Sage Dawson - Maps & Metaphysics (Click Here for an online preview of this exhibit)

About the Exhibition:
Historically, maps have been used as tools to represent space: to make large things smaller or abstract things more concrete, as well as to consult for travel. Maps document not only literal representations of land–the distinct identities of spaces, imperialistic expressions of power, and scientific understanding, but also abstract organizational systems, historical development models, states of mind, and world views. They may be, in a sense, the largest portraits of communities that we have.

To this rich history, I contribute my maps. Familiar imagery and architectural references encourage viewers to imaginatively inhabit the landscape. I hope to suggest that history, the production of space, and human experience influence the formation of individual and communal systems of belief, and thus responses to existence in general. These maps recall and invent such influences, re-evaluation the archaic notion of sublimity, and explore map-making beyond the physical world and into a more epic landscape of history, space, myth and scripture.

About the Artist
Born in Michigan, and having lived primarily in Missouri, Sage Dawson received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Missouri State University in 2005. Using mixed media, Sage draws from experiences in her individual history, the landscape, and architectural research in Israel (2004) and India (2008).

Sage received an MFA in Printmaking with a minor in Museum Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2009. There, both in collaboration with the Tamarind Institute and alone, she worked beyond the constraints of the traditional press bed size using multiple panels to create large-scale prints. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and was recently awarded a solo exhibition at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago. Sage’s current work draws upon the history of cartographic rendering: mapping a metaphysical landscape in order to investigate constructed systems of belief, sublimity, and the distinct identities of spaces. For more information visit www.sagedawson.com.

Kong Xin Shi - Interrelated
Breathing the Same Air, Walking the Same Earth, Drinking the Same Water (Click Here for an online preview of this exhibit)

Over half of my life, I have been following the spiritual path of meditation. Since coming to the West I have been searching for a medium for beings in the West to have a heart-to-heart connection with the spirituality of the East, to find peace and harmony.

Through art I have found this connection, art that conveys spirituality in human terms, humanistic spirituality. I started by portraying images of the founder of Zen meditation, Bodhidharma. But now, my sculptures and paintings portray organic forms to convey qualities that all beings share. All organic forms are beings, and all organic forms contain beings. Leaves become noses and noses become figures prostrating in prayer. Leaves breathe. Noses breathe. And in prayer we all breathe the same air, walk the same earth, and drink the same water. All beings have consciousness. All beings have an equal opportunity to interact within themselves and find self-realization. In this way all beings are interrelated. -Kong Xin Shi (SLim)

About the Artist:
I wanted to become a physician but instead became a “patient” in a Buddhist monastery and a student at Malaysian Buddhist Institute, Penang, Malaysia for over a decade. After ordaining as a Buddhist nun, I came to Chicago in 2000 and have been serving and teaching from birth to death in several Asian and American Buddhist organizations and the community at large while earning a B.A. degree in art and psychology at Northeastern Illinois University. For more information: www.shikongxin.blogspot.com

Women Imaging Women: A Study of Female Portraiture
at Robert Morris University (Click Here for an online preview of this exhibit)

Portraits play a profound role in the development of art history. From ancient lintels depicting Lady Xok at the Maya site of Yaxchilan to Cindy Sherman’s constructions of identity, portraits of women reflect culture, history, and character formation processes. Throughout the development of Western art history, images of women fashioned by men relate narratives of femininity. Portraits by John Singleton Copley of Boston’s elite or José de Alcíbar’s paintings of nuns in commemoration of the affirmation of their vows in Colonial Mexico demonstrate how male artists created histories for specific women through the visual arts. At the dawn of the twentieth century, women artists became increasingly recognized and in particular, women who depicted fellow women received enhanced attention, notably the painter Mary Cassatt and the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

With art historical tradition in mind, “Women Imaging Women: A Study of Female Portraiture “examines how contemporary artists depict either themselves or other women. This exhibition asks: how do women present images of other women? By presenting a diverse group of artists working in myriad media, Women Imaging Women offers a complex study of how women artists portray womanhood. The included works provide varied representations as some are abstract and mystical, while others are naturalistic and earnest.

While the show offers a survey of female portraiture and therefore presents contrasting images, many of the works share similarities and invoke pride, confidence, and emanate with both bold meaning and style. Works by Mary Ellen Croteau, Judithe Hernández, Joyce Owens, and Patricia Peña reference the historical past. Paintings by Pritika Choudhry offer an intimate and haunting depiction of the artist herself. Photographs by Peggy Gentleman portray women in relatable moments of everyday existence, while photographs by Susan Tennenbaum suggest the fragility, strength, and resilience of teenagers.

Artists who have their work in this exhibition: ATYL, Sarah Baranski, Nicoletta Braccioni, Cat Del Buono, Pritika Chowdhry, Judy Cooperman, Mary Ellen Croteau, Peggy Gentleman, Andrea Ginsburg, Juarez Hawkins, Judithe Hernández, Allison Hill, Shelly Jyoti, Mary King, Lily Mayfield, Sheila Oettinger, Joyce Owens, Patricia Peña, Joyce Polance, Michelle-Renee Perkins, Gay Riseborough, Victoria Szilagyi, and Susan Tennenbaum.