M.F.A. candidates showcase artwork inspired by unique backgrounds and interests

March 19, 2019

This exhibition is the first of four final showcases of work by 2019 Master of Fine Art candidates in the UCLA Department of Art, featuring work by Jantsa Erdenebayar, Emily Nelms Perez, Maccabee Shelley, and Shevaun Wright. The exhibition is on view in the UCLA Broad Art Center New Wight Gallery through March 21. Find gallery hours and other details on the UCLA Arts online calendar of events.

Graduate student Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar displayed his exhibit entitled “Where is the Spirit Today?” at the MFA art showcase. His exhibit draws from his cultural heritage and incorporates the concept of the Mongolian lunar calendar. (Amy Dixon/Photo editor)

"Student artists featured a camera-shaped candle and body parts made of plywood for an exhibition in the New Wight Gallery.

The UCLA department of art presented the first of four MFA art showcases March 7, exhibiting the works of graduate students Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar, Maccabee Shelley and Shevaun Wright. Graduate student artist Emily Nelms Perez was also meant to display her art, but due to fire safety concerns, her work will be shown off-site at a later date. The exhibition was open to the public until Friday. While the three featured artists experimented with different media, each brought their life experiences and nonart-related interests to their installations, seen in both the works’ concepts and materials.

Wright said her law degree and six years of attorney experience directly informed her installation – the project chronicled her research into the 2006 renaming of UCLA’s Dickson Art Center into the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Center. Wright said her artwork aims to expose issues or voices that are lost within legal structures, and her research revealed a controversy over naming the center after philanthropist and entrepreneur Eli Broad.

For ceramics student Shelley, his bachelor’s degree in environmental science and passion for environmentalism invoked his material choices. After years of working as a technician in ceramics labs, Shelley said he learned complex glaze chemistry and how to transform materials others might throw away into art.

The sculptural work by Erdenebayar is collectively entitled “Where is the Spirit Today?” and also deals with ideas of temporality or adjustment, though his work mainly focuses on spirituality, he said. Erdenebayar said his cultural roots informed his art, as he came from Mongolia to the United States for his studies. He added “Where is the Spirit Today?” is inspired by the concept of the Mongolian lunar calendar. An important section of the calendar speaks to the voyage of the soul from one bodily organ to the next during each day of the month, he said."— Nina Young, Mar. 17, 2019

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.

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