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Jennifer O’Neill, photographer
July 11-29, 2005

“My work examines the fine line that separates fantasy from reality and questions the roles we play each day. I create a feeling of secret daydreams in a make-believe miniature environment by floating the objects in the surrounding black space. This is a place where a dialogue can be created between characters playing roles of truth and fiction.”
– Jennifer O’Neill

Jennifer O’Neill’s most recent series of photograms examines the fine line that separates fantasy from reality and questions the roles we play each day. Ms. O’Neill uses miniature clothing to suggest a series of characters. These characters are free from a particular personage as only the garment describes the individual. The choice of the particular garment, the pins added to the seams and layers of the fabric, and the gestures created by its placement in the surrounding space all contribute to the personality of the unseen character.
Raised in Ohio, Jennifer graduated from Bowling Green State University where she received her B.F.A. in two-dimensional studies. In 2000 she graduated with her B.F.A. in Photography from the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC and went on to earn her Master’s degree in Photography in 2002 from the University of Delaware. Jennifer has been an Assistant Professor of Art and acting Director of the Larrabee Art Center at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland for the past three years. Ms. O’Neill will be joining the faculty at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Delaware in the fall.

Most recently Jennifer’s series titled “A Cast of Characters” was exhibited at Art Works Gallery in Chestertown MD and in the exhibition “THREE” at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Jennifer’s work has been well received in competitive exhibitions nationally including the "Texas National" at the SFA Gallery in Nacogdoches Texas, the “20th Annual” at the Pleiades Gallery in New York City, and "Photography 21" and “Photography 22” at the Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, New Jersey. Jennifer’s work has been published in The Photo Review on two occasions, and was awarded for excellence in 2001.

Andrea Packard, painter
August 8-19, 2005

“My current mixed media works spring from childhood memories of the Connecticut woods and from the dynamic forms and relationships suggested by fragments of fabric, paper, and prints. I search for compelling images and compositions through a long process of drawing, painting, scraping, and layering. I develop the works both through direct observation and freely transforming studies in the studio. I have also created sculptures from found papers and cardboard. They have been inspired by human movement as well as the forms of trees, vines, and stones. I try to create vigorous, evocative forms. I would like them to be dynamic, yet ephemeral, bearing witness to the mutability and fragility of nature.” -Andrea PackardAndrea Packard (b. Connecticut, 1963) works in a variety of media including sculpture, printmaking, and painting. Her current mixed-media landscapes on paper are inspired as much by the suggestive textures of fabrics and prints as by the dynamic forms of trees, rocky hillsides, and dense foliage. Packard grew up in a wooded area of Connecticut that has since been cleared for development. She is interested in engaging the viewer in a visual journey. She does not literally address the destruction of the ecosystem but instead creates a pictorial equivalent of nature’s power to surprise, renew, and inspire. Many of her works portray the drama of moving from dark to light, from enclosure to openness, and from warm to cool spaces. Packard pays homage to the mutability and ephemerality of both nature and perception.
Since 1995 Packard has directed the List Gallery at Swarthmore College, where she has organized over 50 exhibitions in a variety of media ranging from contemporary book arts to conceptual installations to ceramics. She has written and edited exhibition catalogs about the work of artists as diverse as Alison Saar, Buzz Spector, Judith Harold-Steinhauser, LeRoy Johnson, and Leland Bell. She has also taught in a variety of settings including Swarthmore College, Dartmouth College, The University of the Arts, The American University, and Fleisher Art Memorial. A graduate of Swarthmore College (1985) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1989), she received her M.F.A. in painting from American University, Washington D.C. in 1994. A co-founder of Protean Artist Cooperative, Philadelphia (1989), she is an alumnae of Creative Artist’s Network (now the Center for Emerging Artists, Philadelphia) and has exhibited her work in over forty exhibitions in Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. She has won over twenty awards for her work including American University's Glassman and Sacknoff Awards, the Pennsylvania Academy's Cresson Traveling Scholarship and fellowships from the Chester Springs Studio, and the Vermont Studio Center.

Janis Goodman
September 2005
Lecture on her work: Wed. Sept 7 at 8:30pm (Library 321)

“A friend suggested my work is very primordial. In that it has consistently been about those things which don’t change; i.e. trees, birds, water movement. Perhaps it is some way of making it universal and timeless. Kayaking along the Atlantic coast and on inland rivers awakened my awareness and concerns of water and the environment. I recently began a series of paintings which explores the Potomac River from its headwaters in West Virginia to where it meets the Chesapeake Bay.” -Janis Goodman
Janis Goodman (b. New York City, N.Y.) received an M.F.A. in painting from the George Washington University, a B.A. degree from Queens College in printmaking with additional study at the Corcoran School of Art, UCLA, an Art and The Terra Collection. In addition to gallery exhibitions she has completed site specific window drawing installations in Berlin, Indianapolis and Washington, DC.
Though initially based in observation, Ms. Goodman’s paintings move close to the edge of abstraction and away from any firm narrative. They are done on wood panels or paper. They are a combination of graphite, oil, oilbar, acrylic and cold wax medium. In the current series on water, the subject becomes about rhythms and strokes, movements and time. The transcription of the natural and changing structures are meant to impart both a spirited wonderment of the occurrence as well as a curiosity about the phenomenon. Travels to Asia and studies of eastern traditions in landscape painting and religion have helped to develop the current imagery.

Goodman is an Associate Professor at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC and the coordinator of the third year fine arts curriculum as well as teaches advanced electives in drawing. She is currently the arts reviewer for Washington’s WETA program Around Town. She co-curated with Dennis Weller the traveling exhibit: Is Seeing Believing? The Real, The Unreal, The Surreal in Contemporary Photography.

Jen Dohne
October 3-28, 2005
Lecture on her work: Wed. Oct 5 at 8:30pm (Library 321)

“My practice is an open one; one of my goals is to take risks and bring more of the raw material of everyday life into my work. The thoughts in my head that help me make my work are sort of like a bunch of atoms smashing together. I want always to inject that emotion and energy into my work. I think this can happen by finding or using humor and seriousness (also sadness, joy, fear, love) residing in the same place. So I try to make things or interpret known objects in a way that makes it clear that things can be both at the same time.” -Jen Dohne
Jen Dohne (b. Washington, D.C. 1981) grew up in Shady Side, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2002 Jen graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland where she studied biology and art, receiving a B.A. in Art in 2002. She pursued graduate studies at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, NY and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from SVA in May 2005. Exhibitions include “The Last Show” at the Visual Arts Gallery (New York, NY) in April 2005 and an upcoming exhibition at the SVA East Side Gallery in July 2005. Jen lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Currently, Jen makes drawings and sculptures. In his essay for 2005 exhibition “The Last Show” which included works by Dohne, Wallace Whitney offers that her sculpture composes a world seeming “to emerge from a dream state, all the things we see in everyday life put into a drama where nothing exactly meets our expectations.” Her practice is embedded in and therefore constantly deviating from an empirical process of thought somewhat like alchemy and usually failing to yield straight answers, rather, jumping off and landing points--anchors and launch pads--between the space of the physical world and the space of the mind. She is interested in an imagination that operates on the periphery of science and facts, constantly trying to make unknowns out of things we thought we knew. Jen’s work is the result of a practice holding at its core a principle that we may become freer and lighter by constantly shifting the frames and lenses through which we interpret and edit our perception of the world.

Brian Kreydatus, painter and printmaker
October 30-Nov. 13, 2005
Lecture on his work: Mon. Nov 7 at 8:30pm (Library 321)

“I am obsessed with the skin's meaty physicality, its vulnerability and how these poignantly beautiful imperfections challenge and refute accepted cannons of beauty. I seek not only an accurate facsimile of the subject's physical appearance but through an intense first hand empirical investigation, I search for the knowledge and representation of their emotional and psychological state.” -Brian KreydatusBrian Kreydatus (b. Auburn, NY 1969) received his BFA from Syracuse University magna cum laude in 1991. Mr. Kreydatus then went on to receive his MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 where he was awarded a Vermont Studio Center fellowship in 1993 and the Neil Welliver Painting Prize upon Graduation. In 1995 Brian won a Fulbright Grant to Ireland for Independent Study in Painting and Printmaking. While in Dublin, he was a member of the Black Church Print Studio, awarded a Studio Rental Allowance grant from the Irish Arts Council and received an artist residency in Kiltimagh. Upon his return to the US in 1997, he began to teach and lecture at several institutions including Haverford College, Lehigh University, The Washington Studio School and most notably the University of Pennsylvania from 1998-2001, where he taught all levels of printmaking, Drawing I and served as the Printshop Manager. He remained at that post until fall 2001 when he accepted an Assistant Professor position at The College of William and Mary to teach printmaking and figure drawing. Mr. Kreydatus’s primary source of imagery is the figure depicted in a rather unadorned way with emphasis on the corporeal quality of the human figure and its implications for mediation on the human condition. He has had Solo Exhibitions in Philadelphia, Dublin, Washington DC, and Chicago. Mr. Kreydatus has also has participated in numerous group shows in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Ireland, England, Scotland, Australia, and Japan.

Meredith Johnson, Curator
December 2-10, 2005

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Meredith Johnson (b. 1977) received her BA in Art from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. After graduating in 1999, she developed and administered in-house and traveling exhibition programs as the Exhibition Coordinator for Meridian International Center in Washington, DC. In 2002, she relocated to San Francisco, California where she worked for a commercial gallery and as a freelance curator and writer. In 2003, Johnson was one of the founders of the non-profit, artist-run PlaySpace gallery where she acted as Coordinator in 2004. While attending graduate school, she was Curatorial Intern for Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on exhibitions including “The End of a Minute: Recent Work by Erwin Wurm” and “Bay Area Now 4.” In 2005, Johnson completed her MA in Curatorial Practice at the California College of the Arts where she focused her studies on the legacy of art in public space – specifically land art and architectural projects. Currently, she is Assistant Director for the Manhattan-based Minetta Brook, a non-profit group that develops projects with contemporary artists throughout the state of New York. Often partnering with other cultural institutions and arts organizations, recent Minetta Brook projects include Robert Smithson’s Floating Island to Travel Around Manhattan, an arts program for the High Line (a 22-block-long elevated rail structure in New York City) and Watershed in the Hudson River Valley. Johnson lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Cora Lynn Deibler
January 16-February 10, 2006
Lecture on her work: Wed. January 25 at 8:30pm (Library 321)

Cora Lynn Deibler received a BFA in Communication Design from Kutztown University in 1985, and an MFA in Illustration from Syracuse University as a University Fellow in 1995. Ms. Deibler specializes in editorial, children’s, and children’s educational illustration. Clients have included Cricket, Spider, Ladybug, The Weekly Reader, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Scholastic Inc., Penn State University, and Planned Parenthood. Awards have included How magazine's self-promotional annual, the Print Annual, The New York State Press Association, and RSVP’s annual illustration competition. She is a member of the Society of Illustrators, the Graphic Artists' Guild, and Phi Kappa Phi. She participates regularly in shows at the Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration in New York City and her work recently appeared in “Women in Illustration: Contemporary Visions and Voices” at the Norman Rockwell Museum. (http://www.nrm.org)
Ms. Deibler’s current interests include humorous images in an educational context for children’s publishing and she was recently selected as Spider magazine’s resident serial artist, and the magazine has featured her work on a monthly basis in “The Danderfield Twins” since January 2004. In the same vein, she is continuing work on “The Art of Rare Breeds: A Visual Exploration of Farm Animal Conservation,” a project devoted to interpreting images of rare and endangered agricultural animals. A new body of work explores concrete and communicative explorations of type and image/type as image in an editorial and children’s publishing context. These images begin as traditional drawing, painting and collage surfaces that are scanned and completed digitally. The work explores juxtapositions of images and words or letterforms in both conceptual and purely visual terms.
Ms. Deibler is an Associate Professor in The University of Connecticut’s Department of Art and Art History where she has been Area Coordinator for the illustration program since 1997. Additionally, she has served as the Associate Department Head since 2002. In spring 2004 she received the University’s Advisor of the Year award and was nominated in 2005 for the National Society of Collegiate Scholar’s Faculty of the Year award.

Douglas Witmer
February 13-March 10, 2006
Lecture on his work: Wed. February 15 at 8:30pm (Library 321)

“I am compelled by the physical sensation of seeing—not optics per se, but rather how the feeling of seemingly simple visual experiences can make complicated connections throughout life. Sources for my work can be found literally anywhere in the things I see daily. I draw from observation, memory, and my photographs. Fragments from these experiences undergo a process of distillation in my art. The visual appearance of this "distillation" is often misinterpreted as being involved with the ideas of Minimalism. Rather, I do not view my work as having intellectually didactic reasons for existing. It is not a statement. It is more about a feeling than about an idea. In the 21st century, I see my work as offering an clear alternative in a visual culture dominated by speed, layering, and complexity.” - Douglas WitmerDouglas Witmer holds a BA from Goshen (IN) College and an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. His work has been exhibited nationally since 1994, with five solo exhibitions including Peng Gallery (Phila.), Goshen College, and The University of Montana--Dillon. His work is currently represented by Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY (www.minusspace.com). Artist residencies include The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, The Vermont Studio Center and the Summer Winter Garden, Philadelphia. He has broad experience working in museum and gallery environments as a preparator, administrator, educator and curator. Currently he is a consulting artist to the education department of The Rosenbach Museum & Library, and serves on the advisory board of the “40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program” administered by the University of Pennsylvania. He has also been invited to serve as a visiting artist, lecturer, or juror for numerous groups, schools and organizations. Finally, he is the co-proprietor of The Green Line Cafe, a family-owned espresso bar in the neighborhood where he lives and maintains a studio.
Witmer is a multidisciplinary artist, though most of his work relates to drawing and painting. His work deals with the combination of geometric shapes and subtle manipulations colors and surfaces. Sources come from observation, photographs, and memory. Fragments of the experience of seeing undergo a process of distillation in Witmer's art, resulting in simplified images that are deceivingly effortless in their appearance. It is Witmer's desire to make quiet visual situations that offer alternatives in a visual culture dominated by speed, layering, and complexity.

Laura Taylor
March 20-April 7, 2006
Lecture on her work: Wed. March 29 at 8:30pm (Library 321)

“I feel a great affinity to those artists who are working from a state of disillusionment with their world. Since the mid-eighteenth century artists have turned to the immensity of nature to find solace. Have we found that which we seek in nature?
In my work Nature is menacing. A dark forest or foreboding sky encircles barely discernable figures. The imagery is gleaned seemingly random brush and ink sketches that I trace over with raw sienna on a make-up applicator. Sometimes I use tracing paper and paint on it with washes of oil paint, dabbing and blotting and tracing to bring imagery to the surface. Sometimes I project small compositions made from these sketches onto large panels and build up the painting with washes of casein and wax emulsion with pigment before adding oil paint. Sometimes I paint on paper prepared with white oil paint and sometimes I work over and over old paintings until a painting is very thick and the under layers important to the final work in that they create this depth. What I strive for is visual acuity. “ - Laura TaylorLaura Taylor is of Brazilian/American heritage and was raised primarily in Canada with frequent intervals spent in Sao Paulo, Brazil. For the last twelve years she have lived in New York City. Her art education was somewhat unconventional, completing two years at The Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada (1979-81) and then moving to Quebec. After taking a year off school during which time she lived on a remote lake in northern Quebec painting, reading the classics and teaching herself French, she attended the Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres (1982) for another year. She finished her formal studies at the New York Studio School in New York City in 1984. Mostly she considers herself self-taught, having spent a total of four years in formal art education and the last twenty-three years learning to paint through looking at art and practicing the art of painting.
She has been granted residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Dorland Artist Colony in California, and internationally, Treffpunkt Kunst, in Austria. She was a resident at The Montana Artist’s Refuge from November 2003 through July of 2004 during which time she conducted technique workshops locally and exhibited her work in various venues in Montana. She was a member of The Painting Center in New York City from 1997 until early 2005 during which time she acted as curator for shows of artists from across the United States and organized international exchange exhibits between Painting Center artists with both Ireland and Austria. She has shown her work extensively in this country, including three solo shows in New York City, and shows in Providence, Rhode Island, Butte, Montana, Narrowsburg, New York. In Europe her work has been shown in Dublin, Ireland, Ried-im-Imkreiss, Austria and Salzburg, Austria.
Taylor’s work comes out of the Romanticist tradition of the late eighteenth century. There is an affinity in her viewpoint to those artists who were working from a state of disillusionment with their world. Her recent paintings are large landscapes that portray vast spaces where the presence of human beings is diminutive or entirely non-existent. Some employ a Turneresque light and treatment of paint while others more graphic renditions of vast spaces. In all nature is perhaps not offering the solace and escape the viewer might be seeking.

Celia Rabinovitch
June 15-July 4, 2005 ad April 10 – 28, 2006
Lecture on her work: Wed. April 21 at 8:30pm (Library 321)

"My art pursues the extraordinary moment that opens into a visual epiphany. In pursuit of the uncanny, my paintings capture echoes and ambiguities connecting particular landscapes, persons, and structures through color and mood, stillness and movement, and the shimmering elusive atmospheres of nature." -Celia Rabinovitch
Celia Rabinovitch (b. Manitoba, Canada) is an artist and writer. She was educated in Fine Arts (B.F.A. hons.) and the History of Religions (B.A.) at the University of Manitoba; her focus is in painting and in art in relation to the history of knowledge. Her paintings have been shown in fourteen solo exhibitions in Canada, Europe and the U.S., most recently representing Canada in Vienna, Austria, 2000 in a four person international show, Quattro: Internationale Gruppenaustellung, and in the invited exhibition, Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea, in Florence, Italy, December 1999. She has received awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada, and the Edna St. Millay Colony for the Arts. Forthcoming exhibitions include SOMARTS Gallery, San Francisco, November 2004 and Gallery One, University of Manitoba, 2005. Her recent book, Surrealism and the Sacred: Power, Eros, and the Occult in Modern Art (Westview Press, Boulder Colorado, and Harper Collins-Canada, Icon Editions 2002) is a groundbreaking work in the history of art and the history of religions. Other publications include features for Artweek, (San Jose) C Magazine, (Toronto), The Dictionary of Art (London), American Ceramics, and Metalsmith (New York). She earned a Ph.D. in art history and the history of religions at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and her M.F.A. in painting at the University of Wisconsin. While teaching at the University of Colorado at Denver, she worked with associates of the Torres-Garcia, Latin American constructivists. Rabinovitch has also taught at McGill University, Montreal, California College of Arts and Crafts, Syracuse University, Cabrillo College, and University of California Berkeley. Currently, she is Director of the School of Art, The University of Manitoba.