Zac Buser, MFA

“…nor does God in his grace, show himself to me anywhere more than in some fair mortal veil; and that alone I love, since he is mirrored in it.” —Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (ca. 1536-46)

• Teaching & Education

  You will learn with me when taking courses in Design I and II, Painting I, II, and III, Printmaking I, II, and III, Drawing III, Art History I and II, Contemporary Art History, Art Appreciation, and Art Seminar.

  Degrees

  • BA, Studio Art: Painting and Drawing, College of Charleston
  • BA, Music Performance: Classical Guitar, College of Charleston
  • MFA, Painting with additional studies in Sculpture, Drawing, and Printmaking, Clemson University
• Professional Experience

  My experience includes working as a set designer for major motion pictures, and teaching in higher education since 2000 with serving as Art Department chair from 2006-2020.

• Selected Publications
  • Resolve, Intersect Arts Center, St. Louis, MO
  • Media, Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC
  • Sacred Art Biennial, Jubilee Museum, Columbus, OH
  • CIVA Juried Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
  • ArtFields, Southeastern Juried Exhibition, Lake City, SC (2015, 2017, and 2018)
  • The Cross Is Our Theology, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO
  • The Intimate and the Immediate, Upstairs Gallery, Tryon, NC
  • Creative Wellness, Trillium Arts Center, Travelers Rest, SC
  • Spectre, Charlotte’s Gallery, Wilmington, NC
  • Watery Shadows, Mediterranean Gallery, Charleston, SC
• Selected Awards Received
  • Juried Exhibition, N. Charleston Arts Center, Charleston, SC, Second Place Entry
  • Media, Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC, Honorable Mention Entry
• My Network

  I will gladly involve you in my circle that includes:

  • Christians In the Visual Arts
  • International Sculpture Center
  • Tri-State Sculptors
  • Southeastern College Art Conference
• My Story

  I was born in Knoxville, TN but spent most of my childhood in central Pennsylvania. My family relocated to Greenville, SC where I studied both ceramics and music theory at the Fine Arts Center. I later received a B.A. from the College of Charleston (double major in studio art and classical guitar performance) and an from Clemson University. My B.A. artwork focused primarily on painting and drawing while my thesis incorporated sculpture, painting, and printmaking. While at the College of Charleston I was highly influenced by the classical figurative work of Jon Michel and am indebted greatly during my master’s studies to the teachings of David Detrich. My works are held in collections in both Europe and the United States. As a professor of art, I have the privilege of interacting daily with artists and seek the goal of developing their conceptual, technical, and spiritual maturity.

  Favorite Course to Teach: Design I and II. As an integrated investigation of the mechanics and effects of visual composition, these courses combine the objective study of physics, geometry, and physiology, the slippery topics of psychology and sociology, the enduring questions of philosophy and aesthetics, and the illumination of theology to describe its reason and presence in the world. The material covered in these classes permeates all visually oriented disciplines; thus explaining its position as a foundation within our degree curriculum. I find this field of study stimulating and challenging, with each semester yielding a new range of discoveries and insights into the vastness of the subject. As an artist, this information resides at the very core of my evaluative process, informing me of the mechanical function of my craft as well as serving to support my conceptual explorations. My excitement as an instructor, outside of my love for the material, comes from seeing my students use this knowledge to clarify their efforts and make informed decisions which allow them to focus their energy on the bigger issues of visual communication. Daily, I am humbled by the complexities within these courses and am honored to be a purveyor of their tenets.

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