Meet the Artist! Closing Reception for Murshed Summer Exhibit

MEET THE ARTIST: MOHAMED MURSHED - Closing Reception for Murshed Summer: Student Artists in Our Galleries Join the Center for Student Involvement's Visual Arts Team as we welcome UO alumnus artist -  Mohamed Murshed - back to campus to celebrate his summer exhibit in the Adell McMillan Gallery. Many of the student and alumni artists featured in this exhibit will be in attendance. Join us for light refreshments, inspiring art, and brilliant artists! Artist statement My recent artwork is a series of current student and alumni artists from the University of Oregon who also exhibited art in the Erb Memorial Union's galleries. I painted portraits of them with their art; in the background of each portrait I honored their work that was exhibited in one of the EMU’s two galleries: the Adell McMillan Gallery and the Aperture Gallery.  I enjoyed the process of doing this because it was challenging due to researching what their artwork looks like, how they do it, and how they got there. They each have their own inspiring story, and it was an honor to paint them. Student and alumni artists featured in this exhibit include: Mohamed Murshed (self-portrait) and Ugo Akabike, Daniela Cardenas-Riumallo, Elexus Greene, Polly Irungu, Jasmine Jackson, Jenny Kroik, Meerah Powell, Grace Kwon, Anne Magratten, Sophie Navarro, Sergio B. Sanchez, Allison Shukis, Mary Vertulfo, and Andrew Young.

Biography

My name is Mohamed Murshed, I was born and raised in Sana’a, Yemen; it’s a country right below Saudi Arabia. In my childhood, while living with my parents and my little brother, the neighborhood was lively and full of friends and neighbors. Unfortunately, many of them died because of the civil wars that took place in Yemen and the Youth Revolution in 2011, especially the devastating civil war since 2015. I moved to the states in 2012 during the Arab Spring and saw a lot of my closest friends killed in front of me before I left. I consider myself one of the lucky ones able to escape war before it was too late for my family and me. I moved to Salem and then Eugene to enroll in school and find work. I found myself graduating with a Bachelors of Art and Technology and currently furthering my degree at the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). I work with paint, sculpture, video, sound, programming for art, and video games. I am interested in challenging myself and in trying things that I haven’t done before. In my art, I try to bring awareness to the issues in Yemen and find help to unpack the layers of my Trauma.

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