ExhibitionI Left My Heart…

Panczenko MFA Prize Exhibition 2022

I Left My Heart… is a love letter to San Francisco. In the exhibition, the relationship unfolds through dozens of photographs and collected objects. The beauty of kitsch, camp and icons appear throughout the images and are represented through mid-century souvenir plates and tiny figurines. Bauer sees San Francisco as a single city where one can experience the illusion of global travel. It took very little time for the artist to fall in love with the destination.

Bauer’s work focuses on a variety of research points from childhood nostalgia to Americana to the act of wandering. Photography was the start of her creative practice which now has evolved to include assemblages, installations, paintings and text. She uses archiving and organizing collections along with shopping at thrift and discount stores to provide inspiration and materials for her creative process. Photography is the main focus and is combined with drawings, textile pieces and found-object sculptures.

The Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize is offered annually by the museum in collaboration with the UW–Madison Art Department. The winner, who receives an honorarium, along with an exhibition at the Chazen, is selected by an outside juror. This year’s juror was Janet Dees, the Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum curator of modern and contemporary art at The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University.

Kayla Bauer (American, b. 1987), Beetle, archival pigment print, 2021

Kayla Bauer (American, b. 1987), Chinatown Window, archival pigment print, 2021