2011 W2S SERIES

2011 W2S EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW THROUGH MAY
(Window to Sculpture Emerging Artist Series)

January 14 – February 26, 2011
January 14, 2011
5:30 - 8 PM Opening
6:15 PM The Artist Talks, Jenniffer Omaitz in the Euclid Avenue Gallery
7:00 PM The Artist Talks, Joshua Parker in the Main Gallery

Joshua Parker and Jenniffer Omaitz initiate the 2011 W2S series as outstanding representatives of the art schools of Northeast Ohio. Parker is a BFA graduate and former teaching assistant from Kent State University. Omaitz is a BFA graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, MFA graduate of Kent State University, and currently adjunct professor at the University of Akron and Youngstown State University.

Parker and Omaitz make art that makes you think about habitation, building stuffs, architecture, engineering, and damage to the contemporary urban landscape and human psyche. Parker's gets you completely inside and thinking hard about getting out; Omaitz's keeps you outside and considering a try to get in. To galvanize your senses Parker has built, with reclaimed material and cardboard, a facsimile of a structure. He writes, "My goal, and the only real rule that I strictly follow, has always been to create things that I would want to encounter...I want to experience the unknown." Omaitz has created installations, varying from room to ruler size, to provide "ideas of interior and exterior, construction and destruction, physical and psychological landscapes."  Meticulously made of a multiplicity of found manufactured materials, objects, and a preponderance of architectural models, the pieces are suspended within the galleries' spaces, hurtling through their walls, and ever expanding through stuttering shadows. Both artists' works evoke the disasters, uncertainties, perplexities, and ever present paranoia that have most recently overtaken our world, locally to globally.

Joshua Parker: Humans are the only species on the planet that create trash, one good turn deserves another and the worst part about dying is that you can only do it once - but don’t worry, the water’s still fine here
MAIN GALLERY

Joshua Parker’s work focuses on places and things he would like to encounter. He is pushing against ‘labeled’ art that is by default ‘restrained.’ He rejects this notion, preferring that creativity should be able to develop unencumbered by anything other than the artist’s own musings. By abandoning the limits of rational and logical methods, Parker seeks to create new and fresh works of art. “Art unlike other things can appear to have a complete understanding of the unknown. I like that."

Joshua Parker was born in Cuyahoga Falls in 1979, to a family with a strong artistic background. From an early age he had a compulsion to be an artist, often forgoing other schoolwork in order to create screen-prints, drawings, and clay models. He recently received his BFA in Sculpture from Kent State University where he was twice awarded Best in Show at the Annual Juried Show. He recently finished a two year teaching assistantship in sculpture at Kent State and has plans to go to graduate school in the fall of 2011. Parker, whose work has been shown often in Kent, OH,  has most recently exhibited at SPACES, Cleveland, OH, with Sometimes an Entrance is Actually an Exit, and his individual sculptures were featured twice in the annual juried exhibitions of The Sculpture Center.

Details of Joshua Parker, Humans are the only species on the planet that create trash, one good turn deserves another and the worst part about dying is that you can only do it once - but don’t worry, the water’s still fine here, 2011, mixed and multi-media site specific installation,  10 x 17 x 37 ft.

Jenniffer Omaitz: Shadow Structures
EUCLID AVENUE GALLERY

Jenniffer Omaitz, an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Akron and Youngstown State University, earned her MFA from Kent State University in 2009 and her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2002.  Omaitz’s large installations of found objects, home building materials, and architectural models imply a shift between topography and natural disasters and tensions between physical landscape and the landscape of the psyche. She employs geometric forms that collide together and expand to examine the relationship between the walls, ceiling and floor that comprise the space. She uses gestural lines and cast shadows to separate structures in a way that resembles an urban sprawl; a simultaneous construction and deconstruction of the perceived space.
Trained as a painter, Omaitz blends practices of painting, drawing, and sculpture in her installations.

Jenniffer Omaitz is a nationally exhibited painter and installation artist who has been exhibiting her work in Cleveland and Denver since 2002.  Her most recent exhibitions include a site-specific installation commissioned for the 2010 Biennial of the Americas in Denver, Colorado. Trained as a painter, Omaitz blends practices of painting, drawing, and sculpture in her installations. Her work confronts ideas of interior and exterior, construction and destruction, physical and psychological landscapes.  Born and raised on Cleveland’s East Side, Omaitz currently lives and works in Kent, Ohio.

Jenniffer Omaitz, Shadow Structures, 2011, mixed materials, 13 x 50 x 5 ft (details of Elastic Limits)

March 11 – April 16, 2011

The Sculpture Center announces the Opening of Qian Li: No Matter How Hard I Yell and Daniel McDonald: Reluctant Redemption
These exhibitions are the second installment of The Sculpture Center’s annual Window to Sculpture Emerging Artist Series of six exhibitions in all.
Friday, March 11, 2011
 5:30-8:00PM       Public Opening 
6:15PM                 The Artist Talks with Daniel McDonald in the Euclid Avenue Gallery
7:00PM                   The Artist Talks with Qian Li in the Main Gallery

Exhibition dates: March 11 – April 16, 2011

Qian Li is an artist working with video, interactive installation, and digital print. Born and raised on the northeast coast of China, she was educated at the Central Academy of Art and Design (now the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University) in Beijing. She earned her MFA in 2003 at Umass Dartmouth where she started to introduce digital processes to her artwork.  Qian has worked in a variety of media including video, digital print, interactive art installation, 3D/2D animation and web. She has exhibited frequently in the US, Europe, and Asia. Her work was recently shown at the 20th International Video Festival Bochum in Germany, the Boston Cyber Art Festival, the Festival Miden in Greece, the 12th International Video Festival Videomedeja in Serbia; Transhift in Tennessee; SIGGRAPH; Kinetic Image in Virginia; the International Video Festival in Indonesia; the Electronic Language International Festival in Brazil; and the International Symposium of Interactive Media Design in Turkey. Awards include the Individual Excellence Award and Grant from the Ohio Art Council 2008 and Best in Show from the “Eighth Annual Image Ohio” in Columbus, OH. She is an associate professor in Cleveland State University’s Art Department.

No Matter How Hard I Yell #2    2010 Video, wood, metal, found objects Dimensions variable Actors: Danielle Brown, Whitney Kaster, Keith Barnett, Kirk Bolden, Frank Miller, Eric Eichhorn. Collaborator: Bradford Watson Photographer: Frank Miller	No Matter How Hard I Yell #1 2011 Rubber, fabric, video, mirror, found materials Dimensions variable Collaborator: Qing Liü Photographer: Frank Miller

Daniel McDonald’s sculptures give form to the internal dilemmas he feels from the overlap of his spiritual upbringing and cultural convictions. Never quite comfortable in the socio-cultural environment of his Mormon childhood, McDonald’s works are partially cathartic but he also seeks to relate to the viewer by addressing broader social concerns such as stereotyping, manipulation and self-evaluation. His three sculptures in Reluctant Redemption examine what he deems “faith-promoting” stories, those which are fed to masses in order to create motivation through unconquerable goals and situations. By creating a dialogue with the work, McDonald hopes to create some resolution for his personal fixation while also scrutinizing the correlations and differences between expectations and eventualities.
Originally from Boise, Idaho, Dan McDonald received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture and Bachelor of Arts degree in French Literature from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Clemson University in South Carolina. He has exhibited his sculptural works in Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, South Carolina, Ohio, and New York. His work is also represented in public and private collections nationally. Outside the field of art, he has been a working musician in both the United States and Europe, served as a missionary in Europe, and designs and builds water park features in collaboration with Rain Drop Products, Inc., with completed designs installed throughout Australia, Europe and the United States. He has worked as a French translator and taught French at the elementary through college levels. Dan is presently an assistant professor of Fine Art and head of the sculpture area at Ashland University, where he has been teaching since 2006.

Reluctant Redemption: In the Mouth of the Fish, 2009 Steel, foam, bronze, fabric, rubber, cable 108 x 120 x 75 in. Photo: Laura Arthur	Sons (O)men, 2011 Steel, copper, bronze, plastic sheet, glass, fiberglass, digital media, found object Approx: 84 x 75 x 144 in. (size variable with installation) Photo: Laura Arthur

April 29 – June 4, 2011

Annie Strader: Locating Eden
Main Gallery

Annie Strader, born and raised in Columbus, OH, earned her BFA from Ohio University in 2002 and MFA from the University of Colorado in 2005, and holds the position of Assistant Professor at Sam Houston University in Texas.  Strader’s installations, combining sculpture, video, and performance, explore personal notions of longing for love, truth, and understanding, using historical, mythical, and contemporary archetypes of feminine desires.  “Longing is a state that is usually satiated or conquered rather than embraced or examined. Yet in the untraceable distances between knowing and not knowing, having and not having, and seeing and being blind, I find an uncomfortable beauty.” By manipulating and transforming ordinary objects the artist creates complex relationships that examine social and psychological questions through tangible materials. 

Annie Strader
Cure, 2009
Digital projection, metal tray table, ceramic teacup, and table salt
2.5 x 3 x 1.5 ft.
(Burning fire is projected on to the salt that fills the teacup.)

Elaine Hullihen:  Declarations of Truth
Euclid Avenue Gallery

ARTIST’S STATEMENT   
   
My inspiration for this project came from a sense of injustice at a wrongdoing, at least what I thought was a wrong doing, that I had read about. In March of 2010, the Texas Board of Education voted to approve a social studies curriculum that drastically affects the ideas that will be taught to many of America's youth for the next ten years. Most of the changes, including the removal of Thomas Jefferson from a list of influential figures, startled me. It initially seemed to me that the elected board, open about their support for conservative values, is unabashedly flooding the public school system with their ideology. This seems to be in lieu of supporting the free exchange of ideas, a topic Mr. Jefferson wrote extensively about. On the other hand, perhaps Thomas Jefferson and the other political figures and issues excluded from the curriculum are outdated and no longer serve as adequate lessons for our children. Who gets to decide? Furthermore, the why do the deciders get to stamp their selections as "fact" or "truth" when in reality they are summarized compilations from various viewpoints filtered through many bodies. Coupled with other recent free speech issues, I feel as if Mr. Jefferson's ideas of free speech are worth looking into a little more.

This project explores ideas of authority and power by authorizing the voice of the individual to record his or her own truths. From this we can begin to sort out our current condition ourselves rather than waiting for the authorities to do it for us. To do this I have set up a forum for free speech where you, no matter who you are or what it is you want to say (in civil reason), can speak your mind.

Part of my quest began on YouTube in November 2010 and will continue indefinitely. Let's take advantage of this hyper speed idea exchanger while we still have the luxury of a certain amount of freedom with it. The second part of the project will happen at The Sculpture Center in Cleveland, Ohio in the spring of 2011.  I have made a pedestal in the shape of Monticello, the beloved house of Thomas Jefferson, and invite you to stand atop of it to speak your mind. Be sure to check The Sculpture Center calendar to find the dates of group declarations, but also feel free to climb atop this "grand architectural achievement" at any time to speak out to other gallery goers, the architects next door or just allow your voice to resonate against the walls. Feel free to participate in one or both phases of this project. Also be advised that I intend to use these truths to create future projects. I will not use your image or your words if you indicate this wish.

So what is your truth? It can be as simple as declaring something you love or you are thankful for or even your favorite food. But don't be afraid to open up your mind, your heart, your mouth and speak about your deeper, maybe more fundamental truths as well. You can declare the meaning of your life, a discovery you made about your being or belief system, or even the truth as you see it about social or political systems. I am not proposing this project from any particular dogma. Everything is wide open and this project will amount to whatever you want it to amount to. The only thing I ask is that you declare your truth with as much honesty and passion as you have without speaking badly of those who may disagree with you. Please feel free to respond to other videos in a constructive manner. If there is any type of destructive personal attack in your declaration, then I have no place for you in this project.

To participate in the internet phase, just make a video of your declaration. Load the video onto YouTube giving it the title "Declarations of Truth-your name". This way anyone can search for "Declarations of Truth" and see a collection of declarations.

To participate in a live gallery presentation, please contact me at e.hullihen@gmail.com. The dates for the presentations will be arranged according to interest.

The only way that we can work together in this world to make it the best for all people is through the communication of ideas. This includes being fearless in your ideas. And being open and empathetic in your minds. And really listening to what others have to say, good or bad, right or wrong. Let’s start this discussion. Let's speak our minds.

Elaine Hullihen, artist

For an immediate look at Elaine’s video describing the project and Elaine’s first Declaration, click here.

ARTIST’S BIO

A northeast Ohio native, Elaine Hullihen makes adventures and explores cubby holes. She received her BFA from Kent State University in 2007. Since then she has participated in two residency programs. In 2008 she traveled to work in a project space called Stock.7 in Dresden, Germany. The following year brought her to the Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Lumsden, Scotland. She has also exhibited her work in Kent, OH, and Pittsburgh, PA.

In addition, from 2007-2010 she co-organized project 425, an independent studio/gallery co-operative located in Kent that aims to give young people a space to make and exhibit work.

For more information call 216.229.6527 or go to info@sculpturecenter.org.

The Sculpture Center is a not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to the advancement of the careers of emerging Ohio sculptors and the preservation of Ohio outdoor sculpture as a means to provide support for artists and to effect the enrichment, education, enjoyment, and visual enhancement of the Cleveland community and greater region.

The Sculpture Center receives generous support from The Callahan Foundation, the Kulas Foundation, The John P. Murphy Foundation, the Bernice and David E. Davis Art Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, studioTECHNE|architects, the Leonard Krieger Fund of The Cleveland Foundation, Sculpture Center board members, and many individual donors to Friends of The Sculpture Center. It receives additional generous public funding from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council.