University of Tennessee, Knoxville MFA Featured at the Art Institute of Chicago
Abigail Lucien, who received her MFA in Studio Arts from the University of Tennessee in 2017 (with a concentration in Printmaking) is currently presenting Blood of the Earth, a one-person exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago curated by Irene Sunwoo, the John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design. The exhibition opened on June 18 and will be on view through January 25, 2027.
In Blood of the Earth, Lucien presents a series of new sculptural works in an immersive installation, conceived as a speculative space of creation and possibility. These objects include a furnace, bellows, anvil, and other tools that evoke an active metalsmithing workshop animated by the life force of iron. Iron as a material is central to the project, as it becomes malleable and viscous when heated and can be forged, welded, and poured into molds.
This year Lucien has also presented one-person exhibitions at Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York, NY and the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA. Recently Lucien also participated in the John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s Art/Industry Foundry Residency Program in Sheboygan, WI. Last year Lucien presented a one-person exhibition “Under Other Skies” at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD. Since 2023 Lucien has been an Assistant Professor and Head of Sculpture at Hunter College in New York City. Lucien is also on the Faculty at the Ox-Bow School of Art. Their work has received favorable press in The New York Times, Brooklyn Rail, Burnaway, The Nasher Sculpture Center Magazine, and Frieze Magazine.