An exhibition by Jenna Fincher Donegan entitled “Submerge/Emerge” recently opened at the Mississippi University for Women Galleries. The work varies in media and includes installations, sculpture, drawings, prints, ceramics and handmade books. In all of these works, the artist explores the nature of memory. The show runs through Friday, Feb. 8, with a reception Thursday, Jan. 31 from 5:30-7 p.m.
While Fincher Donegan grew up in southern Louisiana, her work speaks to universal aspects of memory. Some of the artwork suggests poetic moments of fleeting memories. For example, the installation entitled “Pursuit of Happiness” beckons the viewer to enter its space. Although the work consists of papers sewn together, the viewer can easily imagine sunlight passing through leaves to cast dappled shadows while simultaneously recalling past experiences. The effect is intentional as Fincher Donegan equates the construction of the installation with the stitching of “experiences and memories together.”
In “Fabricated Moments,” leaf forms hang from gossamer filament like leaves falling in a gentle rain. Each leaf represents one memory. The effect of the overall installation is elegant, but the plastic material used to create the delicate leaves suggests the nature of some memories as fabrications; that is, synthetic rather than natural.
Each work in the exhibition is infused with the artist’s remembrances of the southern Louisiana landscape. The work is thus very personal, but at the same time it speaks to the viewer’s own experiences.
Fincher Donegan no longer lives in Louisiana. She moved to Booneville to teach art at Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2015. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in studio art from Louisiana Technical University and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Nicholls State University. Fincher Donegan has participated in numerous exhibitions in Mississippi, Louisiana and Maryland.
The Mississippi University for Women Galleries, located on the first floor of Summer Hall, are open Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., following the university calendar. The Galleries and the reception are free and open to the public.
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