By Anne Russell. They are not household names — yet. There still is some assembly required.
But keep an eye out for the likes of Kitamura, Mol, and van Delft as painting, sculpture, and visual arts take centre stage this week at the University of the Fraser Valley.
Everyone is invited to Some Assembly Required, the Bachelor of Fine Arts Grad Show. The opening reception is on Friday, April 25 at 6:30 pm in Building C on the Abbotsford campus.
While the opening reception was April 25, the show continues through May 16, both in Building C and in the gallery in room B136 on the Abbotsford campus.
Twenty-three talented artists — the largest graduating class to date — will present their final artworks on the walls and inside various studios in the Visual Arts Department.
“This is a really exciting time. All our years of schooling are building up to this moment,” says Will van Delft. “We’re a really diverse group of students. Our approaches to making art, our topics of interest, and our research cover a wide range, but still we have to come together and put together a cohesive exhibition. I think the resulting show really speaks to the process of assembly.”
Graduate Nastasha Mol says this is a bittersweet moment. “I am flooded with memories from the past five years. The small class sizes provide more interaction with professors… but more than that I have developed relationships with these teachers who are so invested and passionate.”
Mol’s work has progressed over time and two pieces she will present in the show encapsulate her entire experience here at UFV.
“One of my pieces, called Learned Compassion, came to fruition when I learned my great grandfather and his brother fled Poland during the Holocaust while his parents and sisters were sent to death camps,” she explains. “I created handmade dolls based on real women whose identities were taken from the Yad Vashem’s Victim Database. These dolls are a tool to help install the significance of learning compassion for your fellow human.”
This year’s BFA grad class is the largest to date. The graduates are: Angie Born, Chrissy Courtney, Jacqueline Cunard, Alisha Deddens, Kate Feltren, Nieyan Geng, Courtney Harrod, Dustin Haw, Darci Heard, Kristen Kitamura, Ashley Leclair, Mallory Legge, Anita Lewis, Dean Lewthwaite, Vanessa Louwerse, Maryanne McFarlane, Kelsey McHattie-Simpson, Ashleigh Miller, Nastasha Mol, Jason Peters, Jeff Rasmussen, Anna Williams, Will VanDelft, Rachel VanTilborg.
Some Assembly Required: UFV’s BFA grad show is sponsored by UFV Student Society and UFV Alumni Association and catered by Restaurant 62. Wine will be sold by the UFV Alumni.
The four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program is dynamic and interdisciplinary, offering a visual arts major, as well as minors and extended minors in art history, creative writing, fashion, graphic design, media & communications studies, and theatre.
For more information, contact Grace Tsurumaru.