34 pagesThe Department of Art at the University of Oregon is pleased to present our 2019 MFA Thesis Exhibition at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center in Portland, Oregon. Marking the culmination of three years of rigorous studio investigation and critical discourse, the ten artists in this exhibition engage a wide breadth of art making practices that build on and challenge the histories of painting, sculpture, photography, print media, craft and digital practices. The exhibition is the outcome of the expansive work undertaken by our graduates and their intellectual curiosity in looking deeply at the conditions prevalent and pressing in our world today. With dramatic shifts in practice over the past three years, this cohort of artists have created a tight-knit community through the exchange of ideas formed by extensive conversations with our nationally and internationally recognized faculty, visiting artists, critics and curators. For this catalog, we bring our MFA Graduates together with the PHD and MA students in the History of Art and Architecture Department to produce written reflections on the creative processes and concepts behind the works of our ten graduating artists. This collaborative initiative, made possible through the stellar organization of Professor Jenny Lin, highlights what we hope to accomplish in our academic and artistic life – gather together around contexts that matter and build connections that expand our subject positions. So, it is with great pride that we celebrate the final work created by our 2019 MFA graduates at the University of Oregon and we look forward to watching and cheering their creative endeavors yet to come