Feedback Loop | Closing Reception
Friday, August 16 :: 6-9pm
@ Gallery CA
July 19 – August 16
OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY JULY 19TH 6PM – 9PM
CLOSING RECEPTION FRIDAY AUGUST 16TH 6PM – 9PM
Erin Barry Dutro
Robert Cook
Lolo Gem
Alexis Irby
Susan Isaacs
Kari Miller
Nguyên Khôi Nguyễn
Feedback Loop is an exhibition of works made by current MFA candidates in the Studio Art program at Towson University. This past spring, they came together for a critique seminar course where they became intimately familiar with one another’s work. There, they offered criticism, support, and comradery to accompany their studio practices. The artists are at varying stages in their educational and career paths, a quality that strengthens their ability to offer diverse perspectives. The work in this exhibition confronts complications of disability parenting, anxiety and fear, the tradition of craft, as well as ideas around community and our relationship with the environment. In asking for the opinions of others, artists make themselves vulnerable as a means to better understand the world. This idea was cultivated throughout the semester, as the group opened themselves up to better understand their own motivations. While these artists’ disciplines range from painting and sewing to graphic novels and installation art, there is an underlying curiosity around the human condition and the desire to connect.
Featuring the work of:
Erin Barry Dutro, MFA Candidate, 2026
My art and installations often engage members of my community, which is highly queer, neurodivergent, polyamorous, and creative. I borrow from the design conventions of a number of world religions, especially the Roman Catholicism I was raised in during my early childhood. Much like the early “kawaii” movement in Japan, I use typically feminine-coded colors to push against the dominant patriarchal and male-coded paradigms of American society. I hope to elicit feelings of childlike nostalgia, spiritual awe, curiosity, and playfulness, which I believe are imperative for contemplating the possibility of a better, more egalitarian, future.
Rob Cook, MFA candidate, 2026
Like the roots of trees in a forest, our group communicates and responds to each other. We grow by receiving the nourishment of ideas.
Lolo Gem, MFA Candidate, 2025
Working with saturated acrylic paint, drawing materials, and imagery culled from vintage comic books & early animation, I create playfully absurd work populated by fragmented figures, sentient calligraphic lines, exuberant motion, and personified objects. Fusing nostalgia and innovation, my work offers a glimpse into the intricate aspects of my internal landscape, mirroring the collective human condition.
Alexis Irby, MFA Candidate, 2025
Hubcaps, feathers, broken electronics, rocks, and candlesticks are just a few examples of collections you might find in my studio. I highlight the mundane and overlooked parts of life through repurposing post-consumer objects. This brings a sense of absurdity and sometimes humor into my sculptures. My work leaves the audience uncertain of what they are looking at, inviting viewers to examine objects more closely, and to create their own personal meaning.
Susan Isaacs, MFA candidate, 2024
My art process is a joyous, frenzied dance while deconstructing the idea of “craft.” In my current work as a multimedia artist, there is a tension between engaging directly with nature and the imagined world created in the studio.
Kari Miller, MFA candidate, 2026
To Whom it May Concern is an open letter to society as a parent of a child with a developmental disability. The body of work consists of prints, drawings and written components that address the complexity and beauty found in parenting my daughter who has Down syndrome. Each print begins as a gestural drawing completed by her. She proudly draws in her sketchbook while reciting the alphabet or shapes she is fervently trying to reproduce. I collaborate with her mark making through repeating the lines and adding text into the large prints using silkscreen, with the aim of making her hard work visible. The text embedded in the prints is from a preschool that “involuntarily dismissed” her from their program. The text is one example of how society has continued to exclude her from participation.
Nguyên Nguyễn
I am a multidisciplinary artist making comics, videos, music, and interactive work about the Vietnamese-American experience, fatherhood, and grief. Central to my practice is storytelling–from the use of text and visual narratives to character development. My imagery is inspired by Vietnamese picture dictionary illustrations, alternative comics, and Zen paintings. I prioritize gesture, whether it be marks in a drawing or a fleeting moment captured on video. How I fold in image and sound is informed by my training as a jazz musician and composer. Balancing serious topics with humor and whimsy, my work evokes the playfulness and emotional intensity of childhood. Ultimately, I try to short-circuit cynicism and, instead, pursue delight.
