A Fusion of South Suburban Arts

November 19th-December 9th
102 Stephen St, Lemont, IL


Governors State University is pleased to present Fusion, recent work by senior graduate candidates in the visual arts program. The rich collection of innovative ceramics, paintings, photographs, and prints will be on display in Community Christian Church’s main street gallery in historic downtown Lemont from November 19th through December 9th.

Fusion showcases a cross-section of the South Suburban and Chicagoland art communities. Artists and curators include Thomas Bass of Shorewood, Richard Cammarata of Chicago, Wayon Collins of Homewood, Sara Freidman of Tinley Park, Barbara Lipkin of Naperville, Diana Lynch of Orland Park, Brooke Nicholson of New Lenox, Jaclyn Reidy of Orland Park, Candace Schutt of Worth, and Lori White of Frankfurt.

Come and meet the artists and curators at their opening on November 19th, from 6-8 p.m. Stop by, shop for holiday gifts, and speak with the artists during Lemont’s Hometown Holiday event on December 4th from 2 until 6 p.m. Then come back to learn more about your favorite artists on our lecture days, December 2nd & 9th, from 7:30 to 10:20 p.m. The exhibit and all events are free and open to the public.

Fusion is an inaugural exhibition for Community Christian Church’s gorgeous 102 Stephan Street space in Lemont, IL. Gallery hours are by appointment outside of scheduled events. For more information, please call Heather Page at (708) 534-4017, or email her at h-page@govst.edu. For more information on the location, exhibition, the participants, and the lecture schedule, please visit http://gsuart.blogspot.com/. This exhibition has been made possible by the generous donation of Community Christian Church.

Artist Lecture Schedule

Join us for free artist lectures by university graduate students in art and art history.

Dates: Thursdays, December 2nd & 9th, 2010

Time: 7:30-10:20 p.m.

Location: 102 Stephen St, Lemont, IL

December 2nd
Time	Presenter	Media
7:30 p.m	Veronica Cook	Mixed Media
8:00 p.m.	Candace Schutt	Photography
8:40 p.m.	Sara Friedman presents Barbara Lipkin	Painting
9:15 p.m.	Lori White	Painting
9:40 p.m.	Thomas Bass	Ceramics
December 9th
7:30 p.m.	Diana Lynch	Printmaking
8:00 p.m.	Jaclyn Reidy	Painting
8:40 p.m.	Brooke Nicholson	Painting
9:15 p.m.	Richard Cammarata	Ceramics
9:40 p.m.	Wayon Collins	Printmaking

Richard Cammarata

Bio

Richard Cammarata is an artist who teaches high school art for the past twelve years. His recent focus in ceramics highlights his interest in mechanical parts as iconic elements from the past. Cammarata’s gears are reminiscent of the aged and rusted machine parts he played on or around in his grandfathers truck yard as a kid. Objects once used for purposes unclear as seen through the eyes of a kid, he presents these objects distorted and mutated giving the work a surreal sense and vague understanding of its functionality.

Mr. Cammarata’s work has been shown in several group shows. Recently he sold a piece in a group charity auction in Chicago for the Haiti relief effort. In 2009 he was a participant in the educators art show at The Illinois Institute of Art in Schaumburg Illinois. In addition, Cammarata has sold work to businesses and private parties. Many pieces hang in the office of Manor Reality in Chicago. He has also exhibited work in the library in Mount Prospect IL. and won a purchase award where one of his works now hangs on display.

Richard Cammarata studied at the American Academy of Art for four years and graduated in 1993 with Associates in Art with a major in Oil Painting. In 1997 he graduated from The University of Illinois at Chicago with two Bachelor’s degrees, one in Art and the other in Art Education. Cammarata is currently working towards his Masters degree in ceramics at Governors’ State University and teaches art at Maine West High School in Des Plaines Illinois.


Artist Statement


My ceramic sculpture is a series of forms resembling gears, a mechanical device that drives machinery. Some of the gears I‘ve made are forms one might find in real life, while others become a mutation or deterioration of these objects. As an important part of any machine, gears transfer the workload and provide additional force needed to propel or apply leverage in an effort to move objects. This object is primarily responsible for the technological advances in today’s society. Ironically, hardened steel used for some machine parts contributes to manufacturing of lesser quality goods and materials that lack durability. As gears drive technology, they are not always used for good purpose. By producing inferior products susceptible to wear and tear causes greater waste. Gears are blind to the purpose for which they labor. They have turned the wheels of war and have mass-produced the disposable items that litter our landscape, having adverse affects on our environment.

I visualize these gears as relics or icons of a bygone era, set aside as a landscape devoid of life; remnants of the human condition called progress. In my effort to portray this effect, I use different glazes and firing techniques to emulate the hardened look of aged or polished iron. As I transform or mutate these gears, I want to suggest the enduring quality these items have, being exposed to both time and the elements of nature. My sculpture is meant to pay homage to these items that have been used or set aside after they have served their purpose. Paradoxically, I present these gears as beautiful objects of symmetry and form, a celebration of the mechanical elements that have fostered the technological advances we enjoy today. Relics left behind, made of long lasting material left to warp and decay. They have a sense of foreboding, almost apocalyptical as they leave their enduring mark on the landscape pointing out the rise and decay of our modern age.

Wayon Collins

Bio


Wayon Collins is an illustrator/Printmaker who has won contest for newspaper illustrations on studentaffairs.com. Wayons art work is a social commentary that touches on issues like, the affects of Capitalism, Imperialism and Propaganda sometimes known as “Ideological Aggression”. By using outlandish character symbolism in comic book art and iconic posters of revolutionaries, Wayon begins to challenge the excepted ideas that through modern media he has been conditioned to believe in.

Wayons intaglio artwork has been shown at Western Illinois University galleries, and has had Serigraphs shown and produced at Governors State University. Wayon is currently showing work at Homewood’s Wisdom Art Gallery on 2107 and 183.

Wayons future showing will be at “Art on Armitage” next August. At “Art on Armitage” he will display stencil, Serigraph and Intaglio work. In 2010 Mr. Collins was a volunteer at Union Street Art Gallery.

Wayons art schooling, started at the International Academy of Design and Technology where he received an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design. In 2007 he graduated from Western Illinois University with his undergrad in Political Science. Wayon is now a student at Governors State University where he pursuing a Masters in Art. Wayon currently works at Governors State University and also is Designer at UNIFIKATION MEDIA, at Unifikation.com.
Artist Statement

My art is a social commentary that touches on issues like, the effects of Capitalism, Imperialism and Propaganda sometimes known as “Ideological Aggression”. I have noticed that nation states, as well as people and ideas are either accepted or rejected depending on what media outlet they have been perceived through. By using outlandish character symbolism in comic book art and iconic posters of revolutionaries, I begin to challenge the accepted ideas that I have been conditioned to believe in. Comics bring the viewer back to their childhood where comics were often a escapism. This escapism brings the viewers guard down, and opens them up to the propaganda underneath.

By using comic books and posters I have generated my own media outlet upon which I launch my own “Ideological Aggression” on the unsuspecting viewer. My art gives a voice to those who can’t afford the magazine ads or commercials to express their views. My influences include Mural and street art of Chicago, Stan Lee and Jim Lee of Marvel Comics, rapper MF DOOM, and revolutionaries of the 1960’s.

My illustrations and prints are given life and color by the use of Serigraph, and Intaglio inks. I chose these inks, because they provide the brighter more vivid colors often seen in posters, and comic book art. Since both comics and posters are prints it lends well to the printmaking medium. I am a former illustrator for a newspaper serigraph and intaglio provide the perfect medium to express my craft.

Sara Friedman

Barbara Lipkin

Bio


My paintings are about the “WOW” factor. When I’m hiking in the mountains, or strolling in a fantastic medieval city, I often come across a scene that makes me stop and gasp with awe. That’s the feeling that inspires me to paint. That’s the feeling I try to convey to my viewers. I want them to feel that they are in the painting, surrounded by it, engaged with it, and I want them to say, “WOW!”

I use a palette that’s appropriate to the subject, the place, the time, and the feelings that I have about them. So sometimes I’ll use very cool colors, such as when I’m painting the majestic, cold mountain waters of the Canadian Rockies. It’s a quiet, powerful place, and demands a kind of formality, a kind of reverence. And sometimes I’ll use very warm colors, brush strokes with lots of energy, and a looser, more chaotic composition, such as when I’m depicting the warmth of Tuscany or Cinque Terre.

Regardless of the palette and brush strokes I use, I always have the same objective. I want to create a piece of art that expresses my feelings about a place. I want to demand that the viewer come into the space I’ve created and become a part of it. If the viewer can do that, then I’ve achieved my goal.


Artist Statement



I create landscape paintings that depict the countries that I visit. The goal of my paintings is to take the viewers to places that they may not have the opportunity to see in person. I hope that my paintings inspire the viewer to travel.

I use my own photographs to capture my favorite locations these vary from quant towns in France to the bustling city of Chicago.. While in my studio, I recollect and interpret these landscapes in my oil paintings. I work off of photographs taken from my journeys. Using oil colors I recreate my favorite locations, these vary from quant towns in France to the bustling city of Chicago. I prefer to work with oil colors because they allow me the freedom to layer and change my paintings over time. This process provides me with a calming feeling as I reminisce while I paint I enjoy the calmness that I feel when I paint.

I am currently working on Chinese Landscapes. The paintings in this collection show the towns and villages that I traveled through on my visit to China. Using I am attempting to capture the shimmering water that runs through many of the villages.

Diana Lynch

Bio

Diana Lynch is a printmaker that spends most of her time in the studio working on her art. Her print work portrays the girls of a contemporary circus and the fun nature of performance, sexuality, and beauty. Her prints tell a story in a character driven approach through traditional circus skills, and focuses more attention on the preparation of the girls getting ready for a show and their use the circus as an outlet.

Diana Lynch has shown internationally for the Year of the Tiger print exchange in 2010. She has most recently shown her prints at Fugscreen Studios in Wicker Park, IL. In 2010, Lynch was juried into the online “Art Attack” competition through Paul Frank Corporation & Juxtapose Magazine. In 2009, Lynch attended and exhibited at the Self Employment of the Arts conference in Lisle, IL and a traveling print show in downtown Dekalb, IL. In 2005, she showed at the school of Art Institute of Chicago student exhibition for her figure drawing work.

Lynch studied in an early college program in at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2009, she completed her undergraduate studies in art from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL. Currently, Lynch is working towards her Masters Degree in Printmaking from Governors State University. At this time, she is an Oil Painting Instructor and Coordinator of the Tall Grass Art School in Park Forest, IL.


Artist Statement

My work portrays the girls of contemporary circus and the fun nature of performance, female sexuality, and beauty. Contemporary circus tells a story in a character driven approach through traditional circus skills, and focuses more attention on the insecurities of the girls, and their use of circus as an outlet to feel most beautiful. In the circus they can transform into anyone they want to be and work together to put on a show. I have created my own circus called “Le Nouveau Cirque” simply meaning ‘The New Circus” that portrays the girls as alluring circus clowns that found love for themselves through support of a sisterhood while gaining confidence performing in the circus.

My imagery was created in prints primirarly by lithography, wood relief, monoprint and screen print. In a different field, but as a performer myself, I am inspired by the preparation of performance and what goes on behind the scenes to get ready for a show. I am intrigued by the way girls of contemporary circus portray themselves beautiful through exaggerated makeup and costuming. I work in color layers to build up both bright circus colors as well as dark colors to set a tone of the girl’s emotions. Each print is unique in the creation process but they all tie together through story. I chose print media because it allows me to have control over the end result of each piece. Printmaking impacts my art because it allows me to work more technically and on a different surface then the image ends up on, giving me more management of each print created as well as making editions of each print.

My intent is to challenge all people to engage in an activity to better their own life in a positive way. I want my work to inspire people to find their own personal outlet to feel most confident.