For Viking Days, the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery at Augustana University is welcoming back Gracie Korstjens ’24 for their first solo exhibition “Identity // Identify.” The exhibition is on view through Thursday, Oct. 29, with a homecoming gallery reception at the Center for Visual Arts on Friday, Oct. 23, from 7-9 p.m., with an artist talk at 7:30 p.m.
“Identity // Identify” is an installation of interdisciplinary printmaking that includes screenprints, risograph printing, mixed-media, as well as an artist book. As an art (studio) and biology double major, their exhibition quite literally weaves ideas of biological taxonomies and human identity.
“My practice interrogates the Western impulse to capture, categorize and exhaustively “know” the natural world. Enlightenment frameworks, such as the rigid hierarchies of Linnaean taxonomy, freeze and isolate complex ecologies into possessable objects,” said Korstjens. “My work, however, seeks an alternative ontological understanding.”
In their imagery, Korstjens uses representations of lichen as a biological and conceptual anchor for this resistance to classification.
“As a holobiont — a composite of fungus, algae and other miscellaneous collaborators — lichen refuses the singular, bounding logic of traditional taxonomy,” explained Korstjens. “In my work, lichen is not a subject to be inspected, but a directionless co-collaborator — reminding us of our own porosity.”
“Gracie Korstjens is a wonderful example of what AU values. As an undergraduate biology student, she asked insightful and probing questions aimed at understanding the complex interactions that shape all life. But even within biology classes, her artistic nature was always evident,” noted Korstjens’s mentor Dr. Diane Roeder, assistant professor of biology. “Gracie managed to take these two very large areas of study (art and biology) steeped in their own language, philosophy and way of understanding the world and put them together.”
In turn, Korstjen’s postgraduate work has arrived at something even more interesting: a way to demonstrate just how truly uncapturable life can be on a vast planet.
“Gracie has managed to integrate and grow beyond the traditions of both the artistic and scientific way of life to build something new and intriguing,” Roeder said.
In 2024, Korstjens was awarded The Harold Spitznagel Medal for Achievement in Art — an award given by the Augustana Art Department to student-artists who demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in their artistic endeavors throughout their careers at Augustana. The award is only bestowed occasionally to graduating senior art majors.
With this exhibition, the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery continues a tradition of presenting solo exhibitions of alumni when they achieve their Master of Fine Arts (MFA). Korstjens, who is now based in Boston, Massachusetts, earned their MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in 2026.
In addition to the artist talk, Korstjens will visit with Augustana classes as part of the exhibition.
About the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery
As a part of Augustana University, the mission of the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is to contribute to the educational and cultural vitality of the university, surrounding community and state of South Dakota. The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery inspires the artists of today and tomorrow, and serves as a resource for teaching and promoting life-long learning through its permanent collection and temporary exhibition program with accompanying artist visits, gallery talks and educational materials.
The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is named after Palmer Eide and Ogden Dalrymple, pioneering Augustana professors emeriti of art. Many of their collaborative works are spread throughout the campus.
The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is located at 30th Street and Grange Avenue, in the Center for Visual Arts at Augustana. The gallery is open to the public and free of charge. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Saturdays, from 1-4 p.m.