The second installment of the MFA Thesis exhibit appeared without as much fanfare as the first, but still packed an ideological punch. The works of five MFA candidates fill the Joseph Gross gallery, next to the Art building, with another round of complex, finely crafted work.

I've been following the work of Kelly Morris for two years, and he has yet to disappoint me. Ideologically complex, technically superb and potently focused, his dark, visceral canvasses have a signature look that is a rare asset among student artists. Morris' hollow-eyed anthropomorphic figures are stranded between human and voodoo doll, featureless yet refusing to dissolve into abstraction.

Morris uses an antiquing effect to add a visceral sheen to his canvasses, produced by adding layers of transparent lacquer that is then wiped or carved away. His works have a textured, complex build of vibrant color that shows a physical relationship with the medium, and a desire to push the materials to the limit.

Analee Liveley's huge works of pastel on paper feature dense, sketchy lines and arresting compositions. Contrasting everyday figures with the cult of the Saints, a dark humor underlies her work.

Dotting the floor are a series of cocoon-like sculptures by Thomas E. Carlson, haunting assemblages of rusted metal and stretched hide.

Patricia Aylward submitted a series of loose, colorful abstractions based on classical themes. Prolific MFA Esther Granata continues her inquest into the heart, this time dealing with the constructs of guilt and the Catholic religion.

The Joseph Gross gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 12 to 4 p.m. Sundays.