Textures & Patterns

Our second Art competition “Textures & Patterns” started in May 2021 and concluded on May 27, 2021. Art Room Gallery received entries from many countries around the world: USA, Russia, Taiwan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Canada, Cyprus, Italy, Austria, Romania, Australia, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Qatar, France, Brazil, New Zealand and United Kingdom. The Textures & Patterns theme in this competition included a diversity in types, styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, photography, digital, glass on copper, stoneware, porcelain, ink, charcoal, graphite). 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 125 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!

First place

Statement:

Sherry Been is an emerging artist currently living in south Florida. She attributes the subtle interplay between the extremes in the folds of the copper, contrasting with the depth of glass light playing off every crevice immediately sparked her interest. She explored and refined this technique becoming one of the few artists sculptors that has embraced this art from. My work has been described as, “If Michelangelo sculpted metal,” and “if Chihuly enameled.” Utilizing the process most closely associated to the world famous Fabergé eggs, my enameled sculptures are brought to life by the frantic and rhythmic movement of the sculpted, folded edges. Shadows of light and dark dappled with unique colors are created during the heating process. It is during this same heating process that the colors merge in rivers of molten glass that showcase the magic of the sculptures. My sculptures possess a very feminine energy, yet have a definite masculine quality to them. The materials and bohemian style juxtaposed to the soft, folded edges encapsulate the tranquil smoothness of each sculpture, while small points accentuate the edges in a crescendo of smoldering and undulating rhythm. These characteristics creates a dichotomy that offers a powerful intrigue to each sculpture.

Statement:

Yuefeng Li is an emerging multidisciplinary artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto with Asian heritage. She was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, went to Canada since 2018. She is currently studying in the OCAD Drawing & Painting. Her practices use painting, mixed media, installation, and performance based on the surrounding things that influence her life, changing with time, climate and place. Every organic and inorganic substance that exists and operates in the land she lives in acts on her consciousness, thus making her work fragmented and independent. The awareness she was instilled with as a child, and her own experiences have enabled her to constantly discuss and critique the social status quo and natural crises in an interdisciplinary manner, with a tendency to use metaphorical and abstract elements to express an emotional orientation that can provide reflection and introspection.

Statement:

Kait is a ceramic artist and professor based in Flagstaff, Arizona. She received her BFA from Utah State University in 2010 with an emphasis in both ceramics and graphic design. She completed her MFA, emphasis in ceramics, at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the spring of 2016. Throughout her career she has maintained an active exhibition record showing work nationally and internationally in museums, galleries, and nontraditional venues. Most recently, her work was exhibited in Shifting Reverence, presented in conjunction with Claytopia, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in Minneapolis, MN. This past winter, her work was featured in the Houston Biennial TIMELESS CLAY: Future Artifacts in Houston, TX. Internationally, her work was included in the 2017 exhibition A City in Dialogue with the World “Jing Piao” at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Museum in Jingdezhen, China. My work is created as a response to my surroundings and cultural climate. I am interested in using materials experimentally to translate my impressions into physical form. As a sculptor I tend to use playable materials such as clay or those with historical or past use such as used/recycled paper pulp. I approach each piece with a structured and a systematic way of building but introduce an element of disorder that ultimately transforms the work and is used as a representation of our humanity.