210402 MFA Thesis Gallery 071

Terry Ratzlaff discusses his MFA work “Take Your Time” to instructors and fellow masters students. In his work, Ratzlaff deconstructs and analyzes modern perceptions of time, chaos, order and obsession. In “Take Your Time,” he photographically deconstructs three idiosyncratic characters: a collector of model trains, an accumulator who makes annotations of train activities, and himself—a mimetic assemblage of collectors and accumulators. Each character is represented in its own collection of photographs that visually collide and collude with each other. By coupling each of the characters, Ratzlaff analyzes how obsession organizes a collection with the intent to control the experience of time. MFA Thesis Exhibitions in the Eisentrager•Howard Gallery in Richards Hall. April 2, 2021. Photo by Craig Chandler / University Communication.