02/26/18

AMES, Iowa — “RezəˈrekSH(ə)n : Resurrection,” the Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition by Iowa State University graduate student Robert Jinkins, will be on display March 20 through April 2 at the ISU Design on Main Gallery, 203 Main St.

Gallery hours are from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday or by appointment. A public reception will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 30.

The show’s title refers to the aspects of death and life encapsulated in the work — primarily graphite drawings and acrylic mixed-media paintings — said Jinkins, originally from Rewey, Wisconsin, who will receive his MFA in integrated visual arts from Iowa State in May. “For me, art — if good — should by its nature contain within it the potential for transcendence.”

Jinkins’ paintings begin with detailed underdrawings that often remain visible in the final works, which are produced using thin washes of watered-down acrylic, acrylic ink and acrylic paints handmade using natural pigments. He combines the multiple thin washes with detailed, woven mark making to create representations of people and places important to him, he said.

“Growing up on a farm that has been in my family since 1849, I gained an admiration and reverence for the land that so many of my family members have worked. I find stories on my family’s farm and record, document and preserve them almost obsessively in my art,” Jinkins said. “Recent additions to the farm and surrounding landscape, like some older relics, have almost cosmic significance to me — a dead cow in a low-lying pasture may represent sin, death and redemption.”

Jinkins received a Bachelor of Arts in studio art from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2014. His work has been exhibited in local, regional and national exhibitions and has won a number of awards, including the Joseph E. Burk Memorial Award in the “2016 WRAP/WRAA State Art Exhibition” sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Regional Arts Program in collaboration with the Wisconsin Regional Artists Association, and the Winifred V. Brown Best of Show Award in the “50th Clay, Fiber, Paper, Glass, Metal, Wood National All-Media Exhibit” at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames in 2018.

Contacts

Robert Jinkins, Integrated Visual Arts, jinkinsr@iastate.edu
Catherine Reinhart, Design on Main gallery manager, designonmain@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, (515) 294-9289, hsauer@iastate.edu

-30-