On display in the 1100 Florence Gallery windows, new works by Artist Mardy Sears. The works will be on display thru Dec. 18 - 31, all works are for sale at $500 each and can be viewed through the windows.
Social/Isolation
This series of drawings began with the desire to draw the coyote pack I hear outside our Evanston apartment at night. I live near the Northshore Hospital, with the Evanston Fire Department next door, and the local coyotes often respond to sirens by howling.
When the pandemic shut down began last March, this series of drawings quickly became an outlet for my feelings related to our current experience of social isolation and the interaction within our ‘pack’ or family. The coyote pack represents the social, while the owl stands alone in isolation.
Artist Bio
Mardy Sears is an Evanston artist and a member of the Evanston Made art community. She is a printmaker, ceramicist, and artist book maker. After graduating with a Masters in Fine Arts from The Center for Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College Chicago in 2006, she began working as a Conservation Technician with a focus on paper at The Art Institute of Chicago.
Mardy’s visual language includes images of animals, primarily birds and sea creatures. Her animals tell stories of humanity and connect our everyday lives to the environment we live in. She incorporates text and poetry into her image making, that is often presented in book format. Her visual texture is influenced by the objects she works with at her job at the Art Institute of Chicago. Worn and aged surfaces such as joined sheets of paper and early book structures, which may be sewn, mended, and stained, are evident in her objects.
At the Art Institute of Chicago, she spends her days framing works on paper for exhibitions and loans - which may play a part in her preference for making objects. Her ceramics are utilitarian and her prints and drawings are made to be handled. Sketches can be pulled from envelopes, books perused, and boxes opened to see what they contain.
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1100 Florence Gallery is an artist-run contemporary art space dedicated to showcasing artists in Evanston and the world. Learn more at 1100florence.com or reach out to Lisa at 1100florencegallery@gmail.com