TAWNI SHULER
We are pleased to present the works of new visiting faculty member, Tawni Shuler, in this exhibition that exposes her works of the past few years along with works completed while at UVU. A graduate with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Arizona State University, and a native of Wyoming, Shuler brings a concern for connection with earth-place in her works. Having been raised with the rigors and unique experiences of farm life in Wyoming, Shuler combines her sense of aesthetic responsiveness with the life and death, dirt and skin experiences of her upbringing. She chooses to call this exhibit Ecotone and offers this definition: Ecotone: the place where forest meets meadow, desert touches river. It’s the frontier where communities of humankind and wild animals touch each other. It’s that shaky space between who we are and who we appear to be, the gap between reality and mystery, the certain and the imagined. - Joanne Smith from What Wildness is This. Shuler’s work ranges in size from small to enormous and will occupy two of the galleries in the museum. Her work carries a curious luminosity. While virtually non-objective, she nonetheless acknowledges Caravagio and Turner as sources of inspiration.
after vermont
KELLY LARSEN
In the summer of 2009, Larsen received a part fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. He spent thirty days in a large studio participating with other Studio Center fellows in figure explorations, and, as he says, “an explosion of conversation with other residents that included artists and writers of all genre.” The award of such a prestigious fellowship is a landmark in an artist’s career.
The “paintings” of Larsen are long in development as layer after layer of paint juxtaposes thick pouring of paint along with the most ephemeral glazes, transparencies, and translucent passages. Some of the images may be considered non-objective. In others, he integrates contour drawings or partially modeled figures, as he deems necessary to achieve the desired state of being of the work. The paintings in this exhibition demonstrate the range of possibilities that Larsen seeks to integrate. Some of the works evolve around Sheile-like figures, and others remain pure material interactions. A UVU graduate, we are pleased to present the of one of our alumni well on his way to recognition in the professional arena.
