White bed sheets and common baking flour may be two ordinary household items, but in true artist fashion, Jackie Tufford used them to construct a meaningful piece of artwork.

Tufford (graduate-art), along with eight other graduate students, will have her art showcased at the Zoller Gallery as part of the Second Year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Show. The show, which began Tuesday, is a preamble to each graduate student's required individual exhibition at the Zoller Gallery next semester.

Tufford said her art was motivated by personal experience. She was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease, which prohibits the consumption of wheat or gluten products.

In the piece, the bed sheets are twisted into the shape of an intestine and are used as a symbol of sickness. The flour is a symbol of the starch Tufford must avoid daily.

"The piece is kind of subtle, nothing gory," she said.

While Tufford has always been inspired by personal experience, she said this piece is somewhat of an anomaly.

"This is the first time I've done something this literal. Usually, I don't do something so direct," she said.

Ellie Taraborrelli (graduate-art) created her contribution to the show in response to Tufford's work.

"When I saw the piece and environment that she created, I felt that I could incorporate her three-dimensional piece into my two-dimensional piece," she said. "I don't think conceptually it relates. It's more of a visual relationship."

Taraborrelli was inspired to paint and draw her piece on the wall. She focused on the topic of childhood.

Still another medium is used in Marie Rim's pieces for the exhibition. Rim (graduate-art) used an array of materials, including wood, concrete and plaster to craft an installation piece.

"My work is probably more jumbled than the rest," she said with a laugh.

Rim started out focusing on the topic of domestic abuse.

"I was just interested in domestic abuse, especially because I was so visceral and aggressive with my materials," she said. "It just made sense."

However, she soon realized she didn't have the necessary experience to properly communicate the idea of abuse and shifted her focus to intimacy.

"I think there's a lot of love hidden in those abusive relationships, too," she said. "It's just a failure to communicate; a failure to show it."

Rim is undecided about her future in art, but touted the benefits of the exhibition, mainly the focus she's gained.

"Being an artist is such an untraditional career path, and I'm just enjoying touching things with my hands and having fun," she said.

As for the benefits of the show, Bryan Billingsley (graduate-art) said he was excited to prepare for the "professional side of art."

"You have to understand how to present art, dotting the I's and crossing the T's," he said. "It's no longer just a piece you're working on and hiding away. It's put on public display."