ROOTED
April 25-May 9, 2025
Devasthalli Hall and University Art Museum

The NMSU Department of Art and University Art Museum is pleased to announce the 2025 BFA exhibition, ROOTED.

The exhibition will run from April 25, 2025 through May 9, 2025 in the Mullennix Bridge Art Gallery and around Devasthali Hall, the Department of Art at NMSU. Please join us for the artist walk through on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 4:30pm at the Bleacher area in Devasthali Hall or Instagram live @nmsuart, followed by the opening reception at 5:30pm.

Here are maps of the exhibition below:

Kayla Blundell creates cacti sculptures. Blending industrial materials with organic inspiration, the work celebrates the resilience and beauty of desert flora, bridging art and ecology to inspire reflection on the interconnectedness of natural landscapes.

Matthew Cota combines his passions of art and biology to create pieces that are both conceptually innovative and scientifically accurate. Studying entomology alongside studio art, his paintings and sculptures aims to shine a sympathetic light on insects and other commonly overlooked or disliked creatures, such as protozoa, fungi, and bacteria.

Citlali Delgado creates within the engagement and division of multiplicities throughout the Chihuahuan desert to inform her interdisciplinary work and ultimately better understand how its peoples can live with, against, and past the border.

Jennell Juarez is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersection of art, craft, and accessibility. Drawing from personal experiences and the aesthetics of domestic spaces, she incorporates floral motifs to highlight themes of memory, home, and personal connection. Her practice invites a reconsideration of the value of craft and everyday artistic expression within broader artistic discourse.
Sabrina Martinez explores her identity and culture through multimedia, where she merges traditional tattooing and contemporary imagery. Through the exploration of these identities, she is able to find a space for healing and invites the audience to a glimpse into these dualities.

Lei Maslian creates work on West’s consumerism as a Filipino Immigrant and its immense influence on his own identity and culture. Focusing on consumerism, pop culture, and entertainment media, sharing his own experience and views on the cultural differences between America and the Philippines through multiple mediums.

Jessica Mercado focuses on exploring identity and stereotypes through photography and illustration, which reflects on the experience of community members, encouraging awareness of others, and the importance of creative expression to communicate and tell narratives.

Savannah Perez exploring the mind and how dreams are affected by the environment, symbolically speaking to us. Using painting to visually represent the strange of the subconscious.

Jade Rubio focuses on the duality of growth and nostalgia, navigating the stages of childhood, adolescence, and the journey into adulthood. Her paintings aim to capture fragmented moments from girlhood, creating a visual narrative that reflects an evolving sense of self as well as her journey through womanhood while reflecting on childhood.

Yalet Yanar focuses how religion represents and treats women. In her paintings, she challenges the idea of female inferiority and demonization by reinterpreting and altering biblical narratives from a feminist perspective.