Sarah Nguyen’s exhibit “Light that Dwells” opened March 23 at the Martha Fenstermaker Memorial Visual Arts Gallery, offering its viewers the opportunity to experience the traditional Jewish paper cutting art form.
“My work starts with a story, a traditional folktale or fable, or a contemporary poem or memorable phrase,” Nguyen said. “The work itself is driven by the images that these stories evoke, and is propelled further by every brush-stroke, mark making, blade cut and gesture laid down in the aftermath. The stories and myths of a culture convey a sense of place, and a sense of the people who inhabit that place. In this way, visual art that interacts with story enters a narrative sphere where it must encounter the local.”
Nguyen’s work focuses on stories and family lore from women in the Old Testament alongside her experiences while living in Missouri for 14 years.
The exhibit will run through April 21. Admission is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
For more information, contact the Visual and Performing Arts Department at (956) 721-5224.
