Past East Wing Gallery Exhibits & Lectures

Fulcrum

An exhibition of recent work by, Priya Nadkarni Green, January 28 - February 25, 2020. Gallery Talk: Wednesday, February 5, 2020 12:30 to 1:30 pm

Priya Nadkarni Green (b. 1986) received a BFA from Rutgers University and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her paintings explore light and memory through the depiction of objects and landscapes that embody the human condition. Fascinated by the language and history of painting, Green uses observation and placement to create new meanings from familiar objects and imagery. Inherent to painting is its direct confrontation of construction and illusionism. Green asserts that memory and experience are birthed from the same "stuff". She plays with this idea in her work to capture the notion that we are more than mere flesh.

Green has shown her work at spaces including the Jersey City Museum, Cuchifritos Gallery, Zimmerli Art Museum, and the School of Art Institute in Chicago. She is a recipient of the international Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, as well as a fellowship from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Green lives and works in Springfield, MA.

For more information contact Gallery Director Joyce Miller at jmiller@mwcc.mass.edu or the artist at priyanadkarni.com

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Exhibition of Student Work: Painting II & III and Drawing III

December 18, 2019 - January 25, 2020

• • Deborah Boudreau
  • Aiden Burns
  • Haydn Hammill

• Sage Floyd-Hathaway
• Margaret Kirrane
• Sara Lacy
• Nicholas Lutz
• Connor Martino
• Amy Page
• Margot Parrot
• Emily Payson
• Jonathan Raskett
• Alexander Reidy
• Wesley Ringwood
• Dazia Robertson
• Thomas Tennessee
• Claudia Tremble
• Ian Wilson

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Nancy Sepe

Waking Wonders
November 12 - December 8
Reception: Friday, November 22 4:30 - 6:30 pm

 

 

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Graphic Novel & Children's Book Illustrations

from R. Michelson Gallery
October 2 - 31, 2019
Gallery Talk: Rich Michelson, October 23, 2019 3:00 pm

 

 

 

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Karen Evans

Recent works
September 3 - 25, 2019

 

 

 

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Maryanne Benns

Concepts in Clay

September 3 - October 26

 

Robert G. Osborne

Constructions
Gallery Talk: Thurs., Sept. 27 12:30 -1:30PM
Exhibit Dates: September 5–October 2
Pictured: The River Styxx T.A.,  2017, latex, balsa, wood on panel, 40x 40 in.

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Kevin Oxford

Exhibition Dates: November 15 - December 20, 2018
Pictured: Raku fired stoneware, 2018
Reception: Wednesday, December 19, 2018, 3:00-5:30 p.m.

 

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Keith Hollingworth

Exhibit Dates: November 15 - December 6
Pictured: Wait-Weight, 2017, mixed media

Gallery Talk: Monday, November 19, 2018, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Gallery Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 8 a.m-8 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m.-5 p.m., open during theatre events
Closed:  November 22 & 23

 

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Exhibition of Student Work: Painting II & Drawing III

• • Camilo Almarales
  • Aiden Burns
  • David Caruso
  • Blake Denmark
  • Matt Gates
  • Jackie Lane
  • Tiffany LeBlanc
  • Nick Lutz
  • Aiman Mahmood
  • Ariah Miller
  • Kevin Oxford
  • Margot Parrot
  • Brittany Waseleski
  • Ben Yentz

December 18, 2018 - January 25, 2019

Reception: Wednesday, December 19, 3:00-5:30PM

Pictured (top): Ariah Miller, Disconnection, 2018, pen and ink
Pictured (bottom): Nick Lutz, Untitled, 2018, oil on canvas

 

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Steamroller Prints Exhibition

Chair City Community Workshop
February 1 – March 12
Gallery Talk and Presentation by
Tracie Pouliot
“Make Art on the Street! Collaboration, Community Building & Printmaking”
Monday, March 11 at 12:30 – 1:30PM

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Matthew Evald Johnson

February 1 – March 12
Welding demonstration at artist’s studio
Thursday, February 28 at 12:30 – 2PM
138 Holyoke Street, Easthampton, MA
Pictured (left): Coils #7, 28 x 24 x 16 inches
Pictured (right): Ectomorph, 22 feet fall x 4ft. x 4ft.

 

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Artist Presentation and Q & A:
“Let’s Get Real: What It Means To Work In Animation”

by Katie Taccone
Co-founder & Creative at OpenPixel Studios, a virtual animation production studio, in Springfield, MA.  Her experience ranges from AAA game titles to commercials. She gives new insights to students & professionals alike who are pursuing a career in Animation.
Wed., March 6 at 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Fall 2017

Julia Morgan

In/Transit
September 6–October 5

Reception: September 22, 3:30-6PM
Gallery Talk: September 13, 12:30PM

Pictured: Camargue Sunset, 2017, watercolor, marker & paint pen on paper, 12×16″

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Joan Hathaway

Ceramic Work in the Glass Cases
September 6–October 16

Reception: September 22, 3:30-6PM

Pictured: Pitcher, 2016, Stoneware, reduction cone 10

 

 

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Taylor French Benoit
(MWCC Alum, Graduate of Maine College of Art)

October 12–December 2
New work

Reception: October 13, 3:30-6PM
Gallery Talk: November 8, 12:30–1:30PM

Pictured: Untitled from Been Here, Now What series, 2017, wood panel, acrylic paint and tacks, 48" x 48"

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Ceramic Work by Artists From
Salmon Falls Gallery (Shelburne Falls, MA)

• Juliet Bacchas
• Cynthia Consentino
• Lucy Fagella
• Joy Friedman
• Chris London
• Michael McCarthy
• Tom White

October 23–December 28

 

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Exhibition of Student Work: Painting II & Drawing III

• Allyson Bois
• McKenzie Dano
• Veronique Escabi
• Sage Floyd-Hathaway
• Matthew Gates
• Tamara Harmon
• Nico Joslin
• Karah Karpowich
• Ruth Major
• Terrence Marks
• Lindsey Seppala
• Kabilgangai Subramanian
• Oliver White

December 19–January 26

Reception: Thursday, December 21 at 3:30–6PM

Pictured (top): Buoyant 2017, oil on panel, 16 x 20 in, by Karah Karpowich
Pictured (bottom): Untitled 2017, charcoal & gesso, 24 x 18 in, by Allyson Bois

 

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Spring 2018

Deborra Stewart-Pettengill

Ebb and Flow
New work

February 3–March 1

Gallery Talk: Thursday, March 1, 3:30PM
Reception: Thursday, March 1, 4:30–6PM

Closed February 19

Pictured: Pirouette 2017, aluminum wire mesh, enamel & acrylic paint, 26" x 20" x 10"

 

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Bob Green

Raku & burnished pottery in the gallery glass cases

February 2–March 16

Demonstration & Talk: Friday, March 9, 12–1:45PM

 

 

 

 

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35th Annual Regional High School Art Exhibition & Competition

April 2–19
Reception & Awards:  Thursday, April 12, 6–8PM

Work in this year's exhibit is by students from the following schools:

• Cushing Academy
• Fitchburg High School
• Gardner High School
• Leominster High School
• Mahar Regional
• Oakmont Regional
• Sizer School
• Wachusett Regional
• The Winchendon School

 

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47th Annual MWCC Student Art Exhibition

Work from foundation & advanced art courses
May 7–May 23
Reception: Wednesday, May 9, 3:30–6PM

Pictured Top: Brittany Waseleski, All That Lives Must Die, Charcoal Drawing, 2018, 18" x 24"

Pictured Bottom: Kevin Oxford, Stoneware, Raku Fired Pieces, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall 2016

 

John Pacheco

Paintings
Exhibit: September 9-October 4
Pictured: Resurrection, oil on linen, 30” x 40”

 

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Tracie Pouliot

Oral History Book Series
Chair City Community Workshop
Gallery Talk: Monday November 7
Exhibit: October 17-November 18

 

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Jesse Connor

Far Reaches
Gallery Talk: Tuesday November 8
Exhibit: October 17-November 30
Pictured: Far Reaches #3, Acrylic on Panel, 48″ x 88″

 

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Exhibition of Student Work

Painting II & Drawing III
Exhibit: December 12-January 20
Reception: December 16, 3:30–6PM
Pictured Top: September by Paulette Tata
Oil on canvas, 18″ x 24″
Pictured Bottom: Claire by Kate Hood
Mixed Media on paper
18″ x 18″

 

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Isabella Bourque Dixson – MWCC Alumna

Exhibit: December 12-January 20
Reception: December 16, 3:30–6PM
Gallery Talk: January 27, 12:30–1:30PM
Pictured: Breakout Plate
4″ Round, Stoneware

 

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Spring 2017

 

Mark Burnett

Sculptures
Exhibit: February 6-March 9
Gallery Talk: February 16, 12:30-1:30 PM
Reception: February 24, 5:30–7:30PM
Pictured: Untitled, 2013, bronze, 16″x6″x6″

 

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Maggie Nowinski

Specimens, (W)holes, and In-Habitats
Drawings & Prints
Exhibit: February 22-March 21
Gallery Talk: March 8, 3:30-4:30 PM
Reception: February 24, 5:30–7:30PM
Pictured: Abductions Series III: Leviathan, 2015
Abductions Series IV: Musclehead, 2016

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34th Annual Regional High School Art Exhibition & Competition

Exhibit: April 3–April 21
Reception & Awards: April 6, 6–8PM

We thank the dedicated art teachers and the high school art students for their participation in the exhibition this year:

• Auburn High School
• ConVal Regional High School
• Gardner High School
• Fitchburg High School
• Leominster High School
• Mahar Regional High School
• Narragansett Regional High School
• Oakmont Regional High School
• Pioneer Valley Regional High School
• Quabbin Regional High School
• Wachusett Regional High School
• The Winchendon School

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46th Annual MWCC Student Art Exhibition

Work from foundation & advanced art classes
Exhibit: May 5–May 17
Reception: May 8, 3:30–6PM

Pictured (top): Marsh Rte. 1, by Kevin Lynch, 2016, oil on canvas
Pictured (bottom): Self-portrait, by Arianna Shabo, 2017, pastel, 24″ x 18″

Annual Exhibition of Student Work

In recognition of the success and accomplishments of the art students enrolled in the advanced art courses, this exhibit features student work from Painting II & III and the Drawing III course with Professor Jesse Connor.

The art students, at this level, begin to use course assignments as a catalyst to develop their voice and vision in their work as they skillfully manipulate their medium, respond to their chosen subject or actualize their concept to create outstanding work for their portfolio.

For many of these students, this will be their last year in the art program at Mount Wachusett Community College. Some will be graduating in the spring of 2023 and several completed their degree in December 2022. This group exhibition is an opportunity to formally acknowledge and celebrate their success.

Students were: Richard H Barrell, Hanalise Bennett, Megan Boivin, Richard Chang, Sydney Comire, Molly C. Donovan, Luke M. Fontaine, Nikki M. Hazel, Anna Clara Loureiro Lago, Mazie Love, Madolyn Niles-Carlson, Kara O'Neil, Mel Pagan, Gabriela M. Rodas, Molly Sullivan, Noah B. Uphold, Harleigh J. West.

Taylor Seldin-French

Selected Works: 2021 - 2023

 

“My work approaches what it means to be a ‘nature-lover’ in the 21st century. Through material, object, and image based propositions, I am searching for the confluence of two phenomena: our explicit ecological actuality, and our perceptual schemas of ‘nature.’ Our human conceptions of what, where, how, why, and when nature is — and is not — supplies the contextual labyrinth in which I make my work. What are these exceptional mires of conditional nature-love in which the natural can be found here but not there? How did we manage to cultivate an ethos in which to love is also to destroy?”            ---Taylor Seldin-French, January 2023

Taylor Seldin-French is an MWCC art alumnus. He received his B.F.A. degree from Maine College of Art and was awarded an M.F.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He currently teaches Sculpture, Three-dimensional Design, and foundation art courses for MWCC’s Art Department and is an adjunct art faculty at Westfield State University. He also instructed numerous art courses at UMASS-Amherst while a graduate student and a post-graduate. He lives in western Massachusetts and has a studio in Leverett to produce sculpture, paintings, and custom-built furniture.

We're All In This Together
Julia Morgan

I am fascinated by the myriad paths and crossings through which living beings move. Whether we meander (or ricochet) through space and time, we create currents and layers of experience that affect not only humans (ripple-effect wise), but, of course, the many species who share this planet.

In these paintings about movement and gesture of forms, I visualize the moment not as ‘captured’ but as a sliver of a trajectory of motion that I am shining a quiet light on for just an instant. The most recent paintings are created from an initial slashing abstraction of wet-on-wet brush strokes, with gulls and orioles arising from within the swirl ¬¬¬-of strokes in a second layer. For me, the random washes represent an environment in peril and, like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, the cries of the birds may very well become our cries.

Lately through painting, I’ve become more aware and grateful for this creative process that conjures for me a free space, a ‘pass go’ series of moments where I can lose myself in the process of making. The very act of making is a sustaining, healing, and mostly joyful endeavor.

Instagram: juliaemorgan
Facebook: Julia E Morgan

Petraccia / Connor Recent Works

Jesse Connor when speaking about his work said that his “paintings develop in conversation with the miraculous and quotidian moments of his daily life, in which every experience—talking with family, running errands, noticing animals or architecture—evoke joy, humor, and mystery. Visions of paintings may emerge from interactions between shadow, light, and color, configurations of clouds, and other phenomena that catalyze the liminality in time, place, and memory within which my paintings live.

A dedicated mentor to artists developing their craft, Connor has taught at a number of colleges in the Northeast, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Springfield Technical Community College, and Bennington College. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Art at Mount Wachusett Community College, as well as co-owner and founder of Boat Yard Art Space in Leverett, MA, where he paints and curates small exhibitions featuring emerging artists. He holds a B.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan.

Follow on Instagram: jc_arts_design

 

Mikaël Petraccia stated about this recent work, “Most of the work presented is drawn from my everyday movement. Going from home to work and back home…. on my daily walks and hikes. Every work becomes a record of a specific space in a specific time. Even though I capture very specific moments using a camera of some sort, including my smartphone, I am interested in what those moments, extracted from their environment (time & space), could become. Many of those pictures are made from layering many images captured from the same space and time. Some are made with just a few pictures while others are made until the space becomes so saturated that it becomes very dark where details are seen only up close. I often navigate between very recognizable spaces and abstract ones, between bright and dark. Probably influenced by how we go through our days. Starting with clear ideas and finishing with an oversaturation of information moving into a new representation through our dreams. Most of my dreams do not make sense but they are composed of moments often too real. All of those presented works are made digitally, then printed with a large format inkjet printer. Most of those images are made by printing over and over, sometimes with different images some with the same image separated in layers of colors emphasizing certain details, shapes of texture.

Mikaël Petraccia received his National Diploma in Fine Art and B.F.A. degree from the Ecole Nationale Supérieur des Beaux Arts, Le Mans, France; with a concentration in new media and 2D studies. In 2002, he received his M.F.A. degree from UMASS at Amherst. He is a Master Printer that has worked with Atelier Woolworth in Paris, New School University-Parsons in NYC, Axelle Fine Arts Edition Brooklyn, NY; and Concordia University, Montreal

Follow on Instagram: mikaelpetraccia

Bends and Shadows

Ben Parker

October 24 - December 3, 2023

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Origami is a fascinating discipline. To its practitioners, it presents an unparalleled challenge to the mind and body, and the knowledge that can be unlocked by pushing the limits of what is possible with a single sheet of paper never ceases to amaze. The study is ancient, yet modern science is just beginning to reveal its full potential. It involves the manipulation of paper, among the humblest of materials, yet it sheds light on questions that flow through fundamental branches of human study such as mathematics, physics, pedagogy, art, and meditation. It is an art form that in its purest state neither adds nor subtracts material but alters it in an almost alchemical process. These aspects of origami have held my interest for a very long time. I practice a branch of this discipline known as geometric origami, and primarily design tessellations, which are studies of how paper can be shaped to create complex patterns capable of an infinite number of repeated iterations.

While studying in Aix-en-Provence in 2007, I vacationed in Rome. At the time I was engrossed in one of the most holistic origami design books on the market, Robert Lang’s Origami Design Secrets. Lang describes how to create an origami base, the skeleton of a representational design, and how to add details to create incredibly realistic designs. The designs are mathematical at their core yet result in a natural look that makes many believe they are looking at a scale model of the object. Around the same time, I (re)discovered a photo-sharing website called Flickr and a group called Origami Tessellations. The members of this group produce and share elaborate abstract paper designs.

Though I still have not folded a detailed model of the Vatican, out of a single uncut sheet of paper, I have started on the architectural path by folding several skyscrapers, including the John Hancock Building in Chicago and the Terminal Tower in Cleveland, but there is more to learn.

Origami tessellation studies have given rise to my compositional studies such as the Breaking the Pattern series, an exploration of how to use abstract forms to draw a provocative picture with the paper. An open mind and fortune have granted me access to invaluable collaborations such as the series I share with darkroom photographer Christine Dalenta, which we call Shadow Tessellations.

My work is just beginning. I have used this art to become a proficient educator, writer, curator, mathematician, photographer, organizer, and entrepreneur. While none of these were my intended vocation, I have had to adapt to be successful at my craft. It has shaped who I am, my direction in life, and my relationships.”

In December, this work by Ben Parker will be installed in an exhibition at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Instagram: @benparkerstudio
Website: benparkerstudio.com

Looking East / Looking West Views from Two Landscape Painters

September 6 - October 15, 2023

Stephanie Vignone Artist Statement As far back as I can remember, I have spent lots of time walking outdoors. I love to be outside—in the woods, hiking with my dogs, in the gardens by my house. About twenty years ago, I took a pastel landscape painting class, and began to combine my love of the natural world with painting. Painting the places I see has given me another deep way in which I can connect with them. It’s been an immensely satisfying practice for me. The paintings are done in pastel and, increasingly, oil paint. They are based in observation and sketching— some are finished plein air, and some in the studio. It’s hard for me to analyze my own paintings, but what I feel catches my eye is mostly strong composition. I love light and texture, but what really makes me want to paint a scene is the way in which I am able to compose it. I am glad to be able to share my work with others, and hope that some of the beauty of what I see around me can reach them through what I’m able to paint. You can see more of my work on my website, vignoneart.com.

Janet Palin Artist Statement I have been painting landscapes in pastels exclusively since 1996. Previously I had been an oil painter, working with the figure and still life but a trip to Iceland changed my direction. Being in that huge, raw landscape compelled me to re-create the effects myself as a way to delve deeper into what I had been seeing. The subject of the work in this show is the American Southwest, especially New Mexico, a place I have returned to 20 times. There is a great similarity between the scale and openness of Iceland and New Mexico, though the quality of light and climate are completely different. I keep returning because of the tremendous openness of the sky and land and long viewable distances is where I feel most at home. These are the largest of my pieces and I thought it would be interesting to see them together in one show, something I have never done before. I hope you get a sense of a place very different from the intimate beauty of New England. website: janetpalin.com

Liz Bannish: 12 Years of Printmaking

February 6 – March 8, 2024

Artist Statement

The medium of printmaking has sustained me well over the years, not only as a polite venue for my schemes and curiosity but also as a livelihood. It feels inaccurate to relate printmaking to my individual self, as to study it is to know it is a nurturer of community. Where printmaking has served as a vehicle for grassroots movements across history, it is also a protector that proliferates ideals of collaboration and mentorship. The facilitation of printmaking has even led to major discoveries in paleontology and chemistry. For all this, even lately, print to me feels more connected to humanity than to the market. Some of

print’s core approaches have remained unchanged for centuries. I find this appealing as an antithesis to America’s culture of convenience, as this insists that we retain value in experiencing friction and wonder in our work. Being in the shop is being present, responding directly to materiality and phenomenon. At press, you’re a little apron-wearing dot on a timeline in solidarity with great labor, great minds, and some of the coolest aspects of our planet.

My work always depicts flora and fauna, but it returns most often to the sea. Marine motifs feel instinctual to depict. Mostly in a way that feels comforting, not very cerebral, like barking at the moon. I love the sea’s animal odor, and that it is dangerous and humbling, and that it hosts a meet-and-greet with our oldest

ancestors. Waves, sharks, and salt feel safe and right for the ruminations that come to mind in the studio. These include thoughts about beauty and frustration with the status quo. Especially now, I suspect that I am bargaining with the sea about our eventual man-made extinction, ingratiating myself to it with heroic depictions of its creatures and triumphs that condemn the “puppet masters” of this wayward era.

Liz Bannish lives in CT and works as the Shop Manager and Collaborative Printer for the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, a nonprofit studio and gallery dedicated to providing public education on the art of the print. After earning her BFA from UMASS Amherst in 2012, Liz served as the Printmaking and Photo Technician for Smith College for five years and has trained with master printers at presses including Wingate Studios and Zea Mays Printmaking. She teaches workshops at various studios on subjects of printmaking, studio safety, and hazard communication. When not getting her hands inky, Liz is a volunteer SCUBA diver at the local aquarium and assists in the maintenance of their exhibits.

Instagram:  @contemprints    @lizbannish

Jason Kotoch

Between hello and goodbye.
Between the mountain and sky.

September 4 - October 5

Gallery Talk: Sept. 26, at 4 pm  Reception: Sept 26, 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Artist Statement

“Between hello and goodbye—Between the mountain and the sky is a phrase my Jido whispered into my ear in a dream I had the night before he died. Or maybe that was how my grandmother described the perfect ratio of milk to flour while teaching me how to make her drop biscuit recipe once when I was eleven. Then again, I think it might have been the way the music felt during the motorcycle scene at the end of Kiarostami’s film, Close Up. This exhibit attempts to point to things unsaid, or maybe even unsayable, from the perspective of a second generation American who grew up floating between two cultures, two cuisines, two languages. It is an attempt to describe the experience of watching cultural assimilation exercise its power on my family in real time.”

Jason Kotoch is an intermedia artist working in still and moving images, performance, and sound art. Jason grew up in a working class Lebanese American family and his work explores cultural assimilation, identity, memory and the politics of everyday life. Jason Kotoch is an MWCC alum, and a graduate student in the department of art at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.                      Instagram: @jasonkotoch

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Recent work by

Jenny Vogel

October 9 - 31, 2024

Artist Statement 

"My work explores subjective themes as they are experienced in the digital age. I examine the anxiety of alienation, the desires of communication and a sense of belonging in a virtual world. Featuring digital prints, drawings, animation and sculptures made within the last year, All Things Already Lost is a reflection on the loss of the body in the digital world.

I am strangely fascinated by the lives we live online. Perhaps this is the result of being brought up without a TV, in an environment that valued handicraft skills over technology. My childhood experiences in that regard were not the norm even back then but are even more exceptional today as participation in the digital or virtual world is becoming less and less a matter of choice. I observe all of this with a healthy dose of skepticism but also fascination. Through my work I am orienting myself in this world, trying to will a level of personal connection and emotions into the algorithm, constantly searching for the irrational, the glitch, the mystical or simply the unexpected. These attempts are all bound to fail, sometimes comically, sometimes tragically and sometimes in revelatory ways.

To speak about the virtual world, I often employ the same tools that are used to create it. 3D simulation software, AI text or image generators are used simultaneously and indiscriminately alongside drawing and sculpting in plaster. The work in the exhibition suggests plausible worlds at first sight that collapse into hauntingly beautiful meshes, vertices and points.”

Jenny Vogel lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been screened and exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in numerous locations and galleries: Storefront Gallery, NYC; The Dallas Museum of Art, TX; McKinney Contemporary, TX; San Francisco Camerawork, CA; Arnolfini, UK; The Siberia Biennial, Russia; The Swiss Institute, NYC; EFA Gallery, NYC; Kunstwerke, Berlin; PS1 Contemporary Art Center, NYC. She received her MFA from Hunter College (NYC) in 2003. She is a 2005 NYFA fellow in Computer Arts and is currently Associate Professor and Department Chair of Studio Art at the University of Massachusetts.

Instagram: @j.vogel