Sept. 15, 2023

Faculty paintings, ceramic creations on display in two Missouri exhibitions

The artwork of two Northwest Missouri State University faculty members is featured in a pair of regional exhibits that opened this month and continue through Oct. 14.

Armin Mühsam

"Outdoor Theories," an oil painting on canvas by Armin Mühsam

Artwork created by Armin Mühsam, titled “The Elastic Continuum,” is being exhibited at Haw Contemporary in Kansas City, Missouri, and the work of Veronica Watkins, titled “Emerging Inquiry,” is displayed at Access Arts in Columbia, Missouri.

“I see this as a great way to facilitate a profession-based learning experience for our students and build network between Northwest and our regional ceramics and art community,” said Watkins, who will take a group of Northwest students to visit the residency program at Access Arts.

Mühsam, a Northwest professor of art, is a painter whose work has been the subject of more than 50 solo exhibitions in the United States, Germany, France, Romania and Hungary. His work also has been reviewed and featured in publications such as Art Papers and New American Painting. 

Mühsam, who joined the Northwest faculty in 2000, earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Munich University of Applied Sciences in Germany and a Master of Fine Arts from Montana State University. He also lives and maintains a studio in Kansas City.

He will give a presentation at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, at Haw Contemporary, which is located at 1600 Liberty Street in Kansas City. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Veronica Watkins

A covered tray by Veronica Watkins

“Everything I do originates from something observed, something given, which I then subject to various degrees of transformation,” Mühsam says in his artist statement. “I am preoccupied with pattern and texture; everything I see has the potential to become a visual stimulus – a geometric abstraction, a color field, a tangible or ephemeral shape, a decorative surface, a referent of an architectural period. Through collage and, in my sculptural work, assemblage, I combine representational depictions of reality with shapes whose origins may be architectural but are, for all intents and purposes, non-objective.”

Watkins, an assistant professor of art at Northwest, specializes in ceramics and has exhibited her work in regional, national and international shows. In addition to maintaining a studio practice, she has spent time in residency at Belger Crane Yard Studios in Kansas City as well as in Montana at Red Lodge Clay Center and The Clay Studio of Missoula.

Watkins, who joined the Northwest faculty in 2002, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Northwest and a Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. 

A closing reception for Watkins’ exhibit is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, and Watkins will lead a short studio demonstration from 9 a.m. to noon on the last day of the exhibit, Saturday, Oct. 14. Access Arts is located at 2109 Cottle Drive, No. 113, in Columbia; its regular hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.

“My work reflects a fascination with utilitarian objects,” Watkins says in her artist statement. “The wonder of pottery is that it has the potential to become the user’s companion each day, taken into the home and into the hand of the user — a very personal space. It is considered many times, and on many levels, both consciously and subconsciously. Handmade pottery facilitates human connection. As our world becomes more virtual, I am compelled to be a maker and stubbornly hold to the commitment that beautiful handmade objects impact our existence in a very necessary way.”

For more information about art programming and activities at Northwest, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/finearts/art/.