Franz Burke-Vens is a dual history/studio art major who had two pieces displayed in an exhibit running in Des Moines, Iowa, over the last month.
If you are a student interested in combining multiple disciplines, Burke-Vens would encourage you to go for it.
“You’re lucky to have a passion for multiple things, and it’s great to be able to combine them into a career. Whether it’s as a double major, double degree, or a minor, I would say go for it. By combining disciplines, you create something new and more interesting than either discipline alone. You will never have a dull day if you’re pursuing disciplines you love,” Burke-Vens said.
In the exhibit at Main Frame Gallery in Des Moines, Burke-Vens had two copper etching prints. Both works engage with polar expeditions on opposite ends of the world: The doomed Franklin Expedition in the Arctic and the Terra Nova Expedition in Antarctica. Though separated by geography, both were driven by similar ambitions – national prestige, imperial competition, and the pursuit of symbolic victory.
The Franklin Expedition piece focuses on a specific member of the expedition, James Fitzjames, whose jawbone was identified in the fall of 2024. There is a quote from a letter left behind by the expedition and a poem that one of the expedition’s members had copied into his journal around the edge.
The other piece focuses on two members of the Terra Nova Expedition, Robert Falcon Scott and Edward Wilson. Around the edge of this print is a quote from Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s diary, one of the men who helped recover their bodies. Through depictions of touch, Burke-Vens aimed to re-center these narratives on the human experience.
When asked about what viewers should take away from the pieces, Burke-Vens replied, “I hope these pieces pique the viewer’s interest in the stories behind them and in history in general. I want viewers to look beyond heroic legend and consider the real lives lost in the pursuit of capital and perceived glory. I want to encourage a deeper, more critical engagement with history, one that acknowledges both ambition and consequence.”