The Art Gym Features Grace

For Release: March 09, 2001

Media Contact: Terri Hopkins, Marylhurst University
Art Gym Director and Curator, 503.699.6242

or
Pat Wittenberg, Director
Marketing & University Communications, 503.699.6302

Featured artists: Prentiss Cole, Jef Gunn, Jennifer Hoover, Elizabeth Ingraham, Robert Krueger, Megan Murphy, Trude Parkinson, Susan Zoccola
Guest Curator: Sarah Ellen Taylor

April 8 — May 17, 2001(closed for Easter, April 13-15)
Reception: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., Sunday, April 8
Conversation with the Artists and Guest Curator: 12 noon, Tuesday, April 24
Gallery hours are from 12 noon to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.
Admission is free.

The Art Gym Features Grace

The Art Gym at Marylhurst University will open a new exhibition with a reception for eight artists from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., Sunday, April 8. Grace was organized for The Art Gym by guest curator Sarah Ellen Taylor. The exhibition includes works by artists from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California whose religious practice informs their artmaking: Prentiss Cole, Jef Gunn, Jennifer Hoover, Elizabeth Ingraham, Robert Krueger, Megan Murphy, Trude Parkinson and Susan Zoccola. The exhibition continues through May 17, 2001.

Three outdoor sculptures by Paul Sutinen and 10 marble sculptures by M.J. Anderson are also on view, on the campus grounds east of the Mayer Art Building and in the Shoen Library plaza, respectively.

Museums and galleries reveal a wealth of personal information about the artists whose work they display, and it is common for viewers to be presented with information about an artist's gender, age, race, physical appearance and even sexual preference. An artist's spiritual practice, however, is generally not revealed. This information is neglected even when the artist's devotional practice is a significant factor to understanding the work. It may be that contemporary culture interprets "freedom of religion" to mean "freedom from religion" and therefore confines itself to secular information. By marginalizing the artists' spiritual practice, viewers miss perceiving information that is vitally significant to the work.

Grace reflects guest curator Sarah Ellen Taylor's interest in the work of artists who integrate their devotional practices with their art making. "Given Marylhurst University's Catholic and liberal arts heritage, and a Religious Studies and Philosophy department that provides master's and doctoral degrees based on knowledge of the world's major religions," said Taylor, "the Art Gym is a particularly appropriate venue for artists working from spiritual practice."

The artists share intellectual and aesthetic ideas regardless of their faith and in particular, their art employs abstraction to express a sublime vision. Megan Murphy cultivates her Catholic faith through art that reflects on scripture and practice. Prentiss Cole, Jef Gunn, Jennifer Hoover, Elizabeth Ingraham, Robert Krueger, Trude Parkinson and Susan Zoccola are influenced by Buddhist meditation.

MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS

MEGAN MURPHY integrates life, spirituality and artwork in an effort to find what it means to be human: "I find that a life fully lived is where I find solace. I am influenced by the long history of art in the Catholic Church — the way that theology has been made visible. I try to balance action and contemplation in my life and also in my work. My work is a reflection of my life, and my life is a reflection of something greater than myself."

In her current series of paintings, Megan Murphy transmutes silver into beauty. Ironically this precious metal is among the base elements in Murphy's alchemy. Murphy sublimates silver-leaf, glass, pigment, water and text into a record of prayers. The glass surface is transformed as it is written on, erased and washed with water. Each element leaves an indelible trace. By repeating the process, Murphy builds a unified image. Murphy likens the result to the effect of saying prayers: "One says a prayer and then it is gone, but the trace of the prayer affects the person even though it is not apparent." With these watercolors, Megan Murphy endeavors to give the viewer a visual record of this sublime process.

Megan Murphy is an alumna of Marylhurst University's BFA painting program, and she earned a Master of Art in Theology at Mt. Angel Abbey. Murphy resides in Ketchum, Idaho, and is represented by PDX Gallery in Portland, Oregon.

For PRENTISS COLE meeting life in the moment, without hesitation, is the art worth achieving. Cole works with text and object to reflect the preferences and prejudices that obstruct clear perception. Is Anyone Listening? asks the viewer koan-like questions such as: "Could my mind be both the cause of suffering and the way to become free of it?" Other sculptures have even more abstract language and forms. This That and the Other subtly presents the concept of discrimination by repeating the words "this" and "that." The text's steel supports resemble a large, linear drawing. Study, reflection and stillness combine with ordinary materials such as wood, rubber, cheesecloth and aluminum. Process and materials join to form Cole's practice for exploring what it is to be human. Prentiss Cole resides in Los Altos, Calif.

JEF GUNN writes: "There are a number of ways to practice art as a practice of meditation. The two already share certain traits. Generally, the directive would be: 'watch your breath and do what's in front of you.' My failures almost always come as a result of having put some spiritual idea first. Better to let it be a surprise."

To do what is in front of you, means relying on intuition. Jef Gunn frequently works from the immediate apprehension of a painting. This spontaneous way of working keeps things vital. Sometimes the results don't seem to make sense. As in Mountain Series #4, sometimes Buddhas appear.

Jef Gunn resides in Portland and is represented by Laura Russo Gallery.

JENNIFER HOOVER'S work is influenced by trips to India and an admiration of abstract paintings — especially those of Mark Rothko.

"Before I fell in love with my daughter May, faith was the strongest feeling I had. Or perhaps the feeling of 'light' that comes with Buddhist faith, if not all others. And so how to paint this feeling of light? Well, I suppose that color is a start."

In a literal sense, as well as a metaphorical one, Jennifer Hoover is confident that color and form convey the sublime depiction of light. Hoover's work also transmits an emotional spark. This vivacity is especially clear in Backbone, Chest Totem and Shield — three paintings that use the form of the human heart, chest and spine to depict enlightened emotions. Hoover's work was selected for the Oregon Biennial 2001 at the Portland Art Museum. The Augen Gallery in Portland represents the artist.

ELIZABETH INGRAHAM writes "I've been working with 'skin' as a social fabric, as the projection of inner states, skin as surface, skin as discardable; I've been making what we shed. Now, I'm exploring what's essential, what remains. I am digging deeper, working 'closer to the bone' in a literal way, exploring the illusion of permanence and the futility of preservation. Nothing is permanent. Not our skin. Not our bones. Not even ourselves. Yet we persist in trying to slipcover empty space. Laying carpet over a swamp, wallpapering over crumbling walls."

Both the skin series and the bone project are ongoing works in progress. From the skin series, karma is a fully dimensional, life-size sculpture representing the body as clothing, which may be put on, worn, taken off or discarded. Karma is emaciated by thousands of seeds sewn into channels, which shrink her body the way skin tightens around a scar. As suitable conditions arise, some of these seeds will sprout, grow and die.

Also on exhibit are about 20 pieces from the bone project, a work in progress where Ingraham slipcovers every bone in the human body. She custom fits a precisely shaped and minutely fastened covering for each bone; then exhibits the empty casings. In making these series, Ingraham must manifest the qualities of patience, effort, persistence and concentration. Therefore, making is practice for her.

Elizabeth Ingraham instructs in the University of Nebraska, Department of Art and resides in Lincoln.

ROBERT KRUEGER's daily spiritual practice is one of mindfulness. "To be mindful is simply to be aware, conscious, or awake. I have been practicing for years. It is a very simple practice, but one that I will probably spend a lifetime trying to master. I do not follow any specific practice (such as Buddhism or Taoism) because I believe I am the only one who can find my way spiritually. I do however borrow from others' practices, especially Zen Buddhism."

Krueger explores this practice of mindfulness in Being and The Moment. The sculpture features a goldfish swimming in a small tank at the top of a pedestal. The tank is alternately illuminated with an image of a sky and one of human skulls. The title refers both to the goldfish, a living being, and to the fish being aware only of the moment. Regardless of which projection appears, the goldfish does not discern between the sky and the skulls, but accepts both. The Moment is a sculpture in which a typewriter has been altered to type the word NOW repeatedly.

Robert Krueger resides in Portland, Oregon.

TRUDE PARKINSON likens meditation on the nature of existence to the practice of alchemy. Earth elements (the body) are transmuted into gold elements (the spiritual). "The idea of alchemical transformation connecting body, mind and spirit has parallels in the basic precepts of many of the world's spiritual traditions .... I am specifically interested in Buddhist meditation, Buddhist psychology and the ideas of Ken Wilbur. In this regard, I intend to remain open to the lightness and absurdity of life and art as well as to its darkness and mystery."

Parkinson's materials also reflect her interest in alchemy. The sculptural book Incantation employs earth as pigment along with basalt and silver. The Subtle Body installation includes metal leaf, silver paper and copper wires. Medieval alchemists tried to transmute lead into gold or silver. Using precious materials, Parkinson metaphorically and psychologically transforms her body image into that of a Buddha.

Trude Parkinson is a Marylhurst University faculty member and is represented by Alysia Duckler Gallery in Portland.

As evidenced by her choice of fragile materials, SUSAN ZOCCOLA is interested in the impermanence of the world. Gut dries. Steel rusts. Eggs become arid shells. Beeswax changes according to the ambient temperature. Installed hanging from the ceiling, these organic sculptures seem to breathe and die. Refuge and Lair move on slight drafts. Over time, their luminous gut forms stretch and rot.

"My work is constantly being inspired and nourished by the natural world. I think that meditation helps me to have an awareness of nature and to be present with the awesome beauty that is life in all its forms — life that is precious and changing through birth, decay and death — the interrelationship of processes of creation and destruction. My practice helps me to open my heart to the wonders of reality and teaches me to let go and allow things to flow in and out." Susan Zoccola hopes to transmit this quiet appreciation of the moment to the viewer.

Zoccola resides in Seattle, Wash. In Portland, the Alysia Duckler Gallery represents her.

SARAH ELLEN TAYLOR is an alumna of Marylhurst University. Taylor abstracts mundane objects in prints and sculpture. The next installation of Taylor's series of 78 intaglio tarot cards will take place in October 2001 at Azabu Kasumicho Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. The Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery represents Taylor's work locally. Taylor is Assistant Director at Froelick Gallery and practices meditation at Mahasiddha Center in Portland.

The Marylhurst campus is 10 minutes south of Portland on Highway 43, between Lake Oswego and West Linn.

The Art Gym is a program of the Art Department of Marylhurst University, and has received support from the Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and many private individuals.