EXHIBITIONS/PAST/CURRENT/UPCOMING
| MYSTICAL MENAGERIE" width="800" height="592" title="EXHIBITIONS > MYSTICAL MENAGERIE"/>Laura Ball, Charge (2011), Watercolor on paper, 22 x 30 inches
November 12 - December 23, 2011 Reception Thursday, November 17, 2011 6-8pm PRESS Swarm Gallery is pleased to present Laura Ball and Jillian Ludwig: Mystical Menagerie, on view from November 12 - December 23, 2011. An installation-based portrait by Michele Pred, Portrait of My Father, will be in the project space. On view in the gallery will be a selection of new works on paper by San Diego-based artist Laura Ball, and Indiana-based artist Jillian Ludwig. The exhibition title, Mystical Menagerie, alludes to the presence and use of animals as symbols reflecting the artists’ conceptual leanings. Laura, who received her MFA in painting from UC Berkeley, takes us on an inward journey, crossing thresholds and boundaries of our mental landscape: faults and fears, shortcomings and struggles, and the battle within the self, manifested in corporeal form. Laura paints continuously shifting composites of animals that symbolize pieces of the psyche and the primal nature of our internal impulses. Delicate, yet powerful and precise, the quality of Laura’s brushwork matches the fabulous forces encountered in her work. Jillian’s work reflects in a calm and gentle manner, an evaluation on the loss of natural faming within westernized culture. Using factory animals wrapped in flowing pink ribbons and balloons, Jillian exercises the conflict between nature and genetically modified food. The short-lived and harsh existence of farmed animals is a sobering discussion. For that reason, the work is constructed in a non-threatening and often playful or humorous manner. The pastel colors and narrative appeal are tactics of gentle persuasion for the awareness of animal treatment and conscious abundance of human consumption. While Laura’s work offers an opportunity for introspection, Jillian’s work lends itself to an outward awareness of moral codes and practices. MYSTICAL MENAGERIE" title="EXHIBITIONS > MYSTICAL MENAGERIE"/>Jillian Ludwig, Butterfly Sheep (2011), Graphite, gouache, pastel, color pencil on paper, 28 x 36 inches
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES Jillian Ludwig received her BFA in Drawing and Printmaking from Bradley University in 2005 and went on to complete an MFA in Drawing from Clemson University in 2007. She was a 2011 SWAN Artist Honoree through Artinspired Studio One in Yorktown, Virginia. Other awards include the Technical Assistant Grant and the Mary Beasom Bishop and Francis Summer Merit Scholarship from Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, both in 2007. She has held residencies at the Penland School of Crafts, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, and the Ox-bow Summer School of the Arts. She has had solo exhibitions in Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas, with participated in shows across the US and in Italy. Jillian currently resides in Lafayette, Indiana. This is her first exhibition at Swarm Gallery.
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