Echo

For more than a decade, the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum has proudly exhibited work by students graduating from the Master of Fine Arts program in the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts at Florida International University. This annual exhibition serves as an opportunity for the MFA cohort to showcase their work and share the results of their rigorous training with students, faculty, and the Miami community at large. This year works by Brandi Long and Emma Ortiz will be featured in the galleries. 

Emma Ortiz sees her paintings as diary entries. The canvases vary in size and presentation, and offer insight into Ortiz’s negotiations between intuition, creating shapes, and mixing color. While leaning into abstraction, floral motifs can be discerned from Ortiz’s colorful brushstrokes. Notably, Ortiz works solely with natural light. 

Combining the use of found objects, up-cycled materials, fabric, dead insects, polymer clay, and tree stumps, Brandi Long creates sculptures that, shown together, evoke a passage through a forest. Some works hang from the ceiling while others appear to have roots within the gallery. Long states, “Nature for me evokes beauty, fragility, and a feeling of peace and serenity. I could say my reaction to being in nature feels almost spiritual; it moves me to my core, centers me, and helps me understand what’s ultimately most important in life.” Through the meticulous use of fiber products, Long’s sculptures inspire a heightened awareness of and concern for the frailty of our natural environment. 

Brandi Long, Rebirth [detail], 2022, 9.5 x 11.5 x 10 inches, Embroidery on tulle, glass beads, polymer clay, organic material, and found object, Courtesy of the artist