NK Gallery and the Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's Master of Fine Arts program are pleased to present "Here We Are, Who Cares?," the 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition featuring Dell M. Hamilton, Heather M. La Force, Daisy Patton, Sofia Botero and Ingrid Sanchez. On view at NK Gallery April 1–30, 2011, we invite you to join us for the opening reception April 1, 6–8 pm.

The exhibition title "Here We Are, Who Cares?" invites a variety of interpretations; it is at once breezily flippant, a shrug of indifference at the world's follies and clashes, subtly sarcastic and an ironic announcement of a group of artists whose works range from absurd humor to profound pathos. Rooted in accumulated narratives, migratory paths and fragmented evidence alluding to collective memory, "Here We Are Who Cares?" permits viewers to inhabit several little universes, where things belong to no one and, paradoxically, everyone.

Dell M. Hamilton's Banana Republic: Conflations and Migrations investigates the impact of American political economy on Honduran history and contemporary culture. The Central American nation is poignantly described by anthropologist Adrienne Pine as the intersection between labor, violence, U.S. imperialism and bodily self-worth in her book Working Hard, Drinking Hard: On Violence and Survival in Honduras. Dell's background as a bilingual Honduran born in Spanish Harlem and raised in the Bronx, New York adds a personal investment to her installation and examinations of these connections between both countries.

Heather M. La Force will display For Peet's Sake, a series of six paintings that represent a comical group of friends who are regular patrons at Peet's Coffee and Tea in Brookline, Massachusetts. This project seeks to examine the quirky and vulnerable nature of the gentlemen that comprise this community. All of the individuals with exception of one wear a bow tie, which further accentuates their idiosyncrasies and alludes to the mischievous nature of the artist, while also creating a sense of unity within the work.

Daisy Patton presents a sound piece titled I'm Perfectly Fine Without You, a collection of memories from the children of absent fathers. Growing up unaware of who her father was and lacking any confirmation of his existence, her concept of normalcy was listening to others speak about their comparable circumstances and ramifications. Simultaneously existing both within the gallery space and an online component, the project discursively explores the range of experience from this section of society.

Sofia Botero is showing ... tell me about it?, a sound installation that addresses the violence and trauma in her native Colombia. This compelling narrative explores the way in which war has become normal as it permeated everyday life, as well as how the way kids understood those events, grew accustomed to the bombs, the killings and most of all the fear.

Ingrid Sanchez's installation piece is a preliminary study for her upcoming Fragmentos Installation at Tufts University Art Gallery, yet also a potent work of its own. Influenced by a childhood spent in Brazil and the United States, Ingrid's work interweaves cultures, multiple lives and ways of being. The purpose of this piece is to eliminate the barrier between subject and object. It is done with found vinyl and packaging tape; fusing drawings to create a composition that accumulates images and blurring a line between reality and the whimsical. The piece will be made into a movable wall that will be installed site-specifically at the gallery's window.

Location:
NK Gallery
460A Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118

Hours: Wednesday–Saturday 11 am–4 pm; Sunday–Tuesday by appointment
.