February 24 – 28
Reception: Friday, February 27, 5-8pm
Location: Art Lofts Gallery, 111 N Frances St, Madison, WI
This exhibition examines the literal sites that link the aboveground and subterranean worlds, and wants to find out what the conduit connecting the two worlds might be. Nika McKagen works in the field finding and documenting abandoned mines and caves as well as the landscapes around these openings. When underground, sometimes she stumbles across things that seem like complete mysteries, like a giant gate built into the rock. There are so many of these quasi-perverse artifacts of human intervention in these spaces that are emblematic of our colonization into the underground realm. These objects feel like the contemporary equivalents of ancient cave paintings, representative of the capitalocene and the alienation experienced aboveground. McKagen wants to figure out what happens both environmentally and psychically at these sites after excavating into them and mining them for resources. Most everything we do has to do with the void, and especially with the way that we choose to approach it.
We don’t think about the underground often, but we should. We take all kinds of things from it and use it to build up our material world up here.
The Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibitions season continues with Nika McKagen’s exhibit Conduit. 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!