Over the next few months we are offering a glimpse into the creative process of the Art Department’s graduating master of fine arts candidates, who are presenting their final thesis exhibitions throughout the spring semester. These exhibitions represent the culmination of years of dedicated study and artistic exploration, showcasing our students’ diverse talents and innovative approaches to art-making.

Jonah Figueroa-Daley, an MFA candidate in glass, pursues his art with an interdisciplinary mindset. Working with glass, fibers, and other unconventional materials, he creates objects and installations on reflected experiences focusing on their relationship to the body.

Figueroa-Daley’s final thesis exhibition, “The Last Rose of Summer,” is a portrait constructed from a collection of “things,” images, and sculptures. These works examine the intricate relationship between the home Figueroa-Daley grew up in, the land it resides on, and the body — a relationship profoundly shaped by their experience with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and further informed by the medical experiences of their mother moving through her diagnosis with HER2-metastatic breast cancer.

The exhibition will be on view at UW–Madison’s Art Lofts Gallery from March 10-15. A reception, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Wednesday, March 12, from 6 to 9 p.m.

We asked Figueroa-Daley to share some insights about his exhibition. Following is an edited Q&A:

What do you create?
I create experimental objects and sculpture using a large variety of materials. Often, I use borosilicate glass (similar to lab glass), or pyrex; handcrafted neon; and construction-based materials you might find in a house like fiberglass insulation, wood, hard foam, drywall, and wiring. I manipulate many of these materials by exposing them to heat, and they are transformed whilst retaining their original properties in their end result.

Can you share a bit about your process?
I use a process called flameworking, where I melt borosilicate glass in a high-temperature flame, either using a handheld torch or a larger tabletop torch. The glass is then interconnected into a structural web that can take on any form. Once the form is complete, I sometimes incorporate additional materials, such as pink fiberglass insulation as seen in my work “Epidermis//Hypodermis” (2023).