MFA exhibition explores time, space and transformation
UC Santa Barbara’s newest MFA Thesis Exhibition, it’s about time, brings together four graduating artists whose work unpacks the tangled relationships between time, memory and materiality. Featuring work by Lucy Bell, Austin McCormick, Autumn Nicole and Rose Schlossberg, the show explores how time shapes personal histories and material culture.
it’s about time runs Saturday, May 17 through Sunday, June 1 at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara. Admission is free.
“This exhibition is not only about deep engagements with time, but also about the spaces of our pasts, presents and futures,” said Kristin Yinger, a doctoral student in UCSB’s Department of History of Art and Architecture, who wrote the exhibition’s curatorial text.
The title, framed in parentheses, reflects a key theme: time as both a pause and an active container. “The use of parentheses in the title calls to mind many meanings of the punctuation — a pause, a suspension, an interlude — but never an afterthought,” Yinger said. “This exhibition is its own parentheses, which frames and contains not just the artworks in these galleries, but the times, spaces and experiences of the artists during the MFA program itself.”
Visitors will encounter works that meditate on the past through ritual and memory, look toward speculative futures and convene communities in the present. Spanning video, sculpture, painting and immersive installation, the exhibition explores time as both intimate and collective.
Lucy Bell
A California-based artist working in painting, text and social practice, Lucy Bell queers traditions of ritual, memory and devotional objects. Through blurred images and layered text, Bell’s work evokes intimacy and collective longing, reimagining sacred spaces and community gathering. Bell is advised by Alex Lukas (thesis chair), with additional mentorship from Lisa Jevbratt, Jenni Sorkin, Iman Djouini and emeritus faculty member Linda Ekstrom.
Austin McCormick
A visual artist raised in the Southern California mountains, Austin McCormick, collects discarded materials and repurposes them into sculptural assemblages. His work draws from early exposure to both ballet and construction sites, channeling those influences into abstract, enigmatic forms that confront the permanence of objects and the denial of climate change. Through playful material exploration, McCormick examines consumption, labor and environmental impact. He is advised by Shana Moulton (thesis chair), Alex Lukas, Sven Spieker and Eric Beltz.
Autumn Nicole
An interdisciplinary artist based in Southern California, Autumn Nicole creates immersive works that bridge gaps in intimacy and memory. Using light, glass and sound, she reframes fractured domestic encounters to spark vulnerable conversations. Her work, informed by trauma, memory and female craft traditions, has been exhibited at major institutions across the United States. Nicole is advised by Lisa Jevbratt and Helen Taschian.
Rose Schlossberg
An artist and filmmaker, Rose Schlossberg works in video, print, performance and installation to examine existential anxiety through absurdist gestures. Her practice explores embodiment and inheritance, considering how physical movement transmits memory, power and history. Schlossberg is advised by Shana Moulton, Alex Lukas, Jenni Sorkin and Lisa Parks.
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