As a student-curated exhibit at Emerson College, MOVEMENT/S examines how motion — whether literal or metaphorical — shapes our personal and collective experiences. The featured works respond to a world that never ceases to change, and explore shifts in identity, place and emotion.
The showcase is part of the upper level seminar course Curating Contemporary Art. With the help of affiliated faculty member in the Visual and Media Arts Department Leslie K. Brown, students directed everything from deciding a theme to setting up the displays and creating placards for each piece.
Once the theme was decided, students put out an open call to up-and-coming artists in the Greater Boston area. While there were over 90 applicants, only 14 artists were selected to be included in the showcase.
Amy Giese, a former MFA program director with over 25 years in photography, interpreted the theme through stillness. After developing long COVID during lockdown, she began creating self-portraits using LiDAR scanning apps to capture her sense of immobility.
The resulting series, “My Head is Too Heavy,” evolved from a personal project into a powerful reflection on feeling stuck in a fast-paced world. Collaborating with fabricators for laser-cutting and mounting, Giese found that the process itself deepened the message.
“That was all new to me, and I wasn’t sure how it would come out,” said Giese. “I was so thrilled when I learned it was not only possible, but furthered the message of the work.”
While Giese’s work explores physical and emotional stillness, other artists explored the theme through the lens of time and its deeper significance. Emerson student Mia Cassidy, majoring in Writing, Literature and Publishing, created “Moving Still,” an exhibit centered around themes of movement and the passing of time.
The piece is a digital collage, superposing photography and video. Cassidy used the city as her canvas, taking scenes from movement around Boston and combining them with still photos focusing on one or two subjects at a time. In an ever-changing world, one constantly moving at an overwhelmingly fast pace, Cassidy captured the beauty of slowing down and grounding ourselves in the present.
With movement being such a broad concept yet something so present in our lives, Cassidy hopes that her art “sparks reflection, perhaps helping one better understand themselves and the people around them.”
In addition to exploring physical and figurative movement, the showcase included work that addressed political and social movements.
As the current Studio Manager for Photography and Performance at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Chris Maliga wanted to center his exhibit around social movement — how we achieve progress in terms of representation and acceptance.
Maliga focused this specific piece around mental health struggles, and the social taboo around discussing them. When it comes to men’s mental health specifically, it is a topic not often discussed, and when it is, things like body image insecurities are almost never given proper attention.
To challenge these forbidden ideas in society, Maliga used images of nude men in vulnerable environments. He noted a strong aversion in the art world to seeing work that shows the nude male form, while gallery owners often have no issues showcasing women in the nude.
“I feel strongly that we need to challenge this kind of outdated attitude toward gender,” said Maliga.
Maliga’s hope is that audiences will resonate with the photographs, perhaps feeling a connection to the message or considering the societal pressures put on men to dismiss mental health struggles.
As Maliga’s work delves into the challenges surrounding mental health and gender, other artists, like Vivian Tran, also tackle complex themes of personal and societal significance.
Tran, a senior at Tufts University pursuing a BFA in Studio Art and a BS in Cognitive and Brain Science, was encouraged to submit to the open call by her friend, Avery Cather, one of the curators for the exhibition. In her work, Tran examines motion as a point of connection across worlds. By taking movements from found footage and turning it into one continuous path, she explores how the mundane can become profound.
One of her video pieces, “Shooting Star,” was installed high above the gallery floor, inviting viewers to look up, or even lie down, as one does when stargazing.
As a video artist, Tran describes her process as largely idea-driven, often sparked by lyrical moments or found objects that carry emotional weight. “Going forward, I hope my work can continue to transgress a lyrical moment, accessible by people of all ages,” said Tran.
This exhibition brings together a diverse group of voices, each interpreting movement through their own lens. Whether through personal storytelling or broader social commentary, the show leaves viewers with a lasting impression of what it means to move through the world today.
It is available until May 3 in the Media Art Gallery, located at 25 Avery Street, Boston, Massachusetts, a five-minute walk from the Park Street Red Line stop.
