Maria’s Cellular Expressions exhibition of 160 drawings opened on February 7th. A very interested crowd of people attended the reception including local artist and legend Tom Forestall and his son and artist Frank Forestall. Snapd Dartmouth photographer Amelia Cruddas whose photographs will be published in the next Snapd Issue attended as well.
With the help of my volunteers Kristina, Hannah, Angele, Christine and my husband Scott we managed to install this exhibition of 160 drawings in only a day and a half at the Craig Gallery in Dartmouth, NS.
Thank you to the Craig Gallery staff, Lee Cripps and the Exhibition selection committee for giving me this opportunity. It’s been a long time in the works and I am so happy that the show turned out far beyond my own expectations. Thank you to all my helpers and supporters. The exhibition will be up until March 3rd, 2019.
Maria Doering & Fiona Chinkan will be exhibiting the culmination of their month long artist residency at the Arts Council of Princeton at the Taplin Gallery in Princeton, NJ from May 6th, 2017 until June 10th, 2017. The artist duo will be holding an artist talk at 2pm on May 6th, followed by the opening reception from 3pm – 5pm.
For more information about the Shared Energies project, please visit here.
Shared Energies: Cells, Stars and the Fluidity Between is a collaborative residency project between New York City-based artist Fiona Chinkan and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based artist Maria Doering. Having known each other for more than 14 years, Fiona and Maria will be reunited in the studio to continue work on their collaborative drawing project in the Taplin Gallery between April 7th and May 7th, 2017.
The two women have collaborated through different approaches over many years beginning with their first co-curated exhibit in 2006, titled Retrospective on Intimacy, in New Jersey and Connecticut. Shortly after, Maria moved to Canada and they continued to collaborate by mailing their drawings back and forth between New York City and Dartmouth. This ever-expanding body of work grew into the Shared Energies project, which was first exhibited during their studio residency stay in 2016 at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts in Inverness, Nova Scotia.
During their spring 2017 Anne Reeves Residency, Fiona and Maria will be elaborating on an artistic conversation, merging and reacting to both of their notions of space. Fiona interprets imagery of outer space while Maria explores the inner space of the human body. Their work juxtaposes the formation of star systems with human cellular structures while laying in emotional complexities. Their unique styles intertwine and merge in an unexpected explosion of energy through pen and ink on paper. They either draw simultaneously on the same sheet or both artists begin a drawing separately and then switch to continue working on the other’s drawing. The Taplin Gallery will be turned into their studio space where the artist duo will continue to push their explorations to large scale drawings and three dimensional installations.
Anyone is welcome to stop by the Taplin Gallery and visit the artists during their stay. Fiona and Maria are looking forward to sharing their process and progress with the community.
To follow along their progress during the residency online, please visit the artists on Instagram at @mariadoering or @fionac.nyc
Artistic Collaborations 101: Saturday, April 22, 1-4pm
In this workshop, we will introduce participants to the idea of artistic collaboration, why it is valuable, and the different approaches artists can take when working together. We will share our own methods, as well as other ways we have seen artist teams collaborate. During the workshop participants are paired up and challenged to work on a project together in one of the many approaches. It is a fun event that people with and without experience can enjoy. All individuals need to bring is their favorite “making” materials (pencils, watercolors, yarn, etc…) and an open mind. It is a fun way to connect with other artists or take an interesting workshop with their favorite art buddy! Supplies included. More info and registration here!
Sketchbook Collaborations: Saturday, April 29, 1-4pm
In this workshop, we dive deep into the idea of sketchbook sharing with another artist and introduce the class to different methods of sketchbook collaboration. We will also explore how this method works when artist teams live close together versus living long distances from one another. Participants are paired up to start working together in small folio sketchbooks while expressing their own ideas and reacting to each other´s styles. This workshop is for individuals as well as students who would like to take a workshop with their art buddies. More info and registration here!
FIONA CHINKAN & MARIA DOERING
Studio Residency from May 28th – June 4th, 2016
At The Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The Inverness County Centre for the Arts is pleased to present: Shared Energies: Cells, Stars and the Fluidity Between, a collaborative residency project between New York City based artist Fiona Chinkan and Dartmouth, NS based artist Maria Doering. Having known each other for over 12 years, Fiona and Maria are reunited in the studio for the first time since 2007 to work on a large format collaborative drawing project in the spacious studio space at the I.C.C.A. between May 28th and June 4th, 2016.
The two women have collaborated through different approaches over the years, and have exhibited work together in New Jersey and Connecticut under the show title Retrospective on Intimacy. During their stay at the I.C.C.A., they will be continuing a drawing collaboration that began two years ago and has continued through mailing their drawings back and forth between New York City and Dartmouth. Maria and Fiona will be elaborating on an artistic conversation, merging and reacting to both of their notions of space. Fiona interprets imagery of outer space while Maria explores the inner space of the human body. Their work juxtaposes the formation of star systems with human cellular structures while laying in emotional complexities. Their unique styles intertwine and merge in an unexpected explosion of energy through pen and ink on paper. The artist duo will take this energy and push their explorations to larger scale during their residency stay in Inverness.
During their stay they will be offering a series of workshops at the I.C.C.A. around the idea of artist collaborations and are excited to share their experience and energy with anyone interested. Please find details below.
Everyone is welcome to stop by the studio and say hello. The best time to see much of the weeks progress will be during their open studio event on Friday, June 3rd, from 6-8pm.
