Questionables: Ceramics and Sculpture opens at the Averitt Center in November
The Georgia Southern University Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art and The Averitt Center for the Arts will present MacKenzie Willard’s solo exhibition Questionables: Ceramics & Sculpture at the Averitt Center’s Legends Gallery Nov. 4 – 26. A reception for the show will be held during First Friday from 5 -7 p.m. on Nov. 4.
“Willard is among the most exciting emerging artists we have here at Georgia Southern. Her work is smart and engages with all kinds of interesting problems and ideas in the art world,” said Georgia Southern Gallery Director Jason Hoelscher. “In addition to that, her art is often just plain strange to look at, which I say a compliment–she has a real knack for offering the viewer just enough information to resolve into something that’s almost understandable, but not quite enough that you can ever fully figure out what you’re supposed to take away from the experience. That kind of targeted ambiguity is the hallmark of a true artist, in my opinion, and is the kind of thing that keeps people coming back to look again.”
Willard, who took home first-place honors in the BFSDoArt’s Undergraduate Juried Exhibition in the spring, uses personal experiences and hybrid self-portraits to express her views on topics that influence her daily decision-making and the exceptions she makes for the normal rules of society. Willard is a senior pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in 3D Studio Arts at the BFSDoArt.
“In our day-to-day, we make a lot of choices about things that could be questionable,” Willard said. “This work points to those choices. This work asks things like ‘Do animals have feelings? Is killing them OK? Do you have enough adventures? Does your job make you miserable? Do practical objects have to be practical?”
The Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art (BFSDoArt) is committed to offering quality undergraduate and graduate degree programs that prepare students to become professional artists, designers, art historians and industry leaders. The BFSDoArt is recognized as an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). For more information, visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu/art.
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is the largest of the eight colleges that make up Georgia Southern University, and it plays a central role in every student’s core of knowledge. CLASS, also described as the University’s College of the Creative Mind, prepares students to achieve academic excellence, develop their analytical skills, enhance their creativity and embrace their responsibilities as citizens of their communities, their nations and the world. CLASS offers more than 20 undergraduate degrees and several interdisciplinary minors from its 11 departments and five academic centers. CLASS offers eight master’s degrees, two graduate certificates and one doctoral degree. For more information, visit class.georgiasouthern.edu.
Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving more than 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. GeorgiaSouthern.edu.
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