Apotropaia

Washington Project for the Arts Select Gala

2012-01-26T17:17:00.003-05:00


Introverted Unicursal Labyrinth #1, Sumi ink and graphite on Yupo paper, 34 x 22.5", 2008.

My artwork, above, will be featured in the upcoming Washington Project for the Arts Select Art Exhibition and Auction Gala.

Curator Paul Thulin from VCU Arts, selected artworks from Suzanna Fields, Ron Johnson, Sarah Mizer, Cindy Neuschwander, Amie Oliver, Pamela Pecchio, Jon-Philip Sheridan, Heide Trepanier, Kendra Wadsworth and Jack Wax and myself for the exhibition.

Other curators are Seth Adelsberger, Molly Donovan, Sarah Newman, Dennis O'Neil, Stephen Bennett Phillips, Katy Murnane Reis, and the WPA Board of Directors. It's going to be a very wonderful show of contemporary art.

When: 2 events!
1. Exhibition opening reception: Saturday February 11, 2012 from 6-8pm - this reception is free of charge and open to the public.
2. Auction Gala: March 3, 2012, starts at 6:30 - Midnight, with the Live Auction starting at 9pm. Click here for tickets and more information about artists and curators.

Where: 1800 L Street NW, Washington D.C.

W.P.A. Mission: The WPA provides essential resources to support the creative spirit and success of regional artists. We present contemporary art through imaginative and provocative programs, and we connect artists with the community in both traditional and unexpected ways.

Let me know if you are interested in attending either event. Click here for more information about the opening reception and for the Gala.

Detail of Introverted Unicursal Labyrinth. Click to enlarge.

More new work...

2012-01-20T21:41:00.002-05:00

A few of the new works from my current solo show, on view at the Fine Arts Gallery at Blue Ridge College through February 22, 2012. Please click to enlarge.

Liquid subdivision with Comets #1, Acrylic on Yupo, 2011, 14 x 11"

Dredged and Sifted #2, Acrylic on Yupo, 2011, 26 x 20"

Running Around Kissing, Acrylic on Yupo, 26 x 20", 2011

Chinks in my Armor #5, Acrylic on Yupo, 26 x 20", 2011

Some more new work and upcoming shows!

2011-12-07T10:02:00.001-05:00

Three shows!

The first is Illuminate at the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, VA. It opens Friday, 12/9 with a reception from 7-9pm.

The second is Layers and Competition, a solo show at Blue Ridge Community College that will open on January 19th, 2012.

The third is Treasures from the Vault, a show of works from the permanent collection at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University, on display from January 12 to February 18th, 2012.

Here are some new things that have appeared in the studio lately - busy elf...

All are available to see at Page Bond Gallery.

*Please click to enlarge any image.

Above, Self Portrait #10 (Orange), 17 x 14", acrylic on duralar

Above, Self Portrait #11 (Purple), 17 x 14", acrylic on duralar

Above, Self Portraits #12 (Blue), 17 x 14", acrylic on duralar

Above, is Self Portrait #15 (Crimson), acrylic on Yupo, 24 x 19"

Above, Self-Portrait #14 (Sap Green), acrylic on Yupo, 24 x 19"

Above, A Liquid Subdivision, 26 x 20", acrylic on Yupo

Above, Chinks in my Armor #4 (Vermilion), 12 x 9", acrylic on Yupo

Above, H.B. #2, 14 x 11", acrylic on Yupo

Melt and Flow #4 (Indigo), 40 x 25", acrylic on Yupo

Melt and Flow #3 (Vermillion and Yellow), 40 x 25", acrylic on Yupo

Sap Green Slinky Fritillary, 26 x 20", acrylic on Yupo

Untitled, 26 x 20", acrylic on Yupo

All artworks are copyright and belong to Fiona Ross.

Layers and Competition - Upcoming show

2011-11-07T14:19:00.003-05:00

Some of the new work that will be shown at my upcoming solo show "Layers and Competition", at the Fine Arts Center Gallery at Blue Ridge Community College in January 2012.
All works are acrylic paint on Duralar or Yupo papers.

Dislocation of a More Complete Pattern/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Duralar

Makes its Way into your New Toy/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Duralar

Labors to a System/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Duralar

Layers and Competition/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Duralar

Growing in Upon Itself/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Yupo

They Open, Then They Close #1/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Yupo

They Open, Then They Close, #2,/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Yupo

Etude #1, 40 x 20"/2011, Acrylic on Yupo

Melt and Flow #1/2011, 40 x 20", Acrylic on Yupo

Detail of Melt and Flow #1

Paradox of Priority/2011, 17 x 14, Acrylic on Yupo

Dredged and Sifted #1/2011, 12 x 9", Acrylic on Yupo

Fragmented Liquid Convections/2011 17 x 14", Acrylic on Yupo

Growing In Upon Itself/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Yupo

At My Invitation/2011, 17 x 14", Acrylic on Duralar

2011-07-15T17:05:00.005-04:00

I have work in two shows this summer, one in Alexandria, VA and one in Hampton, VA.

Drawing Analogies, at the Athenaeum in Alexandria, is a 7 artist showcase featuring the drawings of artists
Victor Ekpuk, Mindy Hirt, Sarah Laing, Beverly Ress,
Renee Van der Stelt, Alice Whealin and myself.

The opening reception is Sunday, July 17, 2011, from 4-6, and the show has been highlighted as the gallery opening of the week by Mic hael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post.
Drawing Analogies will run through August 28th, 2011 at the
Athenaeum, 201 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.

Also, in Hampton, VA, is the Virginia Artists 2011 exhibition. This show also opens on Sunday, July 17, 2011 with a reception from 1-3. The show is at the Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, 4205 Victoria Boulevard, Hampton, VA 23669.

Top image: Self-Portrait #5, Sumi and India Ink on Shiramine paper, 60 x 25", 2010
Bottom image: Small Introverted Unicursal Labyrinth, Sumi and India Ink on Yupo, 14 x 8", 2009

Photography by Taylor Dabney

2011-02-27T19:46:00.003-05:00

Save the Date!
4/14/11
Trace of a Moving Point

Solo Show at McLean Project for the Arts

More info soon...

2010-10-08T21:47:00.011-04:00

"...when we could be diving for pearls..."

Here are some images of the site specific drawing installation titled "...when we could be diving for pearls..." that I did for the Spirited Calligraphy: Texts, Marks and Meanings- East and West show at the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design Gallery, at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. The drawing is a unicursal, or single line, labyrinth.

The show opened Thursday, October 7th and runs through November 19th, 2010.
The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10-6.

Artists

China: Tsai Yu-Lung
Japan: Tokoku Harada, Michiko Hamasaki, Sogen Hirano, Nakano Hokumei, Undo Inamura, Junko Matsumoto, Rtsuun Omote, Kyomi Tachibana, Kaishu Yanagisawa
Korea: Kichung Lee Zee, Kim Jue Whe, Ku Ji Hoi, Lee Yoon Yong, Seo Jae Wen
USA: Crait Dongoski, Kevin Hsieh, Carol LeBaron, Juliarose Loffredo, Christy Matson, Katherine Mitchell, Fiona Ross, Junco Sato Pollack.

Thank you so much to Junco Sato Pollack for moderating the exhibition and for inviting me to participate and to Waduda Mohammad, Cynthia Farnell, Gigi Johnson and Carol LeBaron for all their help and support.

2010-08-13T15:14:00.005-04:00

New Images, Summer 2010

Bubble Raft
40 x 8", Sumi ink on Shiramine paper

(Click to enlarge...)

Contact me if you'd like to see larger images of any images.

2010-08-13T15:08:00.002-04:00

New Images, Summer 2010

Vermillion Self-Portrait with Staves
Vermillion Sumi Ink on Washi paper, 2010

2010-08-13T15:06:00.002-04:00

New Images from Summer 2010

Self-Portrait #6, with Labyrinth Fish
Sumi and India Inks and graphite on Rives paper, 2010

2010-08-13T14:58:00.006-04:00

New Images from Summer 2010

Self-Portrait #5, with Staves, Sumi and India Inks on Shiramine Paper, 2010
60" x 25"

(Click to enlarge)

2010-04-29T10:44:00.002-04:00

Detail of Walking Woman, installation for Walking the Parallels to Terminus at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Hollins University, January 2010.

Photography by Olivia Body

2010-04-29T10:42:00.001-04:00

Walking Woman installation view at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University, January 2010.

Photography by Olivia Body

2010-04-29T10:37:00.002-04:00

The Thread in the Labyrinth detail and full installation views at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University, January 2010.

Photography by Olivia Body

2009-12-16T22:11:00.006-05:00

Some photos from the installation at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University.
The show, Walking the Parallels to Terminus, opens on 1/7/10...

2009-11-25T19:55:00.003-05:00

Fiona Ross: Walking the Parallels to Terminus
January 7-30, 2010
The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Hollins University, Roanoke, VA

I'll be going to Roanoke next week to start work on a site-specific wall drawing there, and install my show. It's very exciting and I can't wait to get started...
The show opens on January 7, 2010, with an artist talk and reception, 6pm.
Click here for more about the show.

2009-10-29T22:16:00.004-04:00

Walking the Parallels to Terminus (Weird Fishes)
Sumi ink and graphite on Shiramine paper, 50 x 18", 2009

2009-08-05T16:03:00.010-04:00

New Work!

Above: Self-portrait #3, 2009, H. 50" x 20" Ink and graphite on Shiramine paper

Above: Detail of Self-portrait #3

Above: Detail of Self-portrait #3

Above: Self-portrait #2, H. 50" by 20", Ink and graphite on Shiramine paper

Above: Self-portrait #1, 2009, Ink on Shiramine paper, 45" x 18"
Above: Slippery Slope, 2009, Ink on Yupo paper, H. 11" x 8"
Above: Introverted Unicursal Labyrinth, 2009, Ink and graphite on Yupo paper, 11" x 8".

2008-11-25T10:17:00.003-05:00

Unicursal Labyrinth #5, 2008
Fiona Ross
Ink and Graphite on Yupo paper, 40 x 25"

2008-11-25T10:13:00.003-05:00

Untitled, 2008, Fiona Ross
Ink and Graphite on Yupo paper, 40 x 25"

2008-07-25T12:04:00.006-04:00

Just got the images from The Thread in the Labyrinth show that is still running at the Anderson Gallery in RVA, through August 2nd, 2008. Rob Matthew's Knoxville Girl and Not Just Another Pretty Face portrait show will also be open til then, so stop by and see before it all gets painted over...

Thanks to Travis Fullerton for the images!

2008-07-01T10:52:00.003-04:00

VCU's Tom Gresham has written a good piece online about the work that Rob Matthews and I did for our solo shows at the Anderson Gallery this summer. Rob's show Knoxville Girl is stunning, be sure to check out the slide show for close ups of his wizardry...

2008-06-27T16:44:00.010-04:00

My show at ADA will run through July 20th, 2008. I just got some images and installation shots back, for your delectation. These are all ink and acrylic on gesso'd panels, 36 x 24". Most of the works in this show are unicursal drawings.

UPDATE: July 1: And there will be a second opening on July 4th at ADA - it will be great fun, in the ADA tradition!

Contact John at ADA if you need more information...

Big thanks to Travis Fullerton for the photography!

2008-06-13T09:09:00.002-04:00

Suzanna Fields placed third in the Bethesda Painting Awards - if you click on her name you will see her stupendous piece Orange Crush and Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post's interview with her. Congratulations Ms Fields!

2008-06-12T08:08:00.004-04:00

Sneak peek of the new drawing at Anderson Gallery in RVA -
opening reception on June 20th, 2008 from 7-9pm...

2008-06-07T20:27:00.006-04:00

You are invited!

I have a pair of solo shows in Richmond this month, so if you will be in town please come and visit.

The first will be a collection of new drawings and paintings at the fabulous ADA Gallery, with an opening reception Saturday, June 14th from 5-9pm.

Then, June 2oth will be the opening reception from 7-9pm for my show "The Thread in the Labyrinth" at Virginia Commonwealth University's Anderson Gallery. There will be a suite of works on paper, as well as a site-specific drawing/painting on the wall for this show.

And take a look at ADA's booth at Scope:Basel...

And after all this hubbub, there will be a nap. A wonderful nap...

2008-05-08T09:28:00.002-04:00

Sneak Peek Detail

A small detail of a large, very green (Emerald City green!) painting.
This will be in the ADA show that opens on June 14th, 2008...

Big thanks to Taylor Dabney for all the photography.

2008-04-30T08:48:00.002-04:00

Sorry there's been no post for a while - I've been so clobbered with end of the year school stuff, plus three shows in the next 6 weeks...deliciously busy...send cookies.

News: I have twin solo shows in Richmond, VA, starting on June 13th at ADA Gallery and on June 20th at VCU's Anderson Gallery. The Anderson Gallery show will feature something new for me, a site integrated drawing in gallery one, as well as a suite of drawings. It will run from June through August.

Also, (very exciting) a brand new group of drawings will be going to the ADA Gallery booth at Scope:Basel in late May. I will post on them as soon as I get them shot. Stay tuned.

Now for a swim, then back to the old drawing board.

2008-03-21T22:03:00.003-04:00

The grooves and lines on Ganymede...

2008-03-03T09:27:00.008-05:00

Scope NYC is coming up at the end of March and ADA Gallery will be there!
If you are going to the art fairs be sure to come and see. Morgan Herrin's amazing new sculpture will be there , as will many more Richmond (and beyond) artists. I will have new ink drawings there too...

2008-02-26T09:30:00.003-05:00

I got a Mac! Wow, I love it...I have been working away on a new website - check it out here.

Today I need to figure out today how to link it to my www.fionaross.net address.

Wish me luck. Can't remember any of my passwords, so it should be a delight.

Also, yesterday Lawrence Weschler (New Yorker writer, author of Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonders, and lots more) spoke at VCU. Just wonderful to hear him speak and think...

Above is one of the small drawings at Quirk (that show in the Vault closes on March 1). It's called Unicursal Accusative Drawing with Avoidances, micron pen on 10 x 8" gessoed board.

2008-01-29T17:28:00.002-05:00

Unicursal Reveries
at
Quirk Gallery's Vault

New Small Ink Drawings and Paintings by Fiona Ross
Opens Friday, February 1, 2008
Quirk Gallery
311 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23220
804-644-6450

2008-01-11T09:49:00.001-05:00

C o m m i t t e d

Works by Dawn Gavin, Stephanie Booth and Fiona Ross
Opening reception tonight from 6-8pm.
at
Fraser Gallery,
7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E
Bethesda, MD
301-718-9651

Image above is a detail from Unicursal Reverie #2,
Sumi ink on binsen-shi paper, 37 x 25", 2007.
Click for e n l a r g e m e n t.

2008-01-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a break from packing up the car for a trip to Bethesda, MD. Today is the installation day for Fraser Gallery's first show of 2008, Committed. Dawn Gavin, Stephanie Booth and I will show work that "explores the obsessive nature of creativity". Come and see us at the opening reception on Friday, January 11 from 6-9pm. The show will run from 1/11/08 - 2/2/08.

2007-12-18T20:14:00.000-05:00

ADA Gallery
228 West Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23220, 804-644-0100

presents

Salon Selectives II: Group Show
Opening 12/18/o7 through January 2008

Featuring
Melissa Oresky, Dominic Lombardi, Yuliya Lanina, Ryan Brennan, Chatham Monk, Randy Hess, Rob Lee, Bruce Wilhelm, Andy Kozlowski, Stephen Hendee, Daniel Davidson, Jeffrey Majer, Scott Philips, Kirsten Kindler, Roberly Bell, Fiona Ross and WAY MORE!!!!

2007-11-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

Upcoming Shows, 2008

Fraser Gallery Committed, January 11 - February 2, 2008.
Stephanie Booth, Dawn Gavin and I will show new work "that explores the obsessive nature of creativity". Yes, indeed. Fraser Gallery is in Bethesda, Maryland, at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue.

Quirk Gallery February 1 - March 1, 2008
Unicursal Reveries, a solo show of paintings in the gallery's Vault. Quirk is at 311 W. Broad Street in Richmond, VA.

ADA Gallery
Freshly scheduled for May 2008, am working on a title.

2007-11-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

Scope Miami - 2007!

I've finished a series of ink drawings that will be displayed at ADA Gallery's booth at the Scope Miami Art fair.

Accusative Unicursal Labyrinths, #2-5,
Sumi ink on gessoed board
11 x 14", 2007

And another thank you to Martin for including me in Art Basel: Stuffy's last year.
Richmond is just not the same without Martin stirring things up.

2007-11-16T09:14:00.001-05:00

Tonight!

From 7-9 tonight is the opening of Side Streets at Glave Kocen Gallery.

Also, go see Rob Tarbell's new ceramic madness at ADA Gallery's opening tonight, and

the Strictly Drawing Show at Main Art Gallery, continuing until November 30th.

Above image is Fan Meander, walnut ink on binsen-shi paper, 20" x 20" - you can see it at Glave Kocen tonight...

2007-10-14T10:42:00.000-04:00

Sparkling Fresh Art will be at the Grant Gallery, 9 Mercer Street, NYC on Saturday, November 3, 2007, from 5:30 - 9pm, so come by for the fun party and show/auction that night if you are in the city.

Also I'll have another sparkling fresh piece for Main Art Gallery's Strictly Drawing II show that runs from November 2 - 30th, with a reception on Friday, November 2nd, so if you are in Richmond, VA please come!

And in family news, my cousins Olive Rice (with the mug of tea, sister Colette is beside her) and Terence Smith (at Twichenham Rugby Stadium in London) will be in NY and DC respectively, so be on the lookout for some extremely good looking Irish people!

2007-09-28T11:25:00.001-04:00

Some news and upcoming shows:

In the news:
Katherine Calos, of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, wrote an article called Creative Survival in the 9/23/07 issue, featuring Kimberly Frost, Louis Poole, Jamie Pocklington and me. The four of us had work included in the 2007 Mid-Atlantic edition of New American Paintings, and Calos interviewed us about what it's like for us to live and work in Richmond.

Upcoming shows:
Sparkling Fresh Art, in NYC - Date and venue are TBA, but this will be in early
November,
and

Side Streets at Glave Kocen Gallery, RVA, from 11/16 - 12/22.

Sorry no new images to post - I'm making more.
The past month I have been applying for grants, which, as you all know, takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R. Fingers crossed...

2007-09-11T17:09:00.000-04:00

You are invited to H&F Fine Arts in Mt. Rainier, Maryland this Saturday, September 15th to see my show, a line is a thing that moves in time.

Ink paintings, drawings and ceramic sculpture are in the show - see J.T. Kirkland's blog Thinking About Art for a very cool slide show of the installation, posted today!

The gallery is very close to the DC metro area, so if you are up that direction come on by, between 4 and 7pm.

Thanks to J.T, Cheryl, Stacey and Anca for all their help installing the show, big thanks.

2007-09-04T08:29:00.000-04:00

Annamaghkerrig Meander #1
Sumi Ink on paper, 37 x 25", 2007

This one was made in Ireland, at Annaghmakerrig, this summer.

2007-08-22T14:07:00.001-04:00

Fume, detail.
Sumi ink on Ingres paper, 20 x 15"
2007

Full image below...

2007-07-26T13:27:00.001-04:00

Untitled Unicursal Drawing
Ink on Paper, 27 x 12", 2007
Click for enlargement.
Detail, below.
Yes, they really are all one line, just different nibs.

2007-07-24T19:44:00.001-04:00

H.B., 2007
Sumi Ink on Mylar, 12 x 18"

2007-07-19T08:14:00.001-04:00

Apotropaia #3,
40 x 18",
Sumi ink on Japanese paper, 2007

Full image above and detail below. Click the images for enlargement...

2007-07-16T08:10:00.000-04:00

Accusative Unicursal Labyrinth, 2007
Sumi Ink on Arches paper, 20 x 25", detail above, full image below.
(Click for larger images.)

I'll be having a solo show, opening on September 13th, 2007, at H&F Gallery in Mt. Rainier, MD.
More details to come...

2007-07-13T09:41:00.000-04:00

Unicursal Reverie, 2007.
40 x 18", Sumi Ink on Japanese paper.

Detail, below...

Yes, it is all one continuous (unicursal) line.

Another detail...
Plus you can hear a lively debate about my work, featuring Kojo Nmandi, Dr. Claudia Rousseau and Jeffrey Cudlin on The Kojo Nmandi Show from yesterday, here.

ALSO: See the Updated Sarah Peters post!!!!!! Hooray for Sarah !!!!!

2007-07-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

My very dear friend and cahoot Dr. Mia Reinoso Genoni (in an extremely rare photograph) graduating from New York University in May 2007 with her PhD in Art History. Congratulations!

When she sees this photo she will most likely do away with me.
It's worth it though.

2007-06-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

Rebecca Murtaugh in the NYT

Check out Rebecca's work and words in an article by Penelope Green today's New York Times on the front of the House and Home section.

"...Rebecca Murtaugh, an artist, was thinking about space, value and the “thingness” of objects, as she put it, when she created her 2001 Post-its installation in her bedroom in Arcata, Calif., where she was living at the time.

“I was really mesmerized by Post-its,” she said last week. “They come in all these colors. They are beautiful. They have a purpose, but it’s different for everyone: sometimes it’s a note, ‘I’ll be back,’ or maybe it’s a phone number. But for all these important things, the note itself is always ephemeral and temporary. Yet it’s carrying all this valuable information. So there is this duality: it’s disposable, but it’s very valuable. I wanted to mark an important space, not a book with a note, but an entire room.”

It took Ms. Murtaugh six days to cover her bedroom and all the objects in it with Post-it notes. She used the original yellow for areas that she said had less value, like the walls, and neon colors for areas of more value, like the bed coverings and the rugs. She spent over $1,000 at her local stationers, and titled the piece, “To Mark a Significant Space in the Bedroom #1.” Only five people saw the original, including her now-husband, who had gone away on vacation and returned to find the work in place. (Ms. Murtaugh dismantled it after 24 hours, but the piece lives on in digital form on design blogs like insurgentmuse.com and the artist’s Web site, rebeccamurtaugh.com.).

“He was kind of alarmed,” she said. “It sort of felt like you were on the inside of a piñata.”

Her relationship to the more mundane applications of Post-its has been irrevocably altered. “What’s interesting is that I don’t use them for organizing anymore,” said Ms. Murtaugh, who teaches art at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. “I don’t want to waste them.”"

Congratulations Becky!!!!

2007-06-27T14:33:00.000-04:00

Artificium of Humanitas VI

Seoul Hae-Tae Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, June 25 - July 2, 2007
Shang-Shang Main Gallery, Beijing, China, July 5-11, 2007

On June 25, 2007 22 artists from the United States will join artists from Korea, France, Germany, Russia, Mongolia and China in an exhibition of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media pieces at the Seoul Hae-Tae Gallery in Seoul, South Korea. Known as Artificium of Humanitas VI, the show will move to the Shang-Shang Main Gallery in Beijing, China and run from July 5 – 11, 2007.

Now in its fifth year, the show is a continuation of a dialogue about the sharing of cultures, manners, and artistic expression from distinctive and different cultures. The concept was developed by Hee Ja Sung, a Richmond, Virginia artist who is originally from Korea. The show has been growing strong since 2002.

Artists participating in the exhibition include:
Bill Fisher, James Miller, Mark Bryant, Anne Savedge,
Fiona Ross, Sara Clark, Brad Birchett, Chuck Scalin,
Mim Golub, Kipp Green, Solomon Isekeige, Melissa Burgess,
Cynthia Fraula-Hahn, Amie Oliver, Kirsten A. Kindler,
John M. Pollard, Cynthia Erdahl,
Barry Roebuck, Robert L. Tarbell,
Jorge M. Benitez, Don Crow and Hee Ja Sung.

2007-06-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

Works of Art on Paper, a national juried competition, will open on June 30th, 2007 at the Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts and Sciences. A drawing of mine, Unicursal Labyrinth (full image above, detail below), will be in the show. This particular drawing is made of a single and continuous line that forms a faulty "the way in is the only way out" (a.k.a., unicursal) labyrinth. For those of you interested in this madness, if you click on the image you will see the line begins at the upper right hand corner and continues around the paper until the line ends mid-way up the right hand side of the drawing.

Works of Art on Paper is curated by Starr Figura, Assistant Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books at the MoMA.Unicursal Labyrinth, Sumi ink on Arches paper, 2006
25" x 20"
Price on request...

2007-06-17T19:38:00.000-04:00

Sarah Peters at Winkleman Gallery

If you are in NYC go see the always wonderful Sarah Peters' show at Winkleman Gallery! She has a host of new drawings and a self-portrait bust. I just love Sarah AND her work - go see!

UPDATE, 7/13/07:

SARAH PETERS
‘Being American’
Winkleman Gallery
637 West 27th Street, Chelsea
Through July 21 - EXTENDED 'TIL JULY 27! GO SEE!

In her first solo show, Sarah Peters breathes life into an obsession with the art and history of colonial America. The breath comes from a fidgety crosshatch technique rendered in pencil and black ballpoint pen that gives her images both a gauzy drift and an almost fingernails-on-blackboard screechiness.

The gallery explains that Ms. Peters revisits the naïve, often awkward motifs of colonial art to make them more complete or realistic. Thus “Dreamer,” a portrait of a man in the angular style of an itinerant painter, has a trio of voluptuous bikini-clad women in the background, perhaps to show what was really on the man’s mind. “Séance” adds intimations of ghosts, or at least moving curtains, to an image of a flower urn, a traditional mourning motif.

But what Ms. Peters really does is make this world seem crazier, suggesting the thinness of the line between the cooked and the raw amid a general atmosphere of chaos and decay. “Still Life With Battle” shows a compote dish of fruit and a background swarming with tiny figures: naked men armed with clubs. And the show’s tour de force, a 20-foot-long drawing titled “Being American,” shows an Arcadian landscape strewn with columns, portrait busts and neo-Classical statues as well as a woman sculptor, contemplating a nude torso.

Ms. Peters’s precedents include Edward Gorey and the early work of both Jim Nutt and Sue Williams. Her alternately wafting and grating drawing style makes her images feel at once romantic and hard-bitten. They may seem to float through the mists of time, but they have a few scores to settle. ROBERTA SMITH

2007-06-09T14:01:00.000-04:00

Untitled, 2007
Silk print on Japanese paper

2007-06-03T11:56:00.000-04:00

Home Again...

I just got home from a month in Ireland, a trip that was absolutely wonderful in every conceivable way. The Tyrone Guthrie Center is a stellar place to live, work and eat (and eat and eat) and the artists and staff there are remarkable. Big thanks to everyone there, to director Dr. Pat Donlon, Lavina, Tedd and Doreen, Mary, Theresa and Ingrid, Marcella and Denise, and Eamon.Above, Mary Donnelly and Stephanie Sabatier.

Also hello's to Mary Donnelly, Mary Dorcey, Annie McCartney, Terry Loane, David Gleason,
Alice Coughlin, Stephanie Sabatier, Enda, Phil Coulter, David and Miles, Siofra O'Donovan, Shannon, Neil Martin, Ruth Hickey, Debbie and Fred Ziegler.
Above: Mary Donnelly, David Ferguson, Miles, me and Fred Ziegler at breakfast. Notice, please, the empty bowl of whupped cream that Lavina left where I could find it. Diabolical.

The Big House, viewed from the greenhouse.
Stephanie took this picture of my hand (above) to prove that I did get work done in between funs, and (below), the view from my drawing table, up towards the greenhouse and water tower. The little pond below is alive with frogs, newts and other squiggly things.Neil Martin, cellist, composer and chef-for-the-night at Annaghmakerrig, above, and his sous chef Phillip Coulter below, very blurry shot, as he was working very hard, Neil being a perfectionist and all.
Above, Teddy shows Pat how it's done...

Miss Warby, are you there?

I can't wait to go again next year...

2007-04-21T21:37:00.000-04:00

There is so much going on - it's the good kind of hectic! I've finished a lot of the new drawings but haven't documented them yet, sorry for the delay.

I leave for Ireland this coming Friday for the month-long art residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in County Monaghan - I will do my best to post on this wonderful place. The Peke will be in good hands with my husband Bill, while Lulu the Domestic Apple Head Kitty-Pig will be in her usual state of neurosis.

If in Richmond, please come to the Radius 250 show that opens this coming Friday from 7-10 at Artspace (email me at fiona@fionaross.net if you need details). I won't be able to make it because I'll be on a plane, but you should go to the fun party!

The Bethesda Painting Awards show at Fraser Gallery in Bethesda Maryland will feature 3 of my paintings, and that will open on June 6 and run until July 7th, 2007.

And...if you are in the bookstore sneak a peek at some images of my work in issue #69 of New American Paintings.

2007-04-06T07:21:00.000-04:00

A very crinkly new drawing.
Untitled, 2007
12 x 13"
Sumi ink on binsen-shi paper
Click on image for alarming embiggenment.

2007-03-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

Upcoming shows:
Tonight's (March 31st) 1708 Gallery gala auction A la Mode in Richmond, VA.
June and July: My work will be in a traveling group exhibition with shows in Xian, China and
the Haete Gallery in Seoul, South Korea with the group Artificium Humanitas. More details as I
get them...
May: New American Paintings Mid-Atlantic edition...
Back to work!

2007-03-13T16:10:00.000-04:00

Richard Vine (managing editor of Art in America magazine) is speaking at University of Richmond tonight, March 13th, 2007, at 7pm. If you are in town and want to attend his lecture, Sex, Lies and Art Magazines, you can contact me at fiona@fionaross.net or the spectacular Mia Reinoso Genoni at mgenoni@richmond.edu.

I am still working on those big ink paintings, finishing up some commission work and applying for grants, etc.
Coming up this spring: New American Paintings, Mid-Atlantic edition, an art residency in Ireland and a wonderful invitation to be in shows in South Korea and China. Details will follow as they unfurl.

Elise Howell, Suzanna Fields, Travis Fullerton and I had a great artist meeting last night... Melanie Christianson meets with us too. We've been having monthly crits at each other's studios for the past couple of years.

2007-03-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

And Exciting News!!

I just found out yesterday - I will be spending a month at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, (pictured above), an artist colony and historic estate in County Monaghan, Ireland. It looks really wonderful and I can't wait to go! I applied through the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
All visual artists, creative writers and musician/composers should check out the VCCA's website and consider applying. It is such a peaceful place to work and the people you will meet there are amazing.
Thank you VCCA...

2007-03-01T09:43:00.000-05:00

CAA Experience, II

Lia Cook and Kim Grant also presented at the "When is Technique Central to Meaning" panel.
Lia Cook is an artist and teaches at the California College of the Arts. She is a weaver and has used digital technology along with traditional weaving techniques to make her work. In her words, "I use a digital loom to weave images that are embedded in the structure of cloth. I explore how the architecture of the image is built from interlacing threads and how the process of weaving can build and dissolve image and pattern simultaneously. I am drawn to the movement of instability in which this transition takes place, when perception moves from a primarily visual event to a tactile, sensual experience." I have seen Lia Cook's work at the Nancy Margolis Gallery in Chelsea and my favorite works are those that, during close inspection, reveal an almost invisible labyrinth in the weave. The photograph below is a studio shot.

Kim Grant, a professor at University of Southern Maine, presented a paper titled "Making Difficulties", an examination of instances where an artist's "unresolved struggles with medium serves as both subject and significance of the work" and instances in contemporary art that use "artistic hard work to critique repetitious drudgery, ...while for other artists it exemplifies the transcendence that labor makes possible."
Next, Mia Reinoso Genoni, Virginia Spivey and Bruce Metcalf...

2007-02-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

The CAA Experience...
Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf chaired the 2-part session "When is Technique Central to Meaning?" at CAA in NYC last week. I was fascinated by the topics the presenters chose.

Christina Bryan Rosenberger, from the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art at Harvard University Art Museums, spoke about Agnes Martin's paintings and how the complex ways she prepared her canvases and worked the surfaces "challenge the traditional understanding of Martin's canvases as dematerialized and disembodied". The next day I was at MOMA and had the chance to really examine one of Martin's paintings and see, anew, the kind of rough and smooth surfaces that she had prepared, the skipping of the graphite lines over the sanded ground and linen and the layering of washes.

Yuko Teshima, from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, spoke about the Provoke photographers of late 1960's Japan, whose signature "a-re, bu-re, bo-ke", (rough blurred and out-of- focus) quality "signified an act of creating meaning both in their works and their lives. Ultimately, taking photographs was not about the content- let alone the composition- but about the act itself." The photographers of the collective, Provoke, were Nakahira Takuma, Takanashi Yutaka, Taki Koji , Okada Takahiko and Moriyama Daido.
I had never heard of these photographers before and was interested to learn about their technique of taking photographs without looking through the viewfinder, while running or walking.

I will write more about the presentations tomorrow. I need to get back to work.

And, of course, congratulations to Dr. Mia Reinoso Genoni, on her successful PhD defense at NYU last Monday...

2007-02-08T16:43:00.000-05:00

Frustrum
2004, Porcelain, ceramic aggregate

And, below, a sneak peak - here's a detail from an ink painting in progress:

2007-01-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while - the tornado of activity that is the start of classes at UR swept me up, plus other yaya.
But there is exciting NEWS!

1. My work is going to be featured in February's CAA meeting in NYC in a panel chaired by Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf. The session is titled "When is technique central to meaning?" and the paper is written by the fabulous Mia Reinoso Genoni , my colleague at UR. To say that I am honored and thrilled is a gross understatement.

2. I am working on 4 very large ink paintings, and I will post the images when they are ready.
In the meantime, if you are in Richmond, go see Ledelle Moe's sculptures at 1708 Gallery.
Ledelle is pictured installing a large concrete sculpture at 1708...

3. So exciting - Bill and I just adopted a dog from the dedicated women of Potomac Pe kes. We've only had kitties, so this is an education in learning to be alpha dogs. We are calling him Bear. Lulu (the kitty) is very disappointed, but may forgive us eventually.

2007-01-04T19:08:00.000-05:00

Welcome back and happy 2007!
The time at VCCA was very productive (it always is) and I will take some snaps of the work I started and finished while there tomorrow and post them.
In other news, my friend Rebecca Murtaugh and her husband Matt Gehring are getting into town tonight. Becky and I went to grad school together at VCU and I can't wait to see her!
I love their work. You can check out Becky's work here and here and Mattie's work here.

2006-12-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

Reach
Ceramic Aggregate, Porcelain
21 x 9 x 8"

2006-12-11T10:13:00.000-05:00

Neither/Nor

Ceramic aggregate, porcelain, wax, cotton, hydrocal
2005
21 x 6 x 7"

2006-12-07T17:55:00.000-05:00

Art Basel: Stuffy's just came to an end.
Thanks to Martin Bromirski for curating a fun and tasty show!
Did you see when Jerry Saltz came to see the show? Awesome!
Jerry and Martin are very close...

In other news, I am heading to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts next week for some intense painting and drawing time before Christmas. Artists should apply - it's so wonderful...

Also, I just got the news that my work will be included in New American Paintings in the Mid-Atlantic issue that comes out in April 2007.

I'll post the new stuff when I get back from NY.
Maybe.

2006-12-05T21:41:00.000-05:00

Float
20 x24"
Sumi ink on binsen shi paper

detail

2006-11-28T13:03:00.000-05:00

Chattur
2005
Ceramic aggregate, porcelain, soot
18.5 x 7" x 7"

2006-11-21T16:47:00.000-05:00

Venetian Meander
Sumi ink on binshen shi paper, 2003
37 x 25"
Collection of Suzanna Fields and Rick Douglas

2006-11-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

Lotus #2
12 x 12 x 7" 2006
Porcelain, frit, concrete

2006-11-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

Armillary Hemisphere
Ceramic Aggregate, Porcelain
17 x 16 x 8"

detail...

2006-11-09T17:41:00.000-05:00

Oculus #1
Sumi ink on Arches paper
25 x 20"
2004
Collection of Capital One

2006-11-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

Unicursal Labyrinth #1
Sumi Ink on Rives paper
28 x 20", 2006

detail...

2006-11-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

Apotropaia #2
Sumi ink on paper
48 x 18", 2006

Thank you and hearts to Tanja Softic for the
wonderful, long paper!

2006-10-24T12:30:00.000-04:00

Fan Meander
2004
Walnut on binsen-shi paper
24 x 18"

2006-10-19T11:41:00.000-04:00

Whorl
18 x 23"
Sumi ink on watercolor paper, 2005

2006-10-16T16:21:00.000-04:00

Bough #2
Sumi Ink on binsen-shi paper
37 x 25", 2005
(sold)

2006-10-13T08:10:00.000-04:00

Twined
2005
12 x 21 x 13"

Ceramic Aggregate, porcelain, iron

2006-10-10T21:50:00.000-04:00

I just had the best visiting artist experience at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia. First of all, really wonderful professors and students. Thanks to you all for making me feel so welcome! Second, gorgeous campus and breathtaking drive out there from Richmond. The campus is about 6 miles from Pipestem National Park. I nearly drove off the highway two times just looking at the sedimentary rocks exposed by road cuts.
Jamie Biggs invited me to show at Concord University. He is making awesomely ambitious and outrageously good ceramic sculptures.
This is his work, titled "The Hay Wain or Big Wheel with Radio Flyer"pictured below:and "Lidded Jar with Targets Containing the Legend of Brock's Bridge".

It's great to see someone having some damn good fun with ceramic for a change! If you are in Staunton, VA, go see Jamie's work at the Staunton Arts Center in the Amazing Clay III show, curated by Michael Hough. (I'm in it too, thank you Michael.)

2006-10-10T13:29:00.000-04:00

Fractured Arcs, #2, 2005
Sumi Ink on Ingres paper
18 x 20" (Sold)

2006-10-03T08:55:00.000-04:00

Untitled, 2005, detail
Ceramic aggregate, porcelain
21 x 11 x 8 inches

2006-10-01T20:36:00.000-04:00

Oculus #4
2005, 18 x 26"
Vermillion sumi ink on binsen-shi paper

2006-09-30T11:28:00.000-04:00

Untitled Cut Drawing, 2005
Sumi ink on binsen-shi paper
25 x 18"

2006-09-28T09:10:00.000-04:00

Bullethole #2
Vermillion Sumi ink on binsen-shi paper
17 x 9", 2005 (Sold)

2006-09-27T16:03:00.000-04:00

Oculus #7, 2006
Sumi ink on binsen-shi paper, 23x 21" (detail below...)

2006-09-25T16:30:00.000-04:00

Gored Celestial Map, #4
2005
Sumi Ink on Binsen Shi paper, 37 x 25"

2006-09-24T13:48:00.000-04:00

Top #5
Ceramic aggregate, porcelain, iron, frit, gypsum cement, etc., 2005, 18.5 x 12 x 15"

2006-09-23T12:07:00.000-04:00

Float, #3
Sumi ink on calfskin parchment, 2005, 23 x 18"

Float. #3, detail

2006-09-20T16:12:00.000-04:00

Lotus

Ceramic aggregate, porcelain, frit, iron
19 x 19 x 9"

Detail of Lotus

2006-09-19T12:41:00.000-04:00

Thinking About Art

J.T. Kirkland at the blog Thinking About Art is doing a project called Artists Interview Artists. I participated last week and had a great time thinking of questions I'd ask another artist and answering the questions posed to me.
The AIA project is nearing completion, so email J.T. (jtkirkland@gmail.com) if you are interested in being a part of this insightful project.

2006-09-19T09:14:00.000-04:00

Apotropaia

Sumi ink painting on Japanese paper, 25 x 37", 2006.

Apotropaia, detail

2006-09-18T23:36:00.000-04:00

I'll be posting artwork, news and other stuff as it occurs to me.