Still lifes allow us to see our world in the light of metaphor. Everyday objects become symbol and signifier. As the connotations developed in the context of the still life expand upon those meanings - formal, functional or historical - inherent to the objects themselves, ideas are evoked that extend beyond the namable subject.

Situations are developed in my images that trigger contemplation on some of the questions of humanity: the nature of being, inner worth versus outer surface, the real versus the artificial. Issues of contemporary American society are addressed by using modern objects arranged with the language of conventional still life in mind. Imagery of nature, with rock formations, flowers and foliage, is used to address contemporary issues of the individual and society. There are many parallels between the plant world and our own in terms of how we assign worth to groups found within those worlds. For instance flowers are more desirable than dead grass just as the affluent are viewed as being more worthy than the poor. Life is used to speak about life.

The artist's hand acts as a filter of reality and delivers these created images through the marriage of intense looking, focused thought, and labor. The detail and subtle nuances, the heightened contrast, the careful construction, all of these decisions point towards the possibility of revelation, not giving the answers but posing the questions. The art objects become the silent artifacts. They record the existence of this alternate reality and become the bridge between our world and the world of possibility.

 

born: 1981, Cleveland, OH

education

Columbus College of Art & Design, BFA, 2003

selected awards/honors

Associate Instructor Award for Printmaking, Indiana University, 2005 - 2007
Nur Premo Merit Award, National Society of Arts and Letters 2006 Visual Arts Competition
Purchase Award, 19th National Small Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 2006
Doctoral Student Grant-in-Aid of Research, Indiana University, 2005

selected publications

Profile, Off the Wall: The Stories Behind the Art. Hoosier Times 20 Aug. 2006: E9.
Catalog, 2005 National Drawing Annual, Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, Cincinatti, OH.: Manifest Press, 2006.
Catalog, Powerful Impressions: Stampe Italiane e Americane, Italian Cultural Institute. Washington, DC, 1-15 Apr. 2005.
Review, Yates, Christopher A. Michelle Rozic, Anne Holman, Extra-ordinary. Columbus Dispatch 16 Jan. 2005: D4.

selected solo or two-person exhibits

The Nature of Becoming, Solo show, The Worthington Community Center, Columbus, OH, 2005
Life Observed, two person show with Anne Holman, The Ohio Art League Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2005
Between the Shadow and the Light, Solo show, Re-Art Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2003

selected group shows

Of Textural Memories, three person show with Anne Holman and David Mihaly, Qten Art Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2006
19th National Small Print Exhibition, juror Rudy Pozzatti, University of Wisconsin-Parkside Communication Arts Gallery, Kenosha, WI, 2006
Powerful Impressions: Stampe Italiane e Americane, la Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Palazzetto Tito, Venice, Italy, 2006, Italian Cultural Institute, Washington, DC, 2005
Editions through Pixel and Print, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, Columbus, OH, 2005