Not just a thesis at UMass Dartmouth's art department

Three masters of fine arts students at UMass Dartmouth chose to highlight their thesis projects at the Art and Design Studios in what used to be a Bed Bath and Beyond in the Dartmouth Towne Center.

They were among nine candidates showing off their artwork across four locations in Dartmouth and New Bedford.

“Art is an expression of what we're living today, what’s important, what’s fragile about today, what’s sad about today, what’s glorious about today,” said Rebecca Hutchinson, the Master’s of Fine Arts director.

Each student chose a location to highlight the majority of their work, depending on what would showcase it best. Yaren Yildiz, Immer Cook and Alison Bergman, all pursuing a masters in ceramics, chose to highlight their sculptural work in Dartmouth. “Some of the three-dimensional artists felt like this openness was really good for them,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve made it quite productive.”

Yildiz began her artistic journey drawing the human form, but wanted to explore the same subject and style in clay. She uses coils and slabs to build abstract human forms. Her artworks sat on podiums, circling around her space in colorful swirls. 

“I have developed my own method, which is rolling my coiling on top of a type of stain and underglazes while I’m building the form before firing,” said Yildiz, “I think I found my voice, so I would like to further my research more about color.”

She works as an assistant instructor in art history and film and media studies at UMass. She is from Turkey and is based in New Bedford. 

Cook creates sculptures that explore spectrums by combining many forms. His works often sit on improvised supports to create the final form. His art hung on the walls and stood tall in the center of his space. 

“I am working on a spectrum of stability and instability, permanence and impermanence, combining bodily biomorphic clay forms with sculptural bases made from bound materials,” Cook said. 

He has a background in landscape construction and modern dance, and is based in Easthampton. 

Bergman’s background in elementary education inspires her colorful and abstract art. Her work features creatures, noodles and weirdos in fluid environments, and she uses underglazes to create crayon-type colors. She said she enjoys using space as a medium, and her area took over the walls, floors and ceilings with color. 

“Education is really critical to developing creativity, democracy, autonomy and all of these things that I tried to bring into my world when I was a teacher, and now I’m bringing it into my art,” Bergman said.

Bergman is from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and traveled to Dartmouth a couple times each week to complete her degree. She owns Art and Joy, a small art gallery in her hometown.

The other six artists showed their art predominantly in New Bedford. 

Sarah Valinezhad’s area of focus is illustration. She focuses on Iranian women’s shared experiences within domestic spaces.

Mitraavrs’ area of focus is illustration. They use experimental web-based formulas to create narrative systems. Their work often explores displacement and reorientation. 

Maya August Palmer’s area of focus is painting. Their work focuses on the overlooked, the clutter made by both humans and nature. 

Allison Morones’ area of focus is fibers. She tells stories through her art. She makes puppets and costumes that look back at childhood in the Southwest with fantasy and rose-colored glasses. 

Ali Masoumzadeh’s area of studies is painting. His fictional work is based on his own experiences and emotions. His paintings are three dimensional 

Arghavan Booyeh’s area of studies is fiber. She tells the story of themes such as women’s rights, equality and human rights, using the symbols Sarv and Booteh as metaphors for heroic women. 

The gallery was open from April 17 to May 9, with the closing ceremony happening a few days before the artists had to pack their exhibits. 

“They’ve had their month of celebration,” said Hutchinson, “They’re tired. They’re packing. They’re thinking about the next steps in life.”