CMA Gallery - Mandorla in Pieces
Opening Reception March 2nd, 5-7 pm
CMA Gallery at Mount Saint Mary College
"Mandorla in Pieces"
March 2nd - May 26th |
Joan Ffolliott and Charles Purvis approach their art from different disciplines. Joan is a sculptor, master printmaker, and educator. Charles is a photographer working primarily with analog film and collage. They meet with a shared passion for the materiality of their processes. It's a highly generative space of overlap and interaction that incorporates the skills, disciplines, and experiences of both artists.
For collaboration to flourish it requires the artists to fully participate and, at the same time, relinquish control and outcome. Joan and Charles use several different methodologies to approach this seeming contradiction. They range from working side-by-side with identical photographic images, to handing over partially completed works for the other to bring to completion. This form of letting go has resulted in exciting works and unforeseen ways of working that has greatly expanded their individual and collective artistic expressions, use of materials, and possibilities.
Joan Ffolliott
Joan began her formal artistic training at the University of Washington studying sculpture and printmaking. She went on to earn her MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design where for 10 years she taught sculpture, foundation studies, and other disciplines.
Joan consistently focuses on the exploration of materials, processes, and images and how all three influence and affect each other and the viewers' perceptions. She usually begins a series with a formal or conceptual problem and then lets the give and take of the process inform the final outcome.
Joan has exhibited her work in numerous group shows, both juried and invitational, around the country and was the recipient of the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. She is currently a member of the faculty at SUNY Ulster Community College and the Woodstock School of Art. Joan lives and works in Malden-on-Hudson, New York.
Charles Purvis
From 1985 through 2006, Charles Purvis was one of the top studio photographers in New York City. In addition to commercial assignments, Charles has created a large body of innovative art inspired by a relentless curiosity and desire to uncover the creative potential of the photograph.
Charles' images are not primarily concerned with a literal or symbolic reading of the object. Much of the work references the materiality of the traditional medium and the plasticity of the digital as performative objects integrated into the structure and meaning of the image. The intent is to evolve the image away from literal representation and evolve the viewers' relationship with the image beyond one of accepting what is offered as a representation of reality.
In addition to their individual work, Joan and Charles frequently collaborate in a unique process of co-creating combining print, painting, collage, and photography.