“FluID” will feature Fresno State studio art graduate students in an ArtHop exhibition at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, at the Fresno State Graduate Studios, 1419 M Street in Downtown Fresno. Curated by Fresno State art graduate students, the exhibit explores community and identity through the pandemic experience and beyond.
FluID is a celebration of individuality with an emphasis on interconnectedness. The theme of the exhibition touches on the idea of identity being a state of matter, mutable, and reflective. Is water wet, or is it simply immersed in itself? FluID is a metaphor to evoke thoughts on how people exist within themselves and how society influences our behavior. How we interact with the world outside ourselves and what type of connections each of us make is based on what is taking place in our environment. FluID is both personal and collective. Due to the experience of the pandemic, we have all endured this idea of self-awareness and unity is more prevalent than ever before. We cannot exist without community, but community is also defined by us. It is a symbiotic ecosystem in which we dwell and create. If we are to grow as individuals and as a species, we must learn to live a FluID life. The concept of FluID will dissolve your categories, melt your hierarchies, and loosen the moorings of what you thought you knew.
The collection of work in the exhibition explores the fluidity of symbiotic relationships, inclusiveness, as well as solidarity within society. The work is an expression of movement, flexibility, and mixable[BEN1] states of identity. It is impossible to frame FluID, to keep it from flowing out the edges of a line or boundary. The artists in our exhibition are exploring the interdependence of people and what draws us together. The theme is intentionally open and inclusive. It is, in itself, FluID and open to the interpretation that each artist embraces. Through a collaboration of graduate students in Fresno State’s Art MA program, FluID is our take on the phrase “go with the flow.”
Contacts: Sarah Theller, sarahtheller@mail.fresnostate.edu; Brandi Nuse-Villegas, 559.512.7003
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 