April 13 – 24
Reception: Friday, April 17, 5-8pm
Location: Commonwealth Gallery, 100 S Baldwin St, 3rd Fl, Madison, WI, Open everyday 9am-9pm
dis•comfort explores the vulnerability of the human body’s own comfort inside and outside itself. The work questions the ideal body and focuses on disabled comfort through foam – a material distinctly connected to my identity being chronically ill in bed. The exhibition weaves in and out, and in between comfortable and uncomfortable. It shows intense bodily moments in material and body while physically recontextualize what people see when they see a disabled person. The disabled becomes like an oracle, coming from the disabled ancestor Alice Wong who said: “My body you call broken, I call an oracle.” I feel the calling to let myself remain open, uncontained, and precarious as an act of defiance even if it breaks me.
Through material configuration, I blend past, present, and future disabled identity to explore the complex totality of its state of being. Facing discomfort in many aspects is human and distinctly disabled. When we embrace the break, when we move past failure, there is more life. There is more possibility. The way we move through the world may have changed, but that isn’t an end. We are connected in our comfort and discomfort.
The Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibitions season continues with Carly “Car” Riegger’s exhibition dis•comfort. The MFA Thesis Exhibitions mark the culmination of a three-year degree program that emphasizes development of a rigorous studio art practice under the supervision of a faculty guidance committee. Exploring an interdisciplinary approach to art making, as well as coursework in art history and related fields, artists cultivate professional practices that facilitate a sustainable career in the arts. Join us in celebrating our Class of 2026 UW-Madison Graduate professionals!