At the Georgia Museum of Art, we collaborate with the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art annually to display the works of graduating master of fine arts students. This year’s exhibition is entirely online, due to the impact of COVID-19. Check out some of the candidate profiles below.
Leah Mazza
Leah Mazza views her sculptures as self-portraits and hopes audiences can self-reflect while viewing her art. One work, for example, is based on African memory boards and circuit boards and includes various found objects.
“The found objects are like clues,” said Mazza. “They become a way to analyze the subconscious. I often think of found objects like pieces and parts of ourselves we dismiss as unimportant, ignored, dark or mysterious desires we hide away.”
Finding a connection with oneself is important to Mazza, and she incorporated that along with her interests in astrology and dream interpretation into her art. Memories of actions, words and people are often easily warped in multiple ways, and she “hope[s] the viewer perceives the untitled piece in this exhibition as a cryptic device to unlock or absorb memories.” Deep connections are something that Mazza hopes people can make for themselves, and she focuses on mystery rather than clarity. There are infinite answers to every question, and Mazza wants to prompt a bit of soul searching in her audiences.
Rachel Watson
Rachel Watson, a Georgia native, has spent nearly her entire life exploring and being creative. Her family and friends have suffered from depression, and she gained an interest in mental health because of it. She began looking into Central State Hospital, in Macon, Georgia, and its patients.
“As I read extensively about this place and these people, I constantly think about their stories and specific events that happened while I walk the grounds,” says Watson. The institution’s complex history is not one she takes lightly. “Whether consciously or unconsciously, they are always on my mind and affecting my decisions while making and documenting on site.”
Her piece “247: Protected, Cared For, Cured and Released” symbolizes her response to the Open Door Policy, a policy that let patients have contact with each other and the outside world. “I’d like viewers to begin to think about how people with disabilities are treated, whether in the 1970s or now,” says Watson.
Her extensive research on this topic, added to its closeness-to-home, fuels her to continue to pursuing this interest. Intending to get rid of the stigma around mental health, Watson wants to open people’s minds, “to get [people] to stop looking down on others.” No one can adjust to society if they aren’t encouraged or allowed to participate in it, and Watson hopes to prevent the mental health system from failing more people.
Kim Truesdale
Kim Truesdale finds a connection between food and the societal expectations of women, the latter of which she was born into. “Observing how the conservative southern women in my family adhere to traditional gender roles prompted my investigation into the loss of women’s identities and individuality,” says Truesdale.
A close relative of hers is a former baker and current homemaker who found herself in a series of abusive relationships, and at one point even fell into a diabetic coma. Truesdale intends to use her work to represent women “who have a ‘cover story’ that they present to the world, thus, ignoring their inner reality eats away at their sense of self, identity and purpose.”
Truesdale’s craftsmanship and use of various media isn’t all there is to recognize; when asked what she wants audiences to take away from her work, she said, “Be aware that until gender roles stop being perpetuated, nothing will change or progress.”
The food items she picked to make as part of her work are reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s, along with traditional southern foods and family-style items that she has gotten used to eating. With the sense of familiarity comes a sense of duty to continue tradition. Young girls often begin assuming traditional roles, such as when using an Easy-bake oven or other toy kitchen sets, and Truesdale points out that they parallel with her miniature-scale sculptures. Food serves several functions, some of which go unrecognized, and the food Truesdale prepared is intended to open minds rather than mouths.
Authored by:
Giselle Brannam
