"Cover the Waterfront" Painting Exhibit, Giertz Gallery
Solo exhibit by Michigan-based artist Teresa Dunn runs through Nov. 3
"Cover the Waterfront," a solo exhibition of paintings by Michigan-based artist Teresa Dunn, will open Oct. 1 at the Giertz Gallery at Parkland College.
This exhibit runs through Nov. 3 and includes an artist reception Thursday, Oct. 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The reception features a gallery talk by Dunn at 6:30 p.m. and music by Lanterna. Dunn will provide an additional lecture earlier that day, at 1:15 p.m. at the Staerkel Planetarium.
As with all Giertz Gallery programs, the exhibit, reception and lecture are free and open to the public.
A Mexican American raised in southern Illinois, Dunn creates images influenced by her experience of feeling suspended between two cultural heritages. Her body of work in the gallery features circular paintings used to symbolize islands, landmasses that are simultaneously protected and isolated. Imagery in the work conjures up conflicting ideas of protection and escape, such as a sense of home mixed with a longing for a journey afar.
"These circular paintings are like miniature islands that encompass the life of my invented female protagonist and her small world," Dunn explained. "The circle, saturated color, and pattern allow me to explore metaphors for isolation and belonging, boundaries and openness, hope and hopelessness, home and homeland. Expansive waters separate and connect here from there, yesterday from tomorrow, and a woman and her island from the moon."
Dunn is an associate professor of painting at Michigan State University who has shown her work extensively, including recent solo exhibitions at the Visual Arts Center (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), the Hiestand Gallery at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), First Street Gallery (New York, New York), and the Hooks-Epstein Galleries (Houston, Texas). She earned her Master of Fine Arts from Indiana University and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Missouri State University.
Fall gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, noon to 2 p.m.
To find the gallery we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of campus. Walk past the gym and the fountain area, enter through door X7, turn left, and follow the ramps up to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located. The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area.
Programs at the gallery are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. All events in the accessible gallery are free and open to the public. Parkland College is a section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/353-2337 or email accessibilityservices@parkland.edu
[Image: Night flight, oil and flashe on paper on panel, 22" diameter, 2018]