Masters of fine arts thesis exhibit opens at University Art Museum

The New Mexico State University Art Museum’s (UAM) 2023 Masters of Fine Art thesis exhibition, “Echoes of an Empty Space,” opens Friday, April 28, featuring work by MFA candidates Ashley Diane Saldana, Yashoda Latkar and Gus. The exhibit continues through Saturday, May 20.

The opening reception is 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 28, at UAM, Devasthali Hall, 1308 University Ave. and includes a performance by Latkar at 6 p.m.

A nature and art walk with Saldana at Llorona Multi-Use Path Trail will be 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 29, followed at 2 p.m. by an artist walk-through of the exhibit at UAM with all three artists. A “Behind the Scenes: Tips and Tricks for Everyday Drag” event with Gus will be 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, at UAM.

Saldana, Latkar and Gus “pull thoughts, ideas and experiments surrounding connectivity and identity made during their time at NMSU into a singular exhibition,” UAM said in a news release. “Viewers will have a full sensory experience, with each artist providing takeaways, like the lasting aroma of Latkar’s spice-laden mixed-media works and shiny, informational postcards from Gus.”

“Her ceramic works explore curiosity without resolution to define desire,” UAM said about Saldana, an artist who lives and works in southern New Mexico.

Latkar is a mixed-media artist who also in southern New Mexico. Born in Mumbai, India, Latkar’s current artwork “explores the complicated realities of her legal status in the U.S., migration, domesticity and the push and pull of living between two worlds,” UAM said.

Gus (Gustavo Ramirez) was born in El Paso. He received a BFA in studio art with a concentration in drawing and a minor in graphic design from UTEP. “By queering traditional religious iconography, Gus challenges ideas of purity, desire and representation through painting, photography and installation,” UAM said.