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Expand your perspective and connect with your classmates, your community, and the world around you! UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMGRADUATE PROGRAMThe University of Wisconsin-Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin.
This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. We respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.
UW Art in the News
Announcing the 2023 Arts + Literature Laboratory Prize winners Teresa Audet and Xinchen Li
For Immediate Release – March 6, 2023
The Arts + Literature Laboratory and UW–Madison Art Department are pleased to announce the 2023 Arts + Literature Laboratory Prize winners University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate Students Teresa Audet and Xinchen Li!
The annual ALL Prize exhibition is awarded to one or two graduating MFA candidates from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, selected by curators on the ALL Visual Arts Team. The prizewinner’s MFA thesis exhibition will be shown at ALL, and receive a $1,000 stipend to assist with exhibition expenses and installation provided by the Art Department.
A local Madison community-driven contemporary non-profit arts organization, the ALL provides the visual, literary, music and performing arts that presents over 200 events per year, mostly free or low-cost, and year-round arts education for all ages, working to make the arts more accessible and sustainable in our community.
My work seeks to define the shape of indescribable phenomena. What color is trauma or depression? What does anxiety sound like? What shape does hopefulness take in physical form? Utilizing robotics and sound design in conjunction with handcrafted wood and rattan, my thesis exhibition will explore the somatic experiences of mental illness. Through audience interaction and play, I bring a lightheartedness to these heavy topics. By focusing on our both joyous and painful humanity, I aim to remove the shroud of shame from these collective experiences.
I use wood, rattan, handmade paper, and mixed media to create sculptures that utilize the language of furniture, basketry, and the human body. The repetitive craft processes I use are calming to my mind and result in visual repetition; lines and grids are my wandering woven thoughts. I am interested in the nature of utility, the object as vessel for unexpected and emotional interaction, and using humor and absurdity to point to collective social concerns. Kinetics and robotics have recently become a part of my practice as a way to create work that interacts with the viewer in unexpected ways.
For my thesis exhibition, small creatures on vacuum-like robots will wander around the gallery carrying flags with self-care messages, such as “drink more water” and “feelings aren’t facts”. A ghostly figure created from wood and rattan is outfitted with a motion sensor and a motor; its coat of rattling shingles tremors with anxiety when a visitor gets too close. On the wall, wooden and woven vessels pulsate in specific rhythms, simulating breathing exercises for panic attacks.
This work is informed by my own experience with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and PTSD, and many years of CBT, DBT, and EMDR therapies. I choose to work from scientific data alongside my own, and a narrative of resilience rather than suffering. I aim to make work that the audience can see themselves in as much as they see me.
—Teresa Audet [MFA ’23]
My current research continuously focuses on creating an immersive environment. Throughout my research practice, creating a place of memory is a constantly recurring theme.
I am returning to object making and to create a room in memory/a “time-space” for myself. I chose the furniture from the house I grew up in that has metaphorical and symbolic meanings to me. Recreating the furniture with the 3D printing pen in life-size serves as a flashback to my memories. Besides, because of the fragile material, it also reflects the fictional nature of memory and tactility. I explicitly chose a clock, a bed, a cabinet, a wardrobe, and a sewing machine. And some pieces will be hanging in the air; when lights go through, the shadow of the pattern and portrait that made up the furniture will output another piece on the floor/wall. The remaking process reclaimed my ownership of the family history and memories. At the same time, the design of these old furniture pieces reflects the artisan’s unique aesthetic and craft level in the seventies and eighties China. It becomes a mapping of my generation’s cultural background and belonging. I also recorded the sound of the sewing machine and my grandma’s oral stories to play in the show, helping create the immersive environment.
—Xinchen Li [MFA ’23]
Audet and Li’s 2023 MFA thesis exhibitions will be shown at ALL from March 17 – April 17, 2023, with a reception on Friday, March 24th from 6 to 9pm.
Events
Corredo: Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition by Annmarie Suglio
March 23 - April 1 Reception:...
Chipping at the Paint: Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition by Meg White
March 22 - April 1 Reception:...
Gaffer Gala Night
Saturday, April 1 @ 6-9pm...
Black as the Depths: An MFA Qualifier Exhibition by Zari Williams
March 5 - 12 Reception: Friday,...
Bound: An MFA Qualifier Exhibition by Emilee Taxman
March 5 - 12 Reception: Thursday,...
MOWA Exhibit Courts Next-Generation Artists by Michael Muckian
Art speaks to the soul of its...
Spring 2023 Visiting Artist & Art Faculty Colloquium
Come visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Department!
Tours are now available by appointment, view our upcoming Art Department events for prospective students at Visit Bucky: apps.admissions.wisc.edu/visitbucky/
Carefully read the event information and COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Campus Visitor Agreement before your visit.
Arts at UW
Did you know?
The UW-Madison Art Department is:
- #1 in Printmaking
- Ranked among the top 15 Fine Arts MFA programs
- Founded the 1st collegiate Glass program in the U.S.
- 1 of only 5 universities in the nation with a Neon program
Ranking Source: U.S. News & World Report
The University of Wisconsin-Madison ART DEPARTMENT is committed to teaching art in the context of a major research university and a vibrant intellectual community. Offering the following degrees: B.S., B.F.A., M.A., & M.F.A. in Studio Art, B.S. in Art Education, Certificate in Art Studio, and Certificate in Graphic Design.
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