The LUX Center for the Arts is pleased to present the MFA Thesis Exhibitions of Daniel Garcia and Ani Sargsyan, featuring two distinct bodies of work developed through their graduate studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Sargsyan’s body of work incorporates painting, drawing and transfer processes to uncover themes of distance, memory and fragility while celebrating Armenian identity through confrontationally hopeful and reflective outlooks. The Armenian genocide of 1915 fragmented culture and created distance between Armenians and their lands. This fragile quality emerges in her work through the transfer process as it scars elements with tears, holes and rips. With over a century having passed since these horrors, no more witnesses are among us. Only echoes and whispers remain to shape the Armenian collective memory. Thus, her work is guided by a soft color palette and ghostly figures to reference the remnants of these quiet memories.
Sargsyan was born in Vanadzor, Armenia, and spent the early years of her life in the United States. She received her Bachelor of Art in art from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and a minor in museum studies. She is currently working towards her MFA degree in painting and drawing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Sargsyan’s works have been exhibited regionally both in the United States and Armenia. Using acrylics and transfer processes, she uncovers Armenia’s rich history and culture by referencing the symbolism and motifs of ancient Armenian manuscripts. By merging these elements with personal experiences and observations from the ongoing conflict in the region, her compositions bring to light the encounters of contemporary Armenian life.

Garcia uses clay and glaze to create tangible visionary works that make his dreams and inner truths visibly sensible in the external world. When working with clay, he channels energy through a primordial process involving earth, water, air and fire that connects him to the divine and his ancestors. Through his work, he explores the soul, spirituality and finding divinity within the geological world. 
Garcia is a visionary artist working in clay and ceramic materials. He was born in the northwest region of the Mojave Desert in Lancaster, California, where he began his studies in the ceramic arts. In 2021, he completed his undergraduate degree at California State University, Long Beach, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics. He is currently working towards an MFA degree in ceramics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Garcia’s works have been exhibited regionally in the United States. His works represent ancestral beginnings that weave spiritual connections to contemporary life through an animistic lens.