Over the next few months we are offering a glimpse into the creative process of the Art Department’s graduating master of fine arts candidates, who are presenting their final thesis exhibitions throughout the spring semester. These exhibitions represent the culmination of years of dedicated study and artistic exploration, showcasing our students’ diverse talents and innovative approaches to art-making.

An interdisciplinary artist specializing in graphic and interactive design, Tamara McLean’s work resides at the intersection of past and present, using large-scale environmental design installations and new media to connect people to their places of habit. By creating immersive experiences, she fosters informed contemporary dialogue and encourages viewers to explore and reflect on historical and cultural contexts.
McLean’s final thesis exhibition, “Resilient Threads,” will be on view at UW–Madison’s Art Lofts Gallery from Jan. 27-31. A reception, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Thursday, Jan. 30, from 5-7 p.m.
We asked McLean to share some insights about her exhibition. Following is an edited Q&A:
What inspired you to create this exhibition? “Resilient Threads” explores the everyday, unpaid labor that defines domestic life’s intimate but often overlooked rhythms. This labor, represented through unmade beds, untidy sheets, and images of mundane messes, underscores household work’s cyclical and invisible nature — a perpetual task undertaken with no clear end, never fully “completed.”
This work is inspired by “Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net,” a new book from (UW–Madison Professor) Jessica Calarco that chronicles the causes and dire consequences of this status quo.

How did you create it? The work consists of an interactive textile soft sculpture installation with a corresponding art film. Twelve-foot panels of muslin and tulle suspend from the ceiling grid, forming a cathedral-like environment for visitors to explore. These translucent, layered fabrics shift gently with movement, evoking the transient and fleeting nature of the moments they represent.
The panels are printed with large-scale images that capture unmade beds and disheveled sheets, inviting reflection on the hidden labor embedded in daily life. Implied questions such as “Did you make your bed this morning? Did you make the bed for someone else?” challenge the viewer to consider their relationship with domestic labor.
At the back of the gallery, the accompanying film, “Resilient Thread,” plays, underscoring domestic work’s often unseen and undervalued nature. The art film was created in collaboration with Gavin McLean, a current communication arts and film student here at UW–Madison. The film references the 1975 transcendental classic, “Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.” In “Resilient Thread,” the central character completes a series of domestic labor tasks, daydreaming about freedom while trapped as a domesticated inhabitant. The repetitive monotony of the tasks emphasizes the neverending slog of domestic labor.
The installation and film create an immersive experience, subtly highlighting the quiet resilience required to face each new day.