"Join the Student Space Gallery program for the opening of Suit Your Self: Masks, Jesters, and the Dissolution of Ego by Maggie Jones & Maya Lawrence on September 17 in the Pinkard Gallery. This exhibition will be on display from September 13 - October 8. Exhibition Statement: This body of work centers around the joy of playful manipulation of sculptural and temporal materials to explore the essential confrontation we all must have with our position in a mortal body. Each piece serves as a reflection of the human experience of creating ego, through figures and spaces that live, perform, and dance by our hands. In this immense position of power as the artists, we find ourselves drawn to the mindset of a child at play. We strive to act as caretakers, playmates and matchmakers for the materials we work with. The many materials included are all tied together by their exciting and malleable quality. Our making process advocates for curiosity and a playful approach to the daunting task of understanding one’s role in a body. We manifest this investigation in the artwork by using our own bodies as tools and references to accentuate bodily features, structures, and expressions, with emphasis in textural and tangible qualities of our figures. Each piece provides moments of disturbance to the ego that gives way to freedom from the confining circumstances of the material world. The pieces speak in an unfiltered visual language that delights in expressions and patterns, unconcerned with distinguishing beauty and horror. This show expresses fondness for humble characters like that of the jester who steps (or dances) into the role of an enlightened observer, free from the desire to prove his righteousness. Jesters, children, and artists alike transcend the illusions of the ego by embracing their own inadequacies to be simply and unpretentiously human. This body of work acknowledges and counters the insecure root of self-performance, by offering an invitation to the viewers to suspend fear, and engage their curiosity without attachment to the solidness of their ego. This is a Student Space Gallery exhibition. For more information about the SSG program and how to apply for a solo-exhibition, please visit mica.edu/ssg."