Raw Perception - BFA Exhibition
Mullennix Bridge Gallery, NMSU Art Museum
Contact: Eva Gabriella Flynn, Education and Outreach Coordinator, University Art Museum at NMSU, artmuseum@nmsu.edu, 575-646-2185
OPENS AT THE MULLENNIX BRIDGE GALLERY AND THROUGHOUT DEVASTHALI HALL AT NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY (DEPARTMENT OF ART)
Las Cruces, NM--The NMSU Department of Art and University Art Museum is pleased to announce the 2026 BFA Exhibition, Raw Perception, featuring work by Melise Butler, Zoë Char, Candace Deskin, Imperio Hernandez, Chantay Herrera, Grace Kyle, Asa Lambert, Angelina Lopez, and Meredith Rose.
The exhibition will run from May 1, 2026, through May 16, 2026, in the Mullennix Bridge Art Gallery and throughout Devasthali Hall. Please join us for an artist Q&A and walk-through on Friday, May 1st at 4:00 pm, followed by an Opening Reception from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm.
About the Artists:
Melise Butler is a French-American artist and photographer currently pursuing a BFA degree at New Mexico State University. Living with visual impairment, she first turned to photography as a way to connect with her uncle, who died before she was born, and as a tool to navigate a world she could barely see. Her practice explores the physical and material possibilities of photography within an increasingly digital culture. Through alternative modes of presentation, Butler invites viewers to engage with her work spatially, encouraging interaction through movement and proximity.
Zoë Char is an Asian-American artist merging the worlds of functionality and art through the channels of interior design and commercial art. Inspired by her upbringing and family life, she has developed an appreciation for creating art intentionally and purposefully. Her current work discovers the fluidity, organic nature, and movement inherent in various materials. Char specializes in steel, ceramics, graphic design, and photography. Recent projects include sculptural lamp pieces influenced by mid-century modern design. She is currently based in Las Cruces, NM, completing the last year of her BFA in Studio Art and a Minor in Professional Selling at New Mexico State University.
Candace Deskin is a New Mexican photographer and sculptor studying at New Mexico State University, whose work centers on landscapes, portraiture, and sculpture. Drawing from the natural world and personal experiences, her work confronts societal standards of beauty and body image. As a larger woman influenced by narrow definitions of attractiveness, she creates images that celebrate plus-size women who are often overlooked or marginalized. Through intentional lighting, color, and composition, she emphasizes strength, softness, and individuality, challenging viewers to reconsider what beauty looks like. Expanding beyond photography, she incorporates steel by fabricating custom picture frames that function as sculptural objects. By physically framing the portraits in steel, she asserts the permanence and importance of these bodies and encourages slower, more intentional viewing.
Imperio Hernandez is a Mexican-American artist studying at New Mexico State University, pursuing her BFA with a focus on metalsmithing. She draws on her experience growing up in the Catholic church, influenced by its religious imagery and themes of love, death, and devotion. She makes ornamental jewelry pieces from bronze, copper, brass, and silver that highlight the vanity in adornment. Incorporating taboo items like animal remains and human bones, she brings beauty to what may otherwise be considered grotesque. Imperio combines traditional techniques, such as lost-wax casting, with modern technologies like CAD software and 3D printing. She also works with sheet metal, creating designs on Illustrator to etch religious iconography and other Gothic-style imagery.
Chantay Herrera is a Mexican-American artist based in Las Cruces, currently pursuing her BFA degree at New Mexico State University. Herrera is a representational oil painter who works with figures and locations based on her childhood, lived experiences, and the culture of growing up around the U.S/ Mexico border. The imagery in her work often features herself and family members, portrayed through exaggerated memories and experiences. She also incorporates imagery influenced by Mexican American culture and folklore.
Gracie Kyle, originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico, is an oil painter currently pursuing her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree at New Mexico State University. Her work, which often includes ethereal landscapes, is informed by medieval iconography, history, and religion. Her paintings illustrate her experience of womanhood and incorporate themes of guilt, anger, and forgiveness. Winning the New Mexico State University 2025 Juried Student Show Award for Best Concept, her piece, Post Sin, foregrounds the subjects that motivate her painting practice.
Asa Lambert is a New Mexico transplant from Goodyear, Arizona, currently pursuing a BFA degree at New Mexico State University. Asa’s large-scale oil paintings are inspired by liminal spaces and their experience growing up in the Mormon church. Themes of their work center on childhood memory (repressed and recovered) as a byproduct of experiences surrounding faith.
Angelina Lopez is a painter and ceramic artist born in El Paso, TX. Informed by their experience growing up in the border region, they explore the intersections of a queer Chicanx identity through unconventional means, often incorporating yarn and other textiles into their paintings and ceramic work. Angelina is currently working in Las Cruces, New Mexico, pursuing their BFA in studio art from New Mexico State University.
Meredith Rose is a sculptor raised in southern New Mexico and is currently pursuing their BFA degree at New Mexico State University. They primarily work in steel and ceramic sculpture, combining bodily, animal, and industrial forms into invented “creatures” that blur the lines between living thing and functional object. Pulling from ideas and tropes in science fiction and horror, they explore what it means to have a body, interrogating the implied functions and limitations of biological symptoms through mysterious and visceral subjects.
Museum Information:
Where We Ended Up: 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition is on display from May 1- May 16, 2026, in the UAM Contemporary Art Gallery. Please join us for a public opening reception on Friday, May 1, 2026 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. Visit uam.nmsu.edu for a complete calendar of museum programming. Admission to all programming is free and open to the public. The UAM is located at 1308 E. University Avenue and is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm.
