“Misdirection," media: relief and screen monoprint with montana gold spray paint, acrylic inks, and silver leaf on paper by Nicole Schneider.
Connection between physical and psychological space
UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Artist Nicole Schneider makes her Penn State New Kensington Art Gallery debut in October with her solo exhibition “States of Mind and Matter.” The show runs from Oct. 5 to Oct. 30.
Working with relief and screen monoprints, Schneider’s art is an exploration of the connection between physical and psychological space. According to Schneider, the abstracted space depicted in her work represents a visual play-by-play of the psychological battle to “relinquish control over the creative decision-making process and to allow the process of making to dictate formal and aesthetic decisions.”
“I view my process as setting up visual 'problems' that I then have to work my way out of in order to resolve each print,” said Schneider, who has a home studio in Lakewood, Ohio.
Schneider’s art is composed of common, mass-produced materials, such as cardboard, plastic canvas, and screen mesh. They are layered to create a fabric of visual experience.
“While one may not know precisely where they have encountered a certain pattern or texture visible in my work, there is a moment of recognition and familiarity that has been reconceptualized," Schneider said. ”Each print is a compilation of decisions made by manipulating and interacting with materials, colors, shapes, and patterns.”
The pieces on exhibit, such as “Displacement of Affect” and “Simultaneous Occurrence,” feature overlapping textures that create an undercurrent of visual noise, or static, which offset larger areas of solid color.
“These visual relationships and compositions suggesting dynamic movement, visual tension, instability, depth and flatness, chaos and order, become stand-ins for psychological states of mind," Schneider said.
Schneider received her bachelor’s and master’s of fine arts degrees in printmaking from Kent State University. She was awarded an assistantship with the School of Art Galleries in graduate school.
The art gallery is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., weekdays and noon to 5 p.m., weekends. For more information, call Tina Sluss, 724-34-6056.
For photos of the exhibit, visit http://psnk.smugmug.com/