MICA MFAST 2020 Thesis Exhibitions
April 2 – May 14
Common Ground Gallery
This series of exhibitions is of the Maryland Institute College of Art’s low-residency MFA (MFAST) 2020 graduate students thesis work.
Artist in Common Ground:
Michelle Lisa Herman: Always Already?
Always, Already? consists of interconnected video and light installations that explore alternate realities by ‘re-presenting’ everyday aspects of our own. An absent-but-always-present force threads its way through the works—providing the viewer with subtle clues to unraveling but never fully explaining what is “off.” Together, the works merge into an immersive, simulated environment that aims to transport the viewer to an other-worldly space in order to allow them to consider different modes of being and embodiment. In one video projection piece, “default” assumptions—such as the height of a light switch—are questioned. In another animated work, a ‘decimated’ cityscape presents a juxtaposition of neoclassical architecture and the quick-stop convenience of capitalism.