MFA Thesis Exhibition, Part 2

The Department of Art at the University of California, Irvine is pleased to present the solo exhibitions of MFA candidates Zachary Maxfield Benson, Emily Babette Gross, Stephen Rivas, and A.R. Tran. This is the second round of 2023 MFA thesis exhibitions. Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, May 13 from 2–5pm. 

Airport
Zachary Maxfield Benson
Room Gallery 

The need to move. Through the HVAC system and into the subterranean. Through the tunnel, the sky opens, perpendicular to a flashlight.
The things that follow you to the places you go, coagulate, while modernization is in progress.
From a solid mass into a liquid and then into a gas.

Emily_irl
Emily Babette Gross
Contemporary Arts Center Gallery 

Emily Babette Gross is a Canadian-born artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. She studied painting and drawing at California State University, Long Beach and graduated with her BFA in 2015. She is currently a third-year MFA candidate of Studio Art at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine. Thematically her work explores identity and belonging, queer identity, subcultures, the performative aspects of gender, internet personas, and the concept of ‘home’. Emily_irl is a spectacle of creation, destruction, dolls, humans and friendships-gone-awry. The exhibition includes a three-channel video, sculptural installation and a painting. 
 

La Cosecha
Stephen Rivas
Contemporary Arts Center Gallery 

La Cosecha

Materials:
(For 15 liters)
Garlic 500 grams           Onion 500 grams
Spicy chili 500 grams     Ginger 750 grams
Vinegar 1-liter               Molasses 1-liter
MM liquid 2-liters         Guaro Chaparro 1-liter

Procedure:
1. The ingredients are chopped and ground together or separately, this can be done in mills or crushed with a stone.
2. Honey, liquid MMs are added
3. (MMA), vinegar and chaparro. mixed in 8 liters of water.
4. Water is added to complete the 5-gallon bucket, leaving a small gap between the lid and the mixture.
5. Stand for 15 days before use. 

Dosage:
125 cc per pump of 16 liters for vegetables, corn, and beans.
500 cc per pump for fruit trees and coffee.
 

THE ROOT OF DESIRE IS VIOLENT AND I STILL WANT TO BE WANTED
A.R. Tran
University Art Gallery 

This exhibition features new works in assemblage and sound that integrate Buddhist practices with an Afro-pessimistic lens to formally articulate a critique of the structural violence which sustains Western civilization. Drawing equally from personal experience and critical theory, Tran’s research examines international histories of public protest and urban warfare from the intersection of love and suffering.