2015 International School of Art & Design Faculty Exhibit

Exhibit Dates: February 26 to March 24, 2015
Opening reception: Thursday, February 26, 2015, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Phillip Faulkner in his studio

Phyllis Fredendall, detail of rug

Joyce Koskenmaki, Spirit Trees, Oil on Canvas, 2014

Finlandia Universitys International School of Art and Design will present a faculty exhibit at the Finlandia University Gallery, located in the Finnish American Heritage Center (FAHC), Hancock, February 26 to March 24, 2015.

An opening reception for the artists will take place at the gallery Thursday, February 26, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

This years exhibit will feature the work of Jon Brookhouse, Phillip Faulkner, Phyllis Fredendall, Kenyon Hansen, Art Hill, Harriet King, Joyce Koskenmaki, Carrice Chardin McKinstry and Denise Vandeville. Ceramics, collage, fiber art, graphic design, painting and drawing are several of the media that will be represented in this exhibit.

Dean of the International School of Art & Design Denise Vandevilles current work revolves around 2-dimensional imagery with a functional element. Using chaos and rhizome theory as a compositional device, she creates dinner setting murals that will make you never want to stack your dishes in the cupboard again.

Assistant Professor of Intermedia Phillip Faulkner will be participating in his first faculty exhibit at Finlandia. Faulkner joined the faculty in August 2013. Phillip Faulkner received his MFA from the University of Denver. Interested in how technology informs, affects and intertwines with the historical art canon, Faulkner’s artistic inquiry spans visual mediums including painting, video, print and collage. His research investigates painting’s relationship to technology. He produces work that formally bridges the digital with tradition.

For this exhibition, I will continue my exploration of the traditional painting idiom, landscape, said Faulkner. Through the use of drawn, painted, printed, and projected mark, the resulting collaged works create a visual space that embraces contrast: manufactured and natural, familiar and foreign, alluring yet dispiriting.

Professor of Fiber and Fashion Design Phyllis Fredendall will display the multiple fiber disciplines she teaches, from hand weaving and upholstery design, garment design and felt making. Functional textiles and fiber as art form the foundation of the studio. The possibilities are limitless.

Emeritus Professor of Ceramics Jon Brookhouse will be displaying ceramic pieces created in his studio in Tapiola, Michigan.

Emeritus Professor of Art Joyce Koskenmaki will display “Spirit Trees,” a large painting in which birch trees serve as a metaphor for the human spirit. Her daily walks in the woods serve as inspiration for her paintings. Rather than being traditional landscape paintings, Koskenmakis work has a metaphorical or iconic character.

Koskenmakis artwork was recently recognized with four of her paintings recently purchased for the Art in Embassies program. These paintings will be on display in the Embassy in Helsinki, Finland.

Adjunct Instructor of Graphic Design Art Hill is teaching several courses this year including graphic design and digital photography classes. Prior to working at Finlandia, Hill served in the military and worked as an advertising designer, illustrator and photographer in Southern California. He still creates graphic work for clients out west via the internet. Hill will be displaying drawing, painting and illustration work in the exhibit.

I find visual inspiration in all things natural and man made, said Hill. Curiosity is the key to comprehension and eventually understanding.

Finlandia International School of Art & Design alumni Kenyon Hansen has returned to teach ceramic design at Finlandia. Hansen was a long-term resident artist and was awarded the Lincoln Fellowship at the Archie Bray Foundation from 2010-2012. He has taught workshops at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle, Maine, Greenwich House Pottery in New York City, Ball State University, and will be teaching a firing workshop in Santa Barbara, CA in February. In September 2014 Hansen had a solo exhibition in New York City at the Jane Hartsook Gallery. He will be displaying ceramic pieces in the exhibit.

Learn more about Kenyon’s work in Finlandia University’s publication the Bridge.

Adjunct Instructor Harriet King will also have a painting on display. Her emotional use of color and composition are intended to unsettle the viewer. Her painting tells the story of a woman floating on the sea with sea life below and sky life above.

Adjunct instructor Carrice Chardin McKinstry will also have work in the exhibit.

2015 International School of Art and Design Faculty Exhibit is on display at the Finlandia University Gallery through March 24.

The Finlandia University Gallery is in the Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., or by appointment. Please call 906-487-7500 for more information.