SHARED ENERGIES: CELLS, STARS AND THE FLUIDITY BETWEEN
Fiona Chinkan & Maria Doering
Spring 2017 Anne Reeves Artists-in-Residence

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

The artist duo will offer two workshops:

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!