The Museum of Art is currently staging exhibits of the Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) graduate candidates as they prepare for graduation.

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Each piece is unique to their thesis, demonstrating the artists’ years of hard work.

Alexandra Dockter, one of six graduate candidates presenting in the exhibit, said she likes the idea of being able to communicate a story from a single image and being able to see what’s happening based on visual cues.

“The main overarching theme is a group of people together struggling to survive,” Dockter said. “I’m really interested in that group dynamic of whenever a random assortment of people are presented with a tough situation, there are various responses they can have.”

Dockter created her work using only finger painting.

“Currently Jamie Hewlett is huge inspiration for me because he teeters that line between low brow and high arch,” Dockter said. “He gets used in a mainstream band but he also gets featured in galleries.”

Kayleigh Lang’s artwork portrays a powerful message that challenges what the male gaze is. She described her exhibit as playful and was inspired by art history and pop culture references.

“When a viewer sees an image and the subject matter is a woman, it’s usually assumed that the viewer [or artist] is a heterosexual male.” Lang said. “It’s usually made for pleasing the eyes of a heterosexual man. You see that a lot in cinema.”

Lang is proud to be a part of the exhibit along with the other MFA candidates. She described art as a good way for her to communicate when she couldn’t in other ways, she said.

“I wanted to make work that subverts the male gaze,” Lang said. “And provide an open dialogue in talking about the queer body, and how important that anatomy and power of your own sexuality is.”

Dylan Steinmetz created his work out of everyday trash that he gathered. He is interested in how those objects can help him contain memories and tell a story.

“The trash we throw away tells a lot about how we live,” Steinmetz said. “I would be really happy if people came away from the piece being a little more thoughtful about the space they inhabit, the objects that surround them and of course the objects they leave behind.”

There’s not an intentional ecological message in his piece, although he would like for people to move around more thoughtfully.

“If people could come away with the idea that maybe we could back off on throwing our beer cans out the window that would be okay.” Steinmetz said.

Nicole Nee, wrote a story and then produced artwork where she wanted people to be able to experience that story. She wanted her viewers to explore their own issues. Nee describes her pieces and artwork in general, as spiritual.

“My exhibit uses religion, mythology and story-telling as a reference towards speaking about the sort of issues surrounding industrial farming,” Nee said. “The treatment of animals is important and the way that industrial farming is conducted nowadays is crude and harsh.”

Kayla White created a series of large oil paintings where she uses pots and drawers and would describe her work as colorful.

“I’m dealing with the ideas of containers as the way we think about people and their identities and trying to make ourselves and other people fit into these containers and how people don’t really fit into those, people are multidimensional,” White said.

Part of her thought process included how individuals find their own way to be new in the present while still respecting old traditions.

“I’m really interested in the way we think about ourselves in relation to history and how to be a contemporary individual but also feel a part of a community and tradition,” White said.

Dani Brooks, used soft fabric and light in her exhibit where she created a unique environment for her audience. The rotation of the cylinders represents time, while the cylinders themselves represent the human mind.

Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition will be open until Saturday, May 7. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Thursday until 7 p.m.