Graduating MFA student Claudia Sbrissa will be exhibiting her thesis work beginning April 29 in the Tjaden Gallery and Experimental Studio located in Tjaden Hall. The exhibition, entitled Candy by the Yard, touches on a variety of topics including language and communication, intimacy, desire, and the boundaries between gesture and image.
Sbrissa describes her work as an exploration of “the relationship of language to experience and the function of narrative as a structure of visual engagement.” Sbrissa’s statement becomes evident when one views her work because, currently her pieces focus primarily on the image of an open mouth. The metaphorical implications of this image are vast and varied because, as Sbrissa points out, the mouth is “a metaphor for expression, appetite and desire,”
From a “mouth alphabet” (that Sbrissa devised by determining what shape her mouth formed when annunciating individual letters), to a collection of rubberized lip-casts, Sbrissa’s controlling image of parted lips is as pervasive as it is profound — even making its way onto the invitations to the gallery reception in the form of soft, edible gummy lips (see photo).
Sbrissa is graduating this year, so the chance to catch her work while she’s here in Ithaca is an ephemeral one. The show will run only April 29 through May 3, so stop by before its gone.
Archived article by Nate Brown