"1035 Days – NIU MFA Final Exhibition" PRESS RELEASE

April 29, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1035 Days – NIU MFA Final Exhibition
Show opening: May 4, 2014, 5-8pm
Ebersmoore Gallery (350 North Ogden Ave, Suite 100, Chicago)

Northern Illinois University’s School of Art presents: “1035 DAYS – NIU MFA Final Exhibition.” Fifteen MFA candidates will present work in a variety of media.

The three-year long program brought together aspiring artists from the area spanning from Tennessee to Minnesota with two students coming by way of Eastern Europe. At Northern, graduate students work in a variety of mediums, such as printmaking, painting, sculpture, fibers, photography, metals and ceramics and are privileged to work closely with professors outside of their primary discipline.

While formally diverse, the work that comes out of the NIU’s Graduate Art Program is very personal in character. The artists reveal their own individual histories addressing the culture they grew up in, family relationships as well as their physical, emotional and mental states of being.

The experience of growing up will likely determine our personalities and habits. In the form of memories, we reexamine this collection of experiences and translate it into visual terms. Attempting to sort out fact from fiction Katy Bisby creates drawings and paintings that depict the strange characters and beliefs of the Bible Belt community where she grew up. Employing pop culture icons in her performances and installations, Mary Hintzen is dealing with the onset of disillusionment with the adult life – the realization that the promised fairy tale is not only unattainable but is altogether fake.

A culture of myth is also prominent in Michael Weigman’s work: in the collection of prints titled “Midwest Moon Fog” he represents the culture of Black Metal as he experienced it growing up in the suburban Midwest. Exposing the parallels between the narratives of superheroes and those of religion, printmaker Aaron Coleman expresses his frustration with prejudice and racism. Amelia Spinney’s brightly colored confrontational screen prints infuse with dark humor the difficult and commonly avoided social issues and situations. In contrast, Kathy McDonald’s immaculately crafted whimsical ceramic sculptures of invented creatures are amusing and playful.

Some artists delve into their inner worlds – through imaginary characters and peculiar environments they confront the ambiguity and ambivalence of life in ways that are both poetic and grotesque. In a collection of oil paintings titled “Fifty Things Going Through My Head,” Ryan Burns depicts an unlikely comic-based character whose phantasmagorical adventures can’t be taken lightly. Garran Gillespie’s prints and drawings contain odd, uncomfortable juxtapositions – a portrait of a little girl with the face of an old man – that question the dichotomy of good and evil. Brian Montana appears as the character of his video installation, “I Captured You with a Word. Tied Down by Breath.” – lyrical and theatrical, it visually manipulates the laws of the universe in an attempt to comprehend our own existence within its vastness.

Close observation reveals an intimate knowledge of that which is immediate. Jason Judd is carefully navigating along a route that has no determined end point: it is the encounters along the way that inform his minimalist multi-media installations. Juan Fernandez’s austere photographs feature isolated shapes, structures or faces, which, upon closer examination, reveal oddities. Looking beyond appearances, Anna Miller uses woven aluminum mesh to create corporeal entities, who by their nature are unable to keep anything hidden. Maria Dimanshtein makes work about self-reflection and relationships: her interactive contemplative installations become complete with the participation of the audience.

Emily Franklin stages bright and pattern-rich photographs that bring to focus recognizable cultural moments or objects, universal in the collective American consciousness, yet echoing a personal history. The story of her family is the focus of Polish-born Iga Puchalska’s work: through classic hand-drawn animation she examines her family relationships as well as the experience of immigration.

"I said it. I couldn't say it." - documentation.

My MFA thesis show titled I said it. I couldn't say it. - was an interactive installation that took place at Gallery 214 on campus of Northern Illinois University in March 2013.

The visitors were invited to enter a tent-like structure and create a diary entry in a blank diary. They were then prompted to deposit their entry into a slot inside the tent. Afterward they could pick someone else's message from the mailbox outside and display it on the wall.

The visitors were also invited to take a cookie with words "I said it" or "I couldn't say it" printed on them.
The installation took place over the course of 4 days and a collection of diary entries got accumulated over that period of time. Many people accepted this opportunity to share some intimate thoughts and feelings: uncertainty about the future, anxiety over relationship issues, difficulty of connecting to one's true self or purpose.

"I said it. I couldn't say it." An interactive installation.

I said it. I couldn’t say it. – is an interactive installation about facing our own truths and learning the truths of others.Visitors will be invited to engage with the environment and contribute their own content making the piece expand and change throughout the week.

The work attempts to locate a space – physical or mental – for honest self-expression and explore the experience of sharing as a means of getting to know the self and the others. Here the internal intermingles with the external: the experience of the indoors vs. the outdoors, the concealed vs. the revealed. Visitors to I said it. I couldn’t say it. will meander between those realms, whether finding a place to hide or to be seen.

Gallery 214, Visual Arts Building (2nd floor)
Artist reception Thursday, March 28, 5-8pm
Visiting hours March 26-28, 10am-4:30pm; March 29, 10am-12pm;

Review: Brian Montana/“I Captured You With A Word”

I would like to present a review that I wrote for the show of my colleague and friend, new media artist Brian Montana.

Brian Montana/“I Captured You With A Word”

Referencing a classic verse and implying a romantic connection, the title of the show may appear overly poetic. However, applied to video-based work it creates an intriguing contextual juxtaposition. Employing a medium, whose primary function is to document the actuality of life, Brian Montana ponders the enigmatic and the absurd. His work resonates with the vision of artists like Bill Viola, who use new media to contemplate the human experience.

The stark, thoughtfully cropped videos are presented as wall projections,  the image of the artist appearing  in most of them. “Without You,” one of the prominent pieces, consists of three videos displayed in a triptych formation. In each of them, the artist is interacting with a physical substance, like gas or sand, that has an effect on his body. It becomes unclear if he is battling or inflicting the occurring conditions.

The installation of  the piece titled “I Masked The Illusion With Shadow To Hide In The Light” is an intriguing arrangement. A bright light bulb is positioned in front of the video projection, its sun-like glow so intense it hurts the eyes. In the image we can make out a person's body, but the head is bleached out by the glare. Another appearance of a light source occurs in “Tied Down By Breath,” which shows the artist attempting to blow out a candle while appearing to be restrained by an invisible force. One suspects special effects to be accountable for the unexplainable in Montana’s work, but the footage is not manipulated. The very banality of the ways utilized to present the scenes in a new light makes the work ever so sharp.

Through his silent visual monologues Montana attempts to view himself in the context of the universe. If our physical bodies are bound by laws outside of our control... If our own mind may force us to act out scenarios that appear absurd... What is the nature of 'I'?
It becomes apparent that, in contrast to sentimental allusion, the titles of the work are somber and full of ambiguity: “You Laid A Bed of Sand To Dream As Your Nightmare Devoured Me.” The 'You' the artist is addressing, may not be an object of affection, but an elusive entity: immediate as 'I,' incomprehensible like the universe.

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The show is on view March 4-8, 2013 at Gallery 215 (215 N. 4th St., DeKalb, IL)
Artist reception March 7, 6-9pm. Open to public.
Brian's work can be seen on his website.

Winter Tree of Flowers

That moment of encountering something that seems impossible: our logic is fighting our senses and we are overwhelmed by disbelief. We go on to re-examine the situation, convinced that there is a way to straighten out the misperception. But, no. It is actually happening.

Being betrayed by a friend or a lover — a person you've been close to turns toxic or cuts you off without explanation. Someone you confided in is not who you thought they were. "Who are you and what did you do with my friend?"

Winter Tree of Flowers creates a moment of disbelief. Having a tree blossom overnight in February in Illinois is not a common occurrence. Also, this was a way for me to insert some drops of color into a cold, seasonally abandoned place: an artificial placeholder for what is sure to come.

I must admit that I have seen fruit trees blooming in Chicago in September, their leaves changing to fall colors at the same time. I kept thinking: it doesn't make any sense. But they were real, right in front of me. What can you do with that? 

The Winter Tree of Flowers is located in DeKalb, IL on campus of Northern Illinois University (as of February 19, 2013). To see it in person arrive to the Kishwaukee river bridge on Lucinda Ave (next to the Music Building) — there is street parking on the East side of the bridge. Start walking North, following the paved path along the river. After you pass the parking lot on your left, look out for the The Winter Tree of Flowers. Be brave. Be an explorer. I left candy there for you (I'm serious). 

The installation will stay up as long as is appropriate. 

Exploring The Field

It's been cold and windy for the last couple days. But still I've been going to the field not far from my house, to explore. This space is one of my favorite in DeKalb. Sometimes it reminds me of background landscapes from the Renaissance paintings.

A Stubborn Disbelief

A Stubborn Disbelief is a piece about pushing the limits.

The desire to constantly move forward, no matter what, can make us blind to the obvious signs that we might need to pause. How vital are our envisioned conquests? We might be at our limits but refuse to believe that – until something breaks. The non-negotiable goals are then put on hold 'until further notice.' In the meanwhile, catching our breath, we attempt to assess the damage.

A Stubborn Disbelief from Maria Dimanshtein on Vimeo.

Apples Over Kishwaukee River

Apples Over Kishwaukee River is a temporary site specific installation on campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. It was created in January 2013.

It is easy to dismiss our everyday surroundings as mundane. But the mundane is not inherently there — it's in our perception. Wonder and beauty can be exposed by changing up the context of the familiar.

An observer on the bridge can see 5 yellow and red apples hovering above the surface of the water, suspended from a string stretched over the river. From certain angles the thread appears invisible, provoking a closer examination of the situation.

Apples symbolize a potential, being a source of energy, carrying seeds for future growth. In the gray of winter they are a reminder that by honoring familiar places with our attention we might be rewarded by discovering something we didn't see there before.

Mood Cookies And Tea

Mood Cookies and Tea is a project that I did in January 2013 at the opening of Love Under Funnel Cake and Venga Boys at Space Club HQ in Chicago. I served 100 home-made sugar cookies that had various moods imprinted on them, such as: I could use a hug, I am depressed, I want adventure, I feel loved, I miss my ex, I want to get high, etc. Everyone was invited to choose one cookie. Hot tea and tea condiments were also served.

This project is a part of my recent Tea Party series that started with Winter Tea Party in December of 2012.

Mood Cookies and Tea. Hosted by Maria Dimanshtein.

Photos by Stuart Snoddy

Winter Tea Party

Since January 2012 I have been living in DeKalb, IL where a sense of community has become very important after I relocated here from Chicago. Relationships with others are one of the most important aspects of my life. I hosted Winter Tea Party to bring people together to share a new common experience. In December of 2012 I invited people from my community to join me for a cup of tea on the front lawn of my house and welcome the approaching winter. Although a common perception of the cold is as being uncomfortable, I proposed that there is an aspect of beauty to it. 

Every evening at dusk throughout one week I served hot tea with honey, lemon, jam or Riga Black Balsam (an herbal liquor with healing powers). I transformed the space of the lawn to create an atmosphere that was intimate and welcoming, maybe even romantic or magical. The tall pine tree was lit up with spotlights, fresh and golden apples were suspended from the branches. Taking the ‘indoors’ into ‘outdoors,’ I created a setup reminiscent of a kitchen by hanging a mirror, pictures and a towel. People gathered to observe the dusk, indulge in a cup of hot tea and share conversations. Having the event go on for a week allowed for the word to spread and turn Winter Tea Party into a little tradition of its own.