contemplate and analyze multiple levels of meaning available in the imagery. I think about why I chose the objects, I imagine metaphors, symbolism, and the concepts clashing in the subjects and the materials. I do my best to understand how it all relates to everything else that I think I understand, always open to the possibility that I might have to adjust my beliefs to accommodate an observation or epiphany. I wonder how others will experience my creations.

Using fire ants as a medium gives such a multilayered experience. One of my earliest memories, from five years old, was the pain of a fire ant attack that shocked my young body and mind into a kind of acute awareness. Fire ants represent emergent social intelligence, where individual behaviors add up to something greater. The fire ant’s identity as an invasive species is a complex relationship between other species and human activities. They are evolutionary survivors. During the many, many hours of placing individual dead fire ants in my artwork, I have found a reverence for the lives I harvested. It has evoked an awareness and experience of the flowing systems which we all share and try to thrive within.

This item is not for sale

Ceramic art piece in an elongated bowl shape with rough edges. The bowl is black with white lines radiating from the center. The center has a skull figure, decorated in detail, using fire ants.

The Dreams in Which We're Dying: 100,000,000,001

Close up image of a ceramic art piece in an elongated bowl shape with rough edges. The bowl is black with white lines radiating from the center. The center has a skull figure, decorated in detail, using fire ants.

The Dreams in Which We're Dying: 100,000,000,001 Detail

Artist Statement

Soleil Day

This item is for sale

HeartThrob $50.00

image of a pink and red heart shape. The heart is shiny and dimensional, floating on a blue background.

HeartThrob

Rachel Moy

These items are for sale

Joshua Tree $35.00

Saturn’s Lament $45.00

Image of a cactus like tree against a night sky. Stars are visible in the sky.

Joshua Tree

Image of a weathered bearded statue. The figure is bare chested with a drape at shoulder and waist. The nose and right arm of the statue are damaged.

Saturn's Lament

William Whitworth

Great Amberjack Tagging Trip:

Imagine 36 hours on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. I remember leaving the Jetty and thinking man I am tired. We left the university at 4 am and I didn’t know what to expect for the trip. After being on the trip I grew an appreciation for the efforts HRI and many other universities, scientists and people make in settings like these. The Harte Research Institute is a part of the Greater Amberjack Count, our mission was to catch and tag the fish. Depending on size of the amberjack some were fitted with acoustic tags requiring a slice and a stitch on the underside of the fish while other ones were tagged with conventional tags. The tags emit signals unique to each fish and are recorded by underwater acoustic receivers.

The Glow of the Day:

Due to COVID 19 we all experienced plans and trips that we were excited for get canceled and rescheduled. For me, it was missing seeing Dayglow in concert due to rescheduling dates twice that I couldn’t attend. When I heard the news that he would be coming to TAMUCC, I was ecstatic! As my time at TAMUCC as a photographer whether a student or graduate, the Dayglow concert being my last event for the school gave me a sense of accomplishment. I was honored and excited to be covering the concert on behalf of the university and it was another highlight of my time here.

These images are accessible only in the online gallery.