The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University is hosting its annual Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Thesis Exhibition over the coming weeks. The 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition Season kicks off on Saturday, April 4, with new shows opening every Saturday and continuing through the final reception on May 9.
On Saturday, April 4, graduate students Amanda Gentry and Max Heaton present their work in the Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, and Hazel Liu and Yuxuan Wang present their works at the Turner Gallery. Both galleries are located in the NYSCC’s Harder Hall on the Alfred University campus.
Gentry, an MFA ceramic art candidate, will present “Undifferentiated,” a show with a quiet and meditative atmosphere. Simplicity of form is utilized as a means of universal language, invoking warmth, connection, and inner stillness. Working with clay, paper, and paint, her large abstract works ground the body in space, inviting entrance to a space where reflection is possible. The week following her MFA thesis exhibition, Gentry has a show opening in Chicago, “Simple Present Forms” at Alma Gallery, on view concurrent with Chicago’s Art EXPO.
Accompanying Gentry is MFA painting candidate Max Heaton, whose exhibition reflects the emphasis on action, abstraction, and unconventional expression in his work. Process-driven and inspired by the avant-garde, Heaton re-envisions traditional painting materials into unexpected forms. In addition to the gallery exhibition, an installation will be shown in the Holmes Auditorium, directly across the lobby from Fosdick-Nelson.
In the Turner Gallery, MFA electronic integrated arts candidate Hazel Liu’s work glows. Liu, an artist from China, graduated with a bachelor's degree in illustration and printmaking from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Influenced by her band experience, her illustration works are often inspired by music, with absurdity and fragmentation being the dominant themes. After her undergraduate studies, she shifted her focus to video creation and stage design, with sound art remaining an integral part of her work.
Alongside Liu is fellow MFA electronic integrated arts candidate Yuxuan Wang. His show is a playful approach to the technical language of electronics. Using a material language that spans from the ephemerality of water and candy to the industrial coldness of motors and robotics, Wang investigates illusion and comfort through a unique and striking visual language.
Four MFA candidates will be exhibiting in shows that open Saturday, April 11.
In the Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, MFA painting candidates Justin Donica and Ignacio Luera will exhibit together in a single exhibition called “Homebody.” Together, they ignite the space with the vitality of color and shared community. Working with historical cultural patterns and motifs, Luera’s work is deeply rooted in the past, present, and future: amplifying everyday scenes with reminders of what has persisted, and what will continue. His work is a celebration of community, and a reminder to cherish one another. Donica shares this mentality in his work as well, with dreamlike scenes of loved ones and locals. The tender moments often shown in Donica’s work echo the stylistic choice of abstracted realism, sincere in their mundanity yet reaching into a magical world where perspective and color shift. Both artists meticulously craft their works, with high attention to line and color.
Donica is an artist working in painting and sculpture from Brooklyn, NY. He graduated from Pratt Institute in 2024 with a BFA in sculpture and is currently curating shows at Peach Pitt Gallery in Bushwick. Luera holds a BFA from Texas State University (2014), and a master’s degree from Teachers College Columbia University (2024). He has been nominated for the Dedalus Foundation Award and was recently nominated for membership in the Alfred University chapter of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
In the Turner Gallery, MFA sculpture candidate Krist Lee culminates his graduate work with the exhibition “The Taste that Never Left.” Lee, predominately a glass artist, will be a resident artist at Pilchuck Glass School’s 2026 Better Together Residency, showing in UrbanGlass 2026 Window Gallery Exhibitions (Sept. 9 – Oct. 23, 2026) as well as being featured in The Corning Museum of Glass New Glass Review 46 and GEEX (the Glass Education Exchange) Journal Volume II. Drawing from memories of growing up in Hong Kong, and reflecting on his migration to the United States, Lee utilizes scent and interactivity, and large-scale installations to excite the senses and invoke recall. Though his works are a direct line to his own experiences, each visitor will find their own memories being brought to the surface, with the scent of incense, hay, various herbs and spices, and more drifting through the space.
Also in the Turner Gallery, MFA ceramic art candidate GH Wood’s show is aptly titled “The Familial Unfamiliar.” Wood holds a B.A. in chemistry and studio art from St. Olaf College, where he was featured as an Emerging Artist Resident and a Post-Baccalaureate in Ceramic Arts from Indiana University Southeast. After receiving his master’s degree, he will be teaching at Indiana University Southeast. He is currently an Emerging Artist Award recipient from the Northern Indiana Clay Alliance, and will be participating in the 2026 Pottery Tour in September. His thesis work is a collection of functional pottery which explores memory, place, identity, and belonging. This merging of concept and utility brings his practice into a contemporary landscape, while maintaining the historic devotion and prestigious craft of pottery.
The New York State College of Ceramics is a statutory college of the State University of New York operating within Alfred University. Its public mandate advances education, research, and engagement across the arts, sciences, and engineering of ceramics and glass.
The NYSCC Museums and Galleries administer six exhibition venues that serve the public through exhibitions, instruction, and programming. These venues include the Inamori Museum of Fine Ceramics; the Paul Vickers Gardner Glass Center; Fosdick-Nelson Gallery; the Robert C. Turner Gallery; the Cohen Gallery; and the Celadon Terra Cotta Building. Together they present contemporary art, material investigation, and student curatorial activity while linking exhibition practice to teaching and research and sustaining public access to collections, archives, and scholarship grounded in regional industrial history.
Opening receptions for the April 4 and 11 exhibitions will be from 5-7 p.m. The exhibition venues will be open Sunday-Tuesday, noon-4 p.m. For press inquiries, please contact Claire Kovacs, NYSCC Museums and Galleries Director, at [email protected].
