Mackenzie Sheehan-D’arrigo

BFA Solo Exhibition 

Kresge Art Center | Gallery 101

April 15 – April 19, 2024 

Closing Reception: Friday, April 19th | 6 – 8 pm

Below every surface is an internal battle- below the surface of the earth, the skin, the mind. The work in Can You Hold This? extracts what oftentimes goes unseen to explore things that are rarely as they appear, whether it be childhood memories or the rocky surface of a geode harboring crystals at its core. Some memories are like rocks, solid and foundational until age slowly erodes them away. Others are like flesh, temporal and subject to rot. Should we hold one higher than the other? After all, both are inevitable. Even mighty stalagmites show us this. We cannot control natural geological processes, nor can we control the events that shaped our memories.

I work with clay for its easily imprintable qualities in combination with mixed media that invite elements of uncertainty to find the balance between control and vulnerability. This is a process of dissonance and harmony. I find control and comfort through tedious and repetitious modes of creating. I code complex emotions behind grotesque and jarring symbolism to elicit vulnerable feelings. Through the use of geological and anatomical symbolism, I hope to expose glimpses of myself to not only others but also to myself.