Time Sensitive: Master of Fine Arts Candidates Exhibitions A and B showcases the capstone projects of twelve Master of Fine Arts students from the University of Florida. The artists—Jacqueline Jeanette Adams, Delvin Caldwell, Michael Christopher, Peter Philip Gouge, Ye Ma (showing at the Libby Gallery), Elham Masoudi, Rachel McDonald, Melissa Laura Nunez, Victoria Kelsey Palombit, Franklin Andrew Ratliff, Fang-Yi Su, and Morgan Elizabeth Yacoe—present various theses reflecting the trajectory of their individual practices. The exhibition brings together a wide array of concepts, perspectives, and media (including photography, ceramics, painting, installation, video, sculpture, printmaking, and graphic design), coalescing into an exploration of mutability, impermanence, and change. To wit: Time. 

Although Time Sensitive comprises unique works representing each artists’ distinctive practice, the show supports an overarching framework of joint contemplation. The thematic of time is complex and broad. The exhibition aims to echo this intricacy and breadth by surveying the tensions, contiguities, and linkages within the artists’ works. Collaborative deliberation encourages robust consideration of the artists’ specific works. Consequently, Time Sensitive is best thought of as threads of temporality weaving a meandering web across the gallery. 

The exhibition considers and meditates upon fleeting moments, individual experiences, and communal change. The artists’ particular concerns are revealed by their divergent choices. In Time Sensitive, some artists explore intensely personal themes while others scrutinize measured subjects from afar. Throughout the projects, there are various cultural and international reference points. Investigations of modern-day societal and familial pressures, to medical advancement and mental health, to even the process of growth and decay are present. Despite the extensive scope, recurrent leitmotifs of transformation, variation, and the contemporary milieu are consistently probed. Accordingly, the exhibition is grounded by the artworks’ deep connections to the premise of time.

With eye towards augmenting meaning, the works are placed to further potential connotative interpretations. The juxtaposition of arranging the projects in careful proximity engenders the viewer to consider contemporaneity, memory, and ephemerality. The MFA projects take on significance by acting as interlocuters upon the gallery walls. Through the lens of interrelated curation, the artworks function in concert with one another to enhance the viewer’s experience. This organizational model promotes an appreciation for the whole, while highlighting individuality. Thus, this sui generis environment simultaneously preserves the artists’ distinct theses while building a central thematic structure.

Laura R. Colkitt, Assisting Curator

UF Art History Ph.D. candidate​