Artist Statement
Why do I use candy? How do I use candy? Predictably, these questions arise in most discussions of my work. Candy is my metaphor- my “velvet hammer.” For almost three decades it has been my still-life, landscape, figurative and symbolic orientation. In these common, innocuous, mass produced objects I find the expressive visual equivalences for the intensity, complexity, irony, and subtlety I see in life every day, providing a pervasive and compelling raison d’être for my paintings and drawings. Complementing its symbolic/metaphorical nature, candy is also sensuous in a direct visual way (color, form, surface) and in a vicarious way (taste, touch, smell). The cultural associations and responses my work can elicit from the viewer enrich esthetic experience and challenge me to continue exploring new ways of seeing and representing this particular reality. I choose and collect candy from various countries –chocolates, jujubes, licorice, hard candies, suckers- not only because of their potential in artistic terms, but equally important because of the way they evoke and reveal to me the values, attitudes, and cultures of the people who have designed and produced them in the first place. Europeans, more so even than Americans, take their candy seriously, especially in terms of refined appearance and careful presentation (some competitive German Konditoreien have been known to copyright their window arrangements!). For most of the small “portrait” drawings I have done for friends, I have had readily at hand candies (namely jujubes and licorice) aptly mirroring individual aspects of each person’s essence. And except in one instance –the shape of the monster (but not the cellophane wrapping) in the “Frankenstein” drawing- I have not had the need to invent any of candy used in my work; it already exists to be interpreted, re-cast and reconsidered in a way that says “Think you know? Look Again!” The visual effects I need to develop in order to achieve a convincing melding of subject with meaning require that the candies be painted or drawn in a very particular way; one which supplies a continuous challenge, both technical and compositional. In order to bring about the illusion of volume and forward projection into the viewer’s space and the transparent and reflective qualities of the candy images, I build up many thin layers of oil paint on canvas, defining and refining as I go. My technique is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Many of the paintings are large (up to 12’) and take between 2-4 years to complete. The smaller paintings and drawings, which take much less time, allow for greater freedom to experiment, changing scale and media, with more immediate results. Responding to the stimulation and challenge of special projects or commissioned work has often produced unexpectedly powerful outcomes when fusing the flexibility of candy as a subject with specific themes, concerns or issues that at first seemed incompatible. The “Frankenstein’s Monster” drawing for the 1993 Frankenstein Symposium and Exhibition in Ingolstädt, Germany, and the “Hold It!” painting and drawing with an anti-violence motif for the Duluth Women’s Domestic Assault Program are examples of this. In the process of repeatedly questioning and pushing the limits of the subject and media, I have produced 8 major paintings (all but two of which are in museum collections), 40 smaller ones and more than 40 graphite drawings, about 20 of which were commissioned as donations to numerous civic and cultural organizations for fundraising activities. New ideas continue to come to mind – different combinations, different techniques, different media –their coming to reality dependent, as always, that the excitement, commitment, and conviction of my direction and vision continue to be vital. Resume
Education:
BFA Clark College, Dubuque, Iowa, 1966
Major: Art
Minors: Elementary and Secondary Art Education and English
MFA, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1968
Exhibitions (Partial Listing):
1966 Joslyn Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, Midwest Biennial
1966 Wisconsin Art Association, Madison, Wisconsin, Biennial
1967 Madison, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Salon of Art
1968 Wisconsin Center, Madison, Wisconsin, Graduate Show
1968 Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, One-Woman Show
1968 Kornblee Gallery, New York, Group Show
1968 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, The Big Detail
1969 Finch College, New York, The Dominant Woman
1969 Hayward Gallery, London, England, Pop Art
1969 Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, Group Show
1970 Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, Painting and Sculpture Today
1970 Kornblee Gallery, New York, One-Woman Show
1971 SUNY, New York, New Realism
1972 Suffolk Museum, Suffolk, Virginia, Unmanly Art
1972 Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, Contemporary Realists
1973 New York Cultural Center, New York, Realism Now
1973 Whitney Museum, New York, Whitney Biennial
1973 DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, The Super Realist Vision
1974 Museum of Philadelphia Civic Center, Pennsylvania, Woman’s Work-American Art
1974 Land Art Gallery at Scripps College, Claremont, California, The Fine Art of Food
1974 Art Institute, Akron, Ohio, Selections in Contemporary Realism
1974 Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C., Friends of the Corcoran
1975 Louis K. Meisel, New York, Watercolors and Drawings
1976 Genesis Gallery, New York, Close to Home
1976 Tweed Museum, Duluth, Minnesota, Arrowhead Art Show
1977 Tweed Museum, Duluth, Minnesota, Faculty Choice
1977 Art Museum, Jacksonville, Florida, New Realism
1978 Whitney Museum-Downtown, New York, Out of the House
1978 Kornblee Gallery, New York, Some Observations About Scale
1978 New Gallery, Russell Sage College, Troy, New York, Seven Artists
1979 Kornblee Gallery, New York, Grand Paintings-Ten Year One-Woman-Retrospective
1980 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota Viewpoint Series, One-Woman Show
1980 Elevehjem Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin, Art Department Alumni Exhibition
1981 Tweed Museum, Duluth, Minnesota, One-Woman-Show
1981 Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan, One-Woman-Show
1981 Goddard-Riverside Community Center, New York, Menagerie
1982 Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, Minnesota, Billboard Project Art in the Air
1983 Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa, Twelve Midwest Realists
1983 Kornblee Gallery, New York, One-Woman-Show
1984 Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Realism
1985 Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, Minnesota, Drawings-Invitational Exhibition
1985 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California, American Realism, 20th Century Drawings & Watercolors
1986 Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, Minnesota, 47th Arrowhead Biennial Exhibition
1987 Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Drawing Show
1988 Forum Gallery, New York, Drawings, Group Show
1989 Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas, 14th Annual Invitational Drawing Exhibition (traveling until 1991)
1990 Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, Minnesota, 47th Arrowhead Biennial Exhibition
1991 Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa, A Closer Look One Woman Show
1992 Minnesota Museum, St. Paul, Minnesota, The American Still Life
1992 Suzanne Kohn Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Paintings and Drawings
1993 University of Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany, International Frankenstein Exhibition and Symposium
1995 Artworks Gallery WARM/Duluth Chapter, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Inaugural Group Show
1995 Joy Kops Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota, Group Show
1995 Gallery 416, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Spring Art, Group Show
1995 Dubuquefest/Art Festival, Dubuque, Iowa, Festival Gallery of Artists
1995 Joy Kops Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Duluth Artists
1996 Joy Kops Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota, Self-Portraits
1996 Joy Kops Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota, Wet Paint
1997 Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, Minnesota, Celebrate: Women in the Arts
1999 Tweed Museum, Duluth, Minnesota, Celebrate; Women in the Arts
1999 Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Duluth Exchange Exhibit
1999 College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota, Becoming Who We Are
1999 Lizzard’s Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota, Group Show
2000 Sivertson Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota, Invitational
2003 Northern Galleries, Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota, One-Woman Show
Collections
Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Glenn C. Janss Collection
Roy H. Neuberger Museum, Purchase, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Tweed Museum, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Whitney Museum, New York
Private Collections (available upon request)
Reviews:
Ca. 50 in local, regional, and national publications, art periodicals, and books, including: The New York Times, (Canady, Kramer, Russell), Art International, Arts Magazine, Pop Art Redefined (1969), Super Realism (1975), American Realism (1986).
Awards, Grants, Lectures, etc. since 1980)
1981 Women Studies Lecture, University of Minnesota, Duluth
1981 One-week Lecture/Residency, University of Florida, Gainesville
1981 Bush Fellowship for Artists
1982, 84 AVA Nominee
1982 “Art in the Air” Billboard Invitational
1982, 83 Review Panelist for Minnesota State Arts Board Individual Artists Grant
1984 Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Duluth lecture
1986 One-day Lecture/Residency, University of Minnesota, Duluth
1989 Jurist for Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards
1989 - 91 Minnesota Representative 14th Annual National Drawing Invitational Exhibition, Emporia State University, Kansas
1992 Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Career Development Grant
1995 Inclusion in Dubuque “Art Legacy Anthology” into the Iowa Archives Permanent Record (1996 Sesquicentennial)
1999 Tweed Museum, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Artist Lecture Series/UMD Student Art Exhibition Juror
2003 Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Career Development Grant
2006 Inclusion in Pop Art/Women Pew Memorial Grant Study by Sidney Sachs, Director, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery University
of the Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Educational /Outreach Activities
Educational
1972-present Open Studio Visits and Lectures for groups from elementary, high schools and adult education programs
1993-94 Art Instructor, Duluth, The Marshall School
1995-present Participant in Minnesota Art Access Program Grant (MAX)
2003 Adjunct Teacher, College of St. Scholastica
Art Outreach/Volunteer
1969-present Donor of original artworks (over 40)/services in fundraisers for the following:
DSSO- yearly from 1987 to present
Duluth Art Association
UMD Art Guild
WDSE
Marshall School/Marshall Auction from 1988-1998
PAVSA
Women’s Art Coalition
Day Without Art: AIDS UMD Department of Art, Tweed Museum
Duluth NOTE Opera Tosca
Lakeshore Lutheran Home, mural
ARAC Artists’ Relief Trust Fund
Duluth Amnesty International
Duluth Holy Rosary School
John S. Duss Memorial Conservatory Feast of the Arts
Dubuque, Iowa Wahlert High School
Dubuque, Iowa Art Association
Community Outreach/Volunteer
1972- present Member DSSO Chorus
1984- present Election Judge City of Duluth
1984-Stop the Freeway Published Cartoon in the Duluth News Tribune
1985-1998 Co-founder/Coach Duluth Bill Koch Youth X-C League
1996- present Vice President/Foster Home for Northern Lights Animal Rescue Non Profit
2004- present Bethany Crisis Nursery
2005, 06 Duluth Thanksgiving Buffet Volunteer
2006 Duluth Downtown Development 45 Days of December (Mrs. Claus)