NEW JERSEY COLLAGE ARTIST LIZ MITCHELL EXPLORES PERSONAL NARRATIVES IN BEN SHAHN GALLERIES EXHIBIT
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Personal history, current events, myths and dreams serve as inspiration for the works of collage artist Liz Mitchell, who presents a selection of artist’s books and installations in a one-person exhibit at the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University in Wayne from October 26 through November 25, 2009. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. A reception for the exhibit will be held on Sunday, November 15, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
The exhibit, “Untold Tales,” encompasses pieces created over two decades. Primarily working with paper, found objects, paint, and encaustic, Mitchell creates a variety of multilayered works that offer a personal visual narrative.
“I am inspired by a curiosity of the relationship between art, science and psychology,” says Mitchell. “In my artwork I explore how information is collected and organized. I examine the act of dreaming and what the content of our dreams does to our creative sensibility.”
Mitchell says her process is stimulated by any one of a number of ideas, structures, materials or content for any given project. “My attempt is to transcend recognizable materials into time worn, organic surfaces through processes such as cutting, tearing, painting, printing, waxing and layering as it relates to content,” she explains. “Through my materials and process I work as both the creator and chronicler. Through collage and bookwork, I weave together my personal visual narratives.”
Among the works on view is “History Repeats History,” a work influenced by her Catholic upbringing. Ten large found history books are suspended from collaged panels affixed to the wall. Current headlines from magazines and newspapers on issues from corruption to abuse are collaged over the open books, demonstrating the lack of progress in solving problems of our time. The collaged panels, covered with materials drawn from numerous sources, have the appearance of old walls onto which posters and signs have been adhered and torn away.
Mitchell’s dreams, which she has recorded in journals for a decade, are the basis for a series of books. Each book is placed in a box with a handle on the top; when the handle is lifted, the sides of the box collapse. One, “Earthbound Dreams of Flight,” is based on a dream of flying. The book, which incorporates linocut prints, digital images, and paints, combines alternating images that suggest looking down from flying and the artist in the studio working.
Transformation is a major theme in Mitchell’s work. In “The Butterfly Kimono,” Mitchell uses hundreds of linocut prints of butterflies on Japanese silk tissue. The butterfly wings are waxed, causing them to become translucent, while the unwaxed bodies are attached to a hand-stitched gauze kimono.
Mitchell, who resides in Pittstown, has exhibited her works in numerous exhibitions throughout New Jersey, as well as in international shows in Lithuania, Canada, and Costa Rica, and has won several awards for book arts, including two awards from the Printmaking Council of New Jersey. She has served as artistic director of the Myhelan Cultural Arts Center in Long Valley since 2006, she has been an artist in residence at Lafayette College, and has presented arts programs for college and arts organizations for nearly 20 years. Mitchell is a graduate of West Virginia University, and also holds a degree in studio arts from Raritan Valley Community College.
The exhibit is one of three shows on view concurrently in the Ben Shahn Galleries. On view in the East Gallery is “”The Way Things Are,” a selection of large-scale works on paper by Alaine Becker. “Objects of Power: Selections from the Joan and Gordon Tobias Collection of African Art,” on view in the Court Gallery, draws on the University’s 700-object collection of African sculpture, masks, jewelry, dress, baskets, and decorative objects.
This exhibit is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Ben Shahn Galleries are wheelchair-accessible. Large-print handouts are available. For additional information, please call the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University, 973-720-2654.
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Note to reporters and editors: Downloadable photos are available at: http://ww2.wpunj.edu/publicityphotos/BenShahnGalleries/LizMitchell/
October 22, 2009
www.wpunj.edu
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