The UTRGV School of Art hosted Carlos Limasโ Master of Fine Art Final Exhibition, โStoic States,โ which showcased various photographs of buildings, encouraging the viewer to go in and explore them.
โItโs an invitation for the viewer to explore an image,โ said Limas, who is in the design photography program. โIโm leaving a lot of space, maybe negative space, but the idea is to have a kind of connection. The large format works almost like a door to get into.โย
Limas describes his photography as not dรฉjร vu, where one is in a specific place in which something has happened, but having a connection with it.
โItโs weird because in general, theyโre open spaces, empty spaces, and they could be, like, nice, but then there are other spaces that are in decay, and there is something about it that I relate to,โ he said.ย
Lory Balquinta, a senior majoring in graphic design and psychology, said her favorite photograph was โRio Grande City,โ a diptych depicting two different buildings.ย
โI like the aesthetic, the grunge look,โ Balquinta said.
She said one of the buildings in the diptych reminded her of when she was young and would sneak into abandoned, torn-down houses for fun.ย
Even though it is an image of empty space, Limas wants the viewer to go into detail with the photograph, connect with and see whatโs special about it.ย ย
โSo, those spaces that are generally invisible to us because we just drive through them, they become visible because youโre taking them in a different context, in a different place,โ Limas said.ย
Asked what his favorite photograph is, the artist replied, โI think theyโre all special; they just kind of connect with [the open spaces] in a different moment, with different emotions, but they all are important.โ
Jaden De Jesus, a graphic design sophomore, described in detail what he saw on the diptych โRio Grande City,โ and said it looked very chaotic and almost tragic.ย
โI thought it was something like a fire, and I was imagining people running out and having to jump over the fence,โ De Jesus said.ย
Danna Zapata, also a graphic design sophomore, similarly described โRio Grande Cityโ with a dark image.
โI can almost see, like, thereโs a story of a family there, and itโs just not there anymore,โ Zapata said. โI see the ghost of the family.โย
โStoic Statesโ will be on display until Oct. 31 at the UTRGV Visual Arts Building located at 2412 U.S. Hwy. 281 in Edinburg. Admission is free.
