Ways of Making 2012

Ways of Making 2012

National Juried Competition 

Exhibition Dates June 4- 23, 2012

Closing Reception Saturday June 23, 430- 730pm remarks at 6

Jurors: AAron Ott and Jason Foumberg

Gear Driven - Richard Cammarata

Gear Driven

Richard Cammarata

April 18- April 23, 2012

"Gear Driven" Graduate Thesis Show of Richard Cammarata featuring ceramic sculptures on hand built crate pedestals and two wall mounted pieces. The gallery looks fantastic! I love the transformation that this 3D show has brought to the gallery. A big thanks to Luis Sahagun for getting the lighting perfect.

Reception: Thursday April 19th from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Janet Engel-Julian " Graduate Student Exhibition"

The Graduate Thesis Show of Janet Engel-Julian

Opening reception on Dec. 2 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m

To artist Janet Engel-Julian, a shoe print is more than just the product of a tread forming on the ground. The shoe prints, or in this case, ceramic tiles are the clues to life’s journey and form the basis for her master’s degree thesis art show, which opens Wednesday, November 30 with an opening reception on Friday, Dec. 2, at Governors State University Visual Arts Gallery.

Engel-Julian, a Lake Bluff Middle School art teacher, says her family inspires her artwork, especially her mother’s family, who emigrated to the United States from a small town outside of Palermo, Sicily in 1962.

“I think about the hardships and life-changing experiences my mother went through that make her the person she is today,” she says. “My family’s traditions and experiences and their influence on my life are what I use to inspire and influence me as I create my work.”

The shoe-print ceramic tiles, arranged in an 8’ x 12’ installation, dominate the gallery walls and provide a sense of motion while capturing and cataloging the many steps of this familial and cultural journey. These tiles are joined by other installations such as porcelain, hand-rolled cavatelli, slip cast tomatoes, zucchini and other vegetables, as well as strings of slip cast garlic bulbs that delicately hang from the gallery ceiling.

For the opening night reception on Dec. 2, Engel-Julian will create a culinary performance piece for those in attendance to share the camaraderie of a meal, while creating their own memories, a theme central to the exhibit.

“Even though people may be enjoying the same meal, they’re going to remember certain parts of it differently based on their personalities and past encounters,” she says. “While you can capture time in photos, video, or ceramic tiles, it is always passing and changing, and only really documented in your own memories. Once the memories fade, the past is lost.”

Janice Pratt "Nature Orchestrated" Graduate exhibition

Janice Pratt

Graduate Exhibition

Nature Orchestrated

October 3, - November 11, 2011

The Art on Campus program is activating wall spaces on campus with student, alumni, and community artwork. During Fall Semester 2011,
A graduate thesis exhibition will be featured: Janice Pratt “Nature Orchestrated”. Exhibit will occupy across campus to enjoy the full effect of this artists’ work. Because this gallery is located in the public areas at GSU, the exhibit can be viewed any time the campus is open.

Rick Edwards "Urban Decay"

September 16th- September 21st

Rick Edwards seeks out images found in neighborhoods that strongly depict society’s general lack of empathy, which has resulted in an overwhelming representation of urban decay. The distressing yet rich depictions found in the work go beyond a superficial representation; they connect on a political, economic and societal self-loathing prospective of reality. Each shot seeks
to connect on an emotional level through choice of landscape, composition
and lighting.
Edwards subject as a photographer is primarily processed in black and white. He ask viewers to consider taking responsibility for their own actions and the effect it has on humanity. With change comes progress and new opportunities but that realization in some of these forgotten communities has not become
a reality. He select imagery of what was once beautiful and full of life and
although life still remains on some level, it is now hard to appreciate its beauty.
Edwards typically show prints in medium to large formats sizes, (8” x10” to
|16” x 24”) to invite viewers to interact and come out of their comfort zones
to see the potential and lost beauty in these neighborhoods.
Edwards uses a digital VR Nikon SRL camera to capture the rich texture of black and white imagery. Edwards preferred media for printing is Epson
Premium Photo Paper Glossy or a variety of matt finishes. Although completing the majority of his education away from Chicago’s South Side neighborhood, he currently resides in a quite middle class community in the suburbs.
His parents still lives in the continuously changing community where he grow up, he prefers to come back to shoot its lost beauty.

Lori White "A Visual Meditation"

SEPTEMBER 9-SEPTMEBER 15, 2011

Gallery is pleased to present Lori White with her newest body of oil paintings, “A Visual Meditation.” This series explores the idea of one’s mind in a meditative state. The exhibition will be on view from SEPTEMBER 9-SEPTMEBER 15, 2011. The opening reception will be on SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 from 5:30-8p.m. This exhibit will be free and open to the public.

“A Visual Meditation” explores organic forms that reflect the meditative power of the nature. Her mind sees the environment as a place that mirrors a sense of peace and harmony. Miss White’s hope is that each painting inspires a person to visually meditate and become lost within his or her thoughts.

White is a graduate of Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN and is also a graduate of Governors State University with a Master in Arts in painting. She has displayed her artwork locally throughout the Chicago area. White is a teacher of art at Tyler and Bentley Elementary Schools and currently lives in Frankfort, Illinois.

Water Pollution- an exhibition by Jaclyn Reidy

Opening Reception:
Friday August 19, 2011
5:30 - 8:30 p.m.
free and open to the public

Exhibition Dates:
Friday August 19th - Wednesday August 31st
www.govst.edu/gallery
regular gallery hours:
Monday and Wednesday 1-5 p.m.
Tuesday 1-9 p.m.
Thursday and Friday 5-9 p.m.

Artist Statement

Water Pollution

The images I create evolve from littered waste and debris that I have witnessed in waterways. Being drawn to water and its pristine blue hues in lakes and oceans, I chose to focus on water pollution because it is harmful to the natural resource itself as well as marine organisms and humans that consume those affected organisms as food. Water pollution also contaminates drinking water, which is essential for humans to thrive.

From my observation of polluted waterways, I researched more in-depth information on water pollution as well as images of polluted water and marine organisms, both healthy and infected, from books and the internet. I use those images as references, and draw an original composition from memory onto the canvas. The primary medium in my art is oil paint, for the purpose of bringing out the color and image to attract a person’s eye. In my paintings, I incorporate a great deal of texture to add tactility, which in turn, adds a realistic effect to the painting.

The central theme behind my paintings is that water is essential for the proliferation of life, but it is adversely affected by water pollution, which in turn, harms marine organisms and human health. Water pollution needs to be prevented in some measures, but in many instances, it is beyond human control. It is a global environmental concern due to the fact that water is the foundation of life.

Once Upon a Time an exhibition by Heidi Stachulak

Heidi Stachulak "Once Upon a Time"
Graduate Thesis Exhibition, Governors State University
Aug 12-17
reception Friday August 12 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.