Abstract

Our first Art competition “Abstract” started in May 2018 and concluded on June 04, 2018. Art Room Gallery received entries from many countries around the world: USA, Canada, China, Australia, Finland, Italy, Japan, Indonesia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Netherlands, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea. The Abstract theme in this competition included a diversity in types, styles and mediums (oil on canvas, oil on plywood, acrylic, photography, pastel, mixed media, digital, photograph on aluminum, watercolor, terracotta clay and glaze, gouache on paper, collage and pigment ink print. The following evaluation criteria has been used for judging the artwork: creativity, interpretation of the theme, originality and quality of art, overall design, demonstration of artistic ability, and usage of medium. Jury decided to select 82 artworks for inclusion in the exhibition. Aside from First, Second, and Third place Jury also presented Merit awards and Honorable Mention awards.

Thank you, and enjoy the exhibition!

Statement:

Basha Maryanska is an internationally recognized artist and has been exhibiting her art around the world since obtaining her MFA at Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Poland in 1979. She has received awards for her numerous groups and solo shows in media ranging from painting, sculpture, installation fiber art, assemblage, performance, photography and graphics.
She is holding MFA (Painting, Sculpture, History of Art and Culture, Design) from the Academy of Fine Arts, Gdansk, Poland, she studied at the Ecole du Louvre, Paris and received a Fellowship in 1986 from the Kosciusko Foundation, NYC. Basha Maryanska’s artworks are found in the permanent collection of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; National Museum of Gdansk, Poland; and Museum of Casimir Pulaski (near Warsaw, Poland), and many private collections in:Poland - Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk; France - Paris, Grenoble, Aix-en- Provence, Limoges, Montpelier and Metz; Germany - Munich, Berlin; Holland - Amsterdam, Hilversum; Czech Republic – Prague; Canada – Montreal. Quebec; UK – London; Sweden – Stockholm, Umea; Lithuania – Vilnius; Japan – Tokyo, Osaka; Mexico – Mexico City, New York – NYC, Queens, Brooklyn, and many places in Upstate NY; Washington DC; Chicago, IL; Bloomington, IN; Boston, MA; and all over the U.S.
Most recently, she received the distinction of the Statuette of Golden Owl from Vienna, Austria for her artistic achievement and international artists promotion in Europe and the US. She is a Finalist in National Biennale North Carolina 2015, Hilton Head, and Award Winner in IEWAAC International Show 2015, London, UK.

Statement:

Weiting Wei (born. FuJian China) received her MFA in Visual Art from Columbus College of Art & Design in 2018. She is a multimedia artist creating works out of paper, wax, clay, and soap. Her sculptural work uses traditional elements to explore very personal, yet universal, experiences of motherhood. The lotus is used as a central theme to represent humanity. In Chinese culture the lotus symbolizes perfection, and ultimate purity of the heart and mind, because it rises untainted and beautiful from the mud. Weiting creates numerous works that feature the lotus in different states to express this lifecycle and the beautiful struggles we experience as we grow.

Statement:

Observation and curiosity drive my studio practice. Through the investigation of and experimentation with different kinds of materials, I express discontent with the current political climate as well as reflect on my experiences growing up in the American Midwest. My work explores entropy, artifice, consumerism, and my place in the lineage of abstraction in contemporary and modern painting and its relationship with installation art. Currently, I am working on a series of oil paintings on transparent acetate. For these works, my palette is inspired by the alluring sheen of oil spills on pavement and the iridescence of polluted sea foam. The intersection of the natural and the artificial is a site of challenge, conquest, and cohabitation. This work explores toxicity through artifice and decay. As light filters through the paint and acetate, ephemeral auras are projected on the walls creating an additional layer of color. When the works are rolled, they become core samples. Black holes of color with little universes enclosed inside. When the various iterations of this series are placed in proximity to each other, a visual conversation emerges between painting and sculpture, density and light, toxicity and beauty. I recently completed my MFA at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. I also hold a BA in Art History and MA in Studio Art and Theory both from Drury University.