Integrated Visual Arts Graduate Student Exhibition

The show will be on display December 10 – 19 in Gallery 181, located on the first floor of the College of Design building on the west side of the Iowa State campus. The exhibition is open from 8:00am Tuesday, December 10 through 5:00pm Thursday, December 19.

The eleven participating Integrated Visual Arts Graduate Students are:

Omid Afsharpour: Omid Afsharpour is an Iranian artist with a BFA in Visual Art from Tehran Art University and an MFA in progress in Integrated Visual Art, specializing in painting and drawing. His work is inspired by personal experiences and the rich cultural history of his heritage. Using drawings, objects, and collages as starting points, Omid creates abstract paintings that explore the balance between reality and illusion, inviting viewers into layered and thought-provoking visual narratives.

Tashina Azure-Mitchell: As an artist, my work and purpose are focused on being a Meskwaki & Anishinaabe storyteller. As a photographer, I believe in the transformative power of photographs. They can challenge norms, break barriers, and enlighten the world about Indigenous cultures. As a textile artist, I used modern technology to help increase awareness that traditional Indigenous beadwork is an evolving process that should continue changing and growing. As an artivist, I find ways to incorporate freedom and justice into my art, which will create discussion around the injustice and oppression of Indigenous Nations and marginalized groups of people.

Zack Bukovich: Zack Bukovich is a writer and visual artist from Eagle, Colorado. His visual art explores themes of home and the exploration of self through subjects physically and emotionally closest to him. He currently lives in Ames, Iowa, where he studies in the Creative Writing and the Environment and Integrated Visual Arts programs at Iowa State University.

Grace Carmack

Corinne Dengler: Corinne Dengler has lived in Iowa all of her life. She earned a BFA at the University of Iowa and is working toward a Master of Fine Arts in the Integrated Visual Arts Program at Iowa State University. A self-described jack of all trades, Corinne collects new skills like shiny stones on the bank of a creek. She has exhibited work at the University of Iowa, Old Threshers Printer’s Workshop in Mount Pleasant, and Mainframe Studios in Des Moines.

Rafa Fahmida: Rafa Fahmida is an artist from Dhaka, Bangladesh, currently doing her Masters in Fine Arts at Iowa State University. Although academically trained in Crafts and Fashion Design, Rafa leans toward an installation-based approach in her art. Rafa believes that, as an artist, it’s her responsibility to make statements through her work. Her art takes inspiration from life, experiences, her surroundings, current political events, and individual and collective traumas. As an artist, Rafa hopes to capture the inner turmoil of a human being and establish its relation to the never-ending grind of the system.

Parisa Keshavarziyan: Parisa Keshavarziyan is a visual artist and graduate student at ISU. Drawing from her Persian heritage, she combines traditional and digital techniques to explore identity and culture. Her work, rich in intricate patterns and symbolism, creates visual narratives that engage viewers and spark dialogue on shared human experiences. Parisa is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of her craft through storytelling.

Sam McCauley: Born in Georgia and raised in Charleston, South Carolina Sam McCauley is an artist in Des Moines, Iowa, pursuing his M.F.A at Iowa State University. He has a B.A. in graphic design and Spanish from Simpson College. His work has been exhibited across the Midwest in juried and group shows. Sam’s creative practice has allowed him to facilitate youth in corrections workshops, assist a trauma informed design symposium, and perform research on prison related art programming.

Michael Vitha Nolan: Michael Vitha Nolan is an artist and designer hailing from Bolingbrook Illinois. He is Currently pursuing a M.F.A, at Iowa State University after having received a B.F.A with an Illustration focus form Northern Illinois University. His current body of work is mostly a small series of landscape paintings that potentially will become the basis of his thesis work. This will be the foundation to work that manipulates the shape and presentation of canvases as we know them.

Rana Tiba: Rana Tiba is an Egyptian artist with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Egypt, Cairo. Her work is inspired by her personal experiences and the cultural heritage of the Middle East. Specializing in painting, Rana uses symbolism and narrative to craft evocative pieces that engage viewers through vivid storytelling and emotional resonance.

Ruby Walker