Reception: April 2, 4-6pm
Ceremony: April 2, 4:30pm
Duration: March 16- April 10, 2026
About: The Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition marks a pivotal moment in a graduate artist’s journey, bringing years of research, experimentation, and sustained practice into public view. This year’s show features two distinct thesis exhibitions presented concurrently in the gallery: ‘Out of the Blue’ by Iris Zhao and ‘Finding Balance’ by Madison Rumler.
These exhibitions offer a compelling opportunity to engage with each artist’s individual vision as it takes tangible form through a breadth of creativity, technical skill, and material mastery. Visitors are invited to encounter not only the depth and rigor of each artist’s practice, but also the caliber of the Master of Fine Arts program at Indiana State University.
‘Out of the Blue’
Iris Zhao
Iris’s work involves mediums that are immediate and physical, including oil painting, ceramics, wood and textiles. She works with slow processes on a small scale. Her work reflects her perception of time and mortality, and is often inspired by her memories. The mediums she chose respond to how she processes her experiences and emotions. She considers her work as records of her actions and choices during the processes, as well as her mistakes, frustrations or unintended consequences. Each one of her works can be seen as an attempt she made at traveling through time as quietly and
peacefully as possible.
‘Finding Balance’
Madison Rumler
Math is the context.
In Integral Calculus, you can find the volume of a curve rotated around the y-axis using the shell method.
Art is the content.
It is organic, curved, and complex.
It exists through order and structure.
It is an exercise of the mind created by the stability of
the body. It endures in dichotomy, a perpendicular of
function and form, finding balance.
Upcoming Dates
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