Artist Statement,
Curatorial,
Exhibitions, Bibliography
Collections, 1987-present

ARTIST STATEMENT

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THE EMOTIONAL BODY: A Diary of a Woman

The Emotional Body series portrays womanhood by depicting a journey in search of the boundaries of body, personality, and strength. It renders the feminine body expressively, relying on compositional and figurative dramatizations to convey emotional reality of womanhood that focuses on overcoming oppression. This series is about the emotional body rather than the logical one. It is about the embodiment of oppression, the emotions caused by it, and what it does to the mind, feelings, and self. It is about the complexity, richness, and beauty of the journey from imprisonment to emotional freedom to claim one's identity and dignity. My interest in the competition between positive and negative space results in images that do not quickly disclose themselves, but capture attention for the time required to interpret them. My work parallels German expressionism and cave painting. Its correspondence to ancient forms of expression is enhanced by the presence of mythological themes, which are metaphors expressing the content of my work.

I have been using linocuts as my main medium of image making for twenty-two years. In 2000, I began exploring the semantic possibilities of altered images printed on fabric. In 2003, I expanded that technique by incorporating quilting and stitchery, which are associated with traditional feminine activities, to link my works to domesticity, intimacy, and women's issues.

The stitching functions as another layer of marks. I apply it over printed images so that the final work is a compound of a printed image and stitchery. In addition, I use dies and materials such as wood, plastic, metal, or cardboard to alter original prints. (to quilted prints)

updated September, 2007

The Emotional Body, printmaking exhibition of 2-D and 3-D works, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, Apr. 24-May 14 (to WMG)

Works on Paper, Dream Landscapes, Piwnica: Gallery of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, Lodz, Poland, 1987

National Invitational Illustration Exhibition and Fundraising, Prevailing Human Spirit, an exhibition commemorizing victims of the 9-11 tragedy to provide funds for the neediest; organized and curated by the Society of Illustrators of NYC, exhibited a color linoleum print Tragicomedy of Life: From Flesh to Spirit, Society of Illustrators, NYC (to Society of Illustrators)

National Invitational Illustration Exhibition Whatever It Takes, selected 30 American illustrators, organized and curated by the Society of Illustrators of NYC, exhibited a digital collage Sexual Freedom (commissioned for a cover of a quarterly journal Free Inquiry, 1997), Pennsylvania College of Art and Design (to PCAD)

Fine Arts Exhibition, Body Image, exhibited three digital paintings, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1996(to ECIAD)

Polish Art on Display, exhibited two digital paintings, Polish Cultural Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Ministry of Culture and Art Fellows, a series of acrylic paintings from the Dream Landscapes series, Museum of History of the City of Lodz, Lodz, Poland (to Museum)

Exchange Exhibition of Painting and Printmaking, between Lodz and Torun, BWA Gallery, Torun, Poland

International Exhibition of Graphic Arts, Künstler gegen Krieg, gegen Gewalt und für den Frieden (Artists Against War, Against Violence, and for Peace), exhibited two linocuts, organized by XYLON, Deutsche Sektion, shown simultaneously in Paris, Berlin, and Warsaw

Six Printmakers of Lodz, exhibited a series of linocuts, Gallery of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, Torun, Poland

Fine Arts Exhibition, Propozycje, BWA Gallery, Lodz, Poland

Fine Arts Exhibition, Kooperatywa, artists' collaboration on the interpretation of Horizon, curated by Jacek Bigoszewski, Chimera: BWA Gallery, Lodz, Poland

National Juried Exhibition of Book Arts, juried by Lynda Corey Claassen, Director, Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD, San Diego Book Arts, University of California, San Diego Libraries, La Jolla, CA, Aug.13-Sep. 8
(to Special Collections library)

Here Comes The Bride, National Juried Exhibition, juried by Beate Minkovski, Executive Director at Woman Made Gallery, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, May 19-June 15 (to gallery)

The Printed Image, National Juried Exhibition, juried by Susan Hover Oehme, Riverhouse Editions Master Printer, Eleanor Bliss Center for the Arts at the Depot, Steamboat Springs, CO, Apr. 21-May 28 (to arts council)

3rd Biennial National Print Exhibition, juried by David Christiana, Professor of Art; University of Arizona, Tucson, Northern Arizona University Art Museum, Flagstaff, AZ, Mar. 24-May 30 (to museum)

Process, Performance, and Projection, The Fourth Annual Time-Oriented Work Group Exhibition, juried by Chris Wildrick, Assistant Professor of Art; Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, The Surplus Gallery, Carbondale, IL, April

Los Angeles Printmaking Juried Membership Exhibition, juried by Henry Klein, printmaker, curator, writer, member of the Board of Directors of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at UCLA, The Creative Arts Center/Gallery, Burbank, CA, Jan. 6–26 (to LAPS)

Art Calendar Competition Her Mark 2005, selected a quilted linoleum print Welcome to Paradise, juried by the Gallery Board Members, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL (to gallery)

Annual Juried Members' Show, selected a quilted linoleum print on fabric Vicious Circle, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL (to gallery)

16th Annual National Works on Paper, juried by Richard Ash, Chair of the Art Program at Midwestern State University in Wichita Fallas, TX, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX

13th Mini Print International Exhibition, juried by Bruce North, past Director of Brooklyn Museum Art School, touring exhibition: Yager Museum at Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY, 1997, School of Art at East Carolina University, 1998, Indiana State University, 1998, Brigham Young University at Provo, Utah, 1998, Studio School and Art Gallery, Binghamton, NY, 1999, and Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, 1999

The 2nd Biennial Juried Exhibit of Contemporary Original Prints, Printmakers '98, juried by Jane Glaubinger, curator of prints at Cleveland Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA

National Works on Paper, Poverty, juried by Catherine Valenza, Director of Collections and exhibitions, The Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY, exhibited in the St. John's University Gallery, Jamaica, NY

* The list of 12 Western New York regional competitive art exhibitions and 9 lectures (1996-2002) available upon request. (contact)

(anthology)

Elka Kazmierczak, Breaking the Silence: One Woman's Tale of Survival– exhibition by local artist, September 2005, p. 23

Marleen Shepherd, The Fiber of Our Lives, a quilted linocut Indifference featured with the article, in Flip Side-the arts special, August 12, 2004, p. 7

on-line art data bank with the headquarters in Saint-Romain au Mont d'Or, France, <www.artistbiography.com> 2001-present (invitational)

Helen Russell, Media Messages, in Gusto, December 1, 2000, (no page #)

Richard Huntington, Prisoners of Success, a linocut Resignation featured with the article, in Gusto, February 12, 1999, p. 18

Krista Ivy and D'Arcy Curwen, Figuring It Out, Vol. 8, No. 25, June 25, 1997, p. 7, Buffalo, NY

Shirley Tokash Verrico, UB Art Department Faculty and Alumni Exhibition, October 30, 1996, p.14, Buffalo, NY

National Library – Prints Collection, Warsaw, Poland

Holocaust Museum at Majdanek, Lublin, Poland