Artist Jason Ramey will present his work as the Department of Fine and Performing Arts’ first visiting artist of 2014 at Northwest Missouri State University’s Olive DeLuce Art Gallery.

The exhibit opens Monday, Jan. 27, with a reception and lecture by Ramey, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building.

Ramey creates studio furniture sculptures by combining pre-existing historic objects with domestic construction processes. He thinks he is being true to his history and the process of making through this method. The hybrid structures he creates are intended to reflect the emotional attachments people have to their domestic environments.

“Sense of place is an underlying theme in my work,” Ramey says. “I use familiar furniture forms and pair them with the usually static wall form, which calls into question the actual role and meaning of both elements. I am interested in the viewer finding the humanity in the work through familiarity with the chosen parts.”

Ramey received his Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University and his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently is a visiting faculty professor at Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

For more information about Ramey and his work, visit www.jasonramey.com.

The exhibit, which continues through Friday, March 7, is free and open to the public. Regular DeLuce Gallery hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Mondays, 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sundays.