I am interested in the limitless possibilities of abstraction and the ability of painterly gestures to convey or hold back emotional energy. I hold the history of painting in high regard and believe that work that reveals the hand of its maker to be both alive and immensely important in our present culture.
In my work I use an array of established vocabularies of painting processes such as pours, drips and repetitive marks. I regard each of these painterly elements as objects, the way a representational painter might use a lamp or a shadow or a figure in their work. My work considers how marks are made, read and altered and how this alternation can create new meaning. I am interested in what is communicated when a typically fast gesture, like a splash of paint, is slowed down or goes missing altogether. For example, marks created by a fast-moving loaded brush are slowly drawn elsewhere in pen or pencil. Paint squeezed out of a tube and drips of paint are slowly repainted with bands of color. In some work painted splashes are removed and only the tip of the splash remains surrounded by empty, raw canvas. I paint the edges of removed pours, the interiors of splashy drips. I am interested in how the manipulation of painterly processes can complicate their meaning and can recast them into a different language.
I believe in working with what is there and with what is available within the confines of the surface, support and paint. All material and movement on the canvas matters. How much glue, ink, gesso or paint matters. What my work is about comes out the totality of its making and the expectations and interactions of its various parts.
My work is rooted in the studio but the titles come from bits of conversations overheard during walks or on my daily train commute. Parts of language are regenerated into titles so that a fragmented sense pervades but direct references remain opaque.
Education
2009 MFA, School of the Art Institute Chicago. Chicago, IL; Jaharis Scholarship 2008
1994 BFA, Kent State University, Kent, OH; Deans List 1994, Kent-Blossom Art Scholarship 1993 & 1994Additional Coursework
2014 Writing as Part of Your Practice, University of Chicago Graham School
2015 Teaching as Part of Your Practice, University of Chicago Graham School
2005 Drawing and Painting Critique, School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL
2004 Advanced Painting Course, School of the Art Institute, Chicago, ILSolo shows marked with an asterisk
2018
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL. “Nothing Is Ours But Time” Curated by Gwendolyn
Zabicki2017
Ed Paschke Art Center, Chicago, IL. “The Mind’s I” project by Anne Harris
Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL. “Not Knowing” Curated by Gwendolyn Zabicki2016:
Ohio University Art Gallery, Athens, Ohio. “Chicago Paints” Curated by John Sabraw2015:
Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, IL. “ALL IN” Curated by Karen Azarnia2014:
Comfort Station, Chicago, IL. “Graft” with Noelle Allen. Curated by MK Meador
*Union League Club, Chicago, IL. “Methylchloroisothiazolinone”
*Morton College, Cicero, IL. “Select Works 2009-2013”
Chicago Art Department “Off-Center” Curated by Mike Nourse2013
Chicago Loop Alliance - Frogman Gallery, Chicago, IL. “Lady Painters”
South Logan Arts Coalition at the Milwaukee Ave. Arts Fair, Logan Square Chicago, IL.
*Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago, IL. “Drips+Grids”
Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago, IL. “25 Years: Thomas Masters Gallery"
Noyes Cultural Center, Evanston, IL. “Taking Chances” Curated by Sarah Krepp.2012
Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL. “Front and Center”2011
*Gallery 175, Chicago, IL. “Altered Alterations” Curated by Sarah Krepp.
River View Lofts, Chicago IL. “Geometrically Speaking II” Curated by Angela Bryant.2010
*Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago, IL. “New Abstraction”
Noyse Cultural Center, Evanston, IL. “New Noyse”2009
School of the Art Institute, Chicago IL. “MFA Exhibition”2008
Gallery X, School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL. “A Hirsute Affair”
*School of The Art Institute Chicago, Chicago, IL. Project for “The Wall”
Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago, IL. Group Exhibition “15 Years”
*Thomas Moser Cabinetmakers, Featured Artist, Chicago, IL2007
Montserrat Art Gallery, Watertown, MA. “Frame 301”2006
*Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago, IL. “Passage”
Union St. Gallery, Chicago Hts, IL. National Juried Exhibition “Aha! Epiphanies & Breakthroughs”
Art Chicago, Exposition of International Galleries; Thomas Masters Gallery.
Rockaway Artist Alliance, Fort Tilden, N.Y. National Juried Exhibition “Paper Trail" Firehouse Plaza Art Gallery, Nassau, NJ. National Juried Exhibition “Making the Cut”2005
Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago, IL. Group Exhibition “Blue Period”2002
Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL. “New Talent 2”2001
ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL. National Juried Exhibition “National 1”2000
ARC Gallery, Regional Juried Exhibition “Regional V11” Chicago, IL.
Pilsen East Gallery. Chicago, IL. “Melody Saraniti and Valerie Hagarty”Awards and Honors
2016 SIM Artist in Residence- Reykjavík, Iceland
2015 Jentel Artist in Residence with stipend, Banner, WY
2015 DCASE Professional Development Grant, City of Chicago
2013 South Logan Arts Coalition Artist in Residence. Chicago, IL
2013 DCASE Individual Artist Grant, City of Chicago
2012 C.A.A.P. Professional Development Grant, City of Chicago
2008 Jaharis Scholarship SAIC, Chicago
2007 Vermont Studio Center Artist Residency- Johnston, VT
2006 Juror’s award, Aha! Epiphanies & Breakthroughs, Union St. Gallery
2006 C.A.A.P. Individual Artist Grant, City of Chicago Depart. of Cultural Affairs
2001 C.A.A.P. Individual Artist Grant, City of Chicago Depart. of Cultural Affairs
2000 C.A.A.P. Individual Artist Grant, City of Chicago Depart. of Cultural Affairs
2000 Oxbow Artist in Residence- Saugatuck, MIPress and Video Features
2016 Jennifer Hepp, "Evanston Art Center showcases work of local artist collective," The Daily Northwestern, April 7, 2016
2015 Kevin Blake, “The Water’s Mirror of the Sky: “All In” at the Riverside Art Center”, Bad At Sports, Feb 4 2015
2013 Sixty Inches From Center, Video of “Gravitational Pull” at Design Cloud
2013 Art Ltd. Feb/March 2013 Issue. Review “Drips + Grids” by Robin Dluzen
2011 Gozamos.com. Interview for “Altered Alterations” at Gallery 175 by Corey Nuffer