EVIDENCE OF AGING. New work by Marydorsey Wanless opens in Gallery 115.

EVIDENCE OF AGING
New work by Marydorsey Wanless
February 17 - March 18, 2011



About Marydorsey Wanless: 
Marydorsey Wanless is an artist and educator living in Topeka, Kansas. She is an assistant professor in photography at Washburn University Art Department, where she has taught  since 1998. She works in all types of photography, including black/white darkroom and digital, but specializes in historical alternative processes. She is currently working with tintypes and gum bichromates. 

Her work has won many awards and has been shown regionally, nationally and internationally, including the Grand Prize for SoHo Gallery’s “Krappy Kamera” International Exhibition. She is a member of Society of Photographic Educators, Women in Photography International, and the F295 Group of Alternative Photography.

BS Art Education, University of Missouri Columbia, 1971
MA Interior Design, University of Missouri Columbia, 1973
MFA Photography, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 2009


Artist Statement:


My work is about aging. My imagery uses the human body, our place of existence, to document the process. "Aging" is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. In humans, it refers to physical, psychological and social changes. 


In the United States more than any other country, we "baby boomers" refuse to grow old. We are a generation of youth, Pepsi, Mustang convertibles, mini skirts, and the Beatles. We make changes with plastic surgery, facelifts, body lifts, lipo-suction, silicone, chemical skin sanding, Botox, makeup, hormones, etc; but these can only prolong the inevitable. We are afraid to grow old; we are not at peace with ourselves. We are not accepting of our own bodies as they mature and begin to decay. We have an actual crisis in looking at ourselves. 


This work is an exploration of my aging. In making images of my aging body, I was forced to look at myself, and as a result, I am embracing the process through which my body is passing. I as a viewer am also able to rethink the experience of aging through this body of work. 


Images of the exhibition in Gallery 115:

Marydorsey Wanless. Wrinkle Free. (Series). Tintype.

Marydorsey Wanless. Wrinkle Free. (Series). Tintype.

Marydorsey Wanless. Wrinkle Free. (Series). Tintype.

                                  

Marydorsey Wanless. Renewal. (Series). Tintype.

 

 

UCM Gallery of Art and Design Hosts Three New Exhibits

The Gallery of Art and Design at the University of Central Missouri will host three new exhibits opening Feb. 24.

Janet Bonsall will present a photography exhibit titled “A Quest for Beauty and Benches” in the Main Gallery. As a student of photography, she became interested in the design and purpose of benches in public places as she traveled throughout the world. According to Bonsall, benches are a place to seek solitude—a private domain in a public area.

Dr. Janet Bonsall - Bench. West Oregon. Haystack. 

A native of Morgantown, W. Va., Bonsall is a professor of photography at UCM. She is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Photography in Rochester, N.Y. with a degree in professional photography. She attended the Polytechnic of Central London during her junior year. She received a master’s degree and doctorate in technology education from West Virginia University.

Yvonne Wakabayashi will present an exhibit of textiles created using the ancient Japanese process of arashi shibori in the Outer Gallery. Using silk produced in a small family mill in Japan, she crafts sculptural forms that allow her to craft pleats into wall pieces and art wear. She seeks to explore the possibilities of shibori will combining it with western aesthetics, all the while respecting

Wakabayashi’s piece “Sea Anemone” was selected as Best of Show in the international juried textile exhibition at the UCM Gallery of Art and Design during summer 2010. Wakabayashi is a native of Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Yvonne Wakabayashi - Marine Protozoa. (Installation Detail)

Photographer Marydorsey Wanless’ exhibit, “Evidence of Aging,” will be on exhibit in Gallery 115. She examines her own aging process, using photographs as a method of collecting evidence. Her own brief experience with dependency following an accident led her to begin examining what she defines as an individualized process and to contemplate the legacy she will leave.

Marydorsey Wanless. Epiphany 3. Tintype

All three exhibits will be open to the public, free of charge, through March 18. An opening reception is planned for 4-6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, when Bonsall will be available to meet with gallery visitors and discuss her work.

UCM Gallery of Art & Design Opens Three New Exhibitions

The University of Central Missouri’s Gallery of Art and Design will host three upcoming exhibits opening Jan.13 in all three of the gallery’s exhibit areas.

“Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!!” presents an underwater wonderland for kids of all ages in the Main Gallery. The exhibit precedes the upcoming Performing Arts Series presentation of “Whoop Dee Doo!” the interactive performance art presentation planned for Feb. 5 in the Art Center Gallery.

“Whoop Dee Doo!” is a kid-friendly faux public access television show featuring pre-planned performances accompanied by live audience participation. The gallery exhibit, “Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!!” gives kids a preview of the of the Feb. 5 event by allowing them to submerge themselves in an exhibit of seaweed, snorkels, manatees, mermaids, inner tubes, faucets, slip-n-slides, whales and all things nautical. Composed of various viewing rooms, the exhibit will present videos of past “Whoop Dee Doo!” productions. The exhibit is available through Feb. 18

Opening in the Outer Gallery is “Next Stop,” and exhibit of new work by artist and illustrator Mark Bischel. The charcoal drawings focus on the internal dialogue of our lives played out against the dialogue of the city. A graduate of UCM, Bischel resides in New York City, where he recently completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at the School of the Visual Arts. He has lectured at the Kansas City Art Institute, the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and currently teaches drawing at the School of the Visual Arts.

Bischel will present a lecture on his work at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, in the Outer Gallery. The exhibit is available through Feb. 18.

 “Where It’s At,” an exhibit of new work by Phil “Sike Style” Shafer, curated by UCM art history major Justine Harris, opens in Gallery 115. Brooklyn-born, Shafer launched his career in the medium of photography while a high school student in Kansas City, Mo., He attended the Kansas City Art Institute, majoring in photography and digital media. Upon graduation, he accepted a job as a graphic designer, and his success in designing and selling t-shirts for Kansas City area hip-hop artists eventually led to the launch of his own clothing line, Sikenomics, with designs reflecting his fine arts background. Instead of a collection of works hanging in a gallery, Shafer opts for a cotton-blend canvas with a hole for the neck and two sleeves.

A special performance and party by Shafer and Friends is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, in Gallery 115. The exhibit is available through Feb. 11.

The UCM Gallery of Art and Design is open to the public, free of charge, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Groups are welcome. To learn more about the UCM Gallery of Art and Design, including upcoming exhibits, contact the gallery staff at 660-543-4498.