Tapestries by Paula Chung are shown in TMCC’s Main Art Gallery, an exhibit entitled “A View Within: Fragility”.
Truckee Meadows Community College Art Galleries present both a guest artist show by Tahoe-based artist Paula Chung and student collections, including an innovative “What is a Portrait?” collection.
“Paula Chung’s work complements the nursing and other allied health programs that we focus on here at TMCC,” said Candace Garlock, Galleries Curator and Art Instructor. “She uses a medium that students don’t have a chance to see as often. She also uses unusual materials such as tea bags.”
An opening reception with refreshments will be hosted to introduce the Winter Art Exhibits. Part of the reception is an artist’s talk that is free and open to the community.
Chung will present “Progression Towards Fragility", a talk about her art and process visualizing the human body through the medium of fiber.
- Reception: Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 5-7 p.m.
- Presentation: Artist’s talk at 5:30 p.m.
- Where: Main Gallery, V. James Eardley Student Center
Chung’s large-scale tapestries will be shown in TMCC’s Main Art Gallery for the exhibit entitled “A View Within: Fragility”. The artist uses machine stitching.
“I have a commercial free-form machine—meaning you move the fabric with a presser foot that puts little pressure on the material being stitched,” Chung said.
Having worked with textiles since childhood, Chung says fiber has always been her first choice of art mediums. Her investigation into body imagery as art has led her in a direction of interpreting medical scans through embroidery. The work is representational. She captures imagery directly from X-rays, MRI and sonograms.
The images are universal—they cross religious, cultural and political beliefs, socio-economic status, race and gender. The work is focused on reminding the viewer of his or her own mortality.
Student Artist Winter Collections
The Red Mountain Student Gallery will feature “What is a Portrait?” TMCC students in Painting I were challenged to research and compose a contemporary portrait. The result shows a variety of what portraiture can be. Far from traditional headshots painted in classical realism, these pieces show emotion and complexity. They seem to ask the deeper question, “Who is this person?”
“Traditional portraits are of the face, but the students are thinking outside of the box for this project,” Garlock said. “They’re learning classical techniques but painting with a contemporary theme. One student, Lydia Ziolkowski is identifying with the surface of people, the façade. She decided to go not with a specific person, but a concept existing in the whole society.”
Another student artist is Joseph Kelly.
“Joseph is painting a collage from historical portraits combined with a photo of himself,” Garlock added. “He also is experimenting with charcoal drawn over the painting to create a contemporary grunge aesthetic that matches his personality.”
In addition to Ziolkowski and Kelly, additional student painters exhibiting work include the following:
- Hannah Alfaro
- Cassandra Hank
- Ryan Hanssen
- Yanessa Martinez
- Carrie Merriett
The Erik Lauritzen Gallery will feature a variety of photographs from the TMCC Permanent Collection.
The Meadowood Gallery continues to show “Colour Blinders: A cross-disciplinary student project exploring the difficult navigation and understanding of race stereotyping”. This exhibit is inspired by collaborations in English, education, math, biology, business, political science, anthropology and psychology.
Student art projects for Colour Blinders result from cross-curricular activities by diverse students and faculty who explore controversial themes as part of a group that is original to TMCC—the Faculty for Radical Empowerment and Enlightenment (FREE).
For information about the Art Galleries at TMCC or for current exhibitions, please contact Candace Garlock at 775-674-7698.