First Friday Reception: An Exhibition on FIRE

October 6 – November 25, 2023

First Friday Reception October 6, 6-8pm

First Friday Gallery Walk, November 3, 6-8pm

Artists featured:

Annie Bissett, Providence, RI

Shawn Bitters, Lawrence, KS

Patrick Casey, Lincoln, NE

Bernice Ficek-Swensen, Golden Valley, MN

Karen Kunc, Lincoln, NE

The topic of FIRE is sensitive and powerful in light of the everyday news of natural or human caused disasters.  Fire with its heat and energy is a necessity of life on earth, useful and dangerous. These exhibiting artists intend to capture the essence of this element and its volatile shifting visual qualities in their art, suggesting layers of meaning and associations. The artworks depict captured moments of material consumption, a reverence for presence/absence/memory, and offer reference to various rituals and fantasies across culture, science, history.

Annie Bissett was a freelance digital illustrator, working with National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, Time-Life. She studied with woodblock artist Matt Brown and then began printmaking full time. Her mokuhanga (watercolor woodblock prints) are in collections including: New York Public Library, Yale University Art Gallery, Portland Museum of Art in Maine.

https://anniebissett.com/home.html

Shawn Bitters received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is associate professor in The University of Kansas Visual Art Department. Solo shows include: Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York, NY; Swarm Gallery, Oakland, CA; Open Spaces KC, Kansas City; Springfield Museum of Art, MO; and The Hall of Awa Handmade Japanese Paper and Museum in Japan.

https://shawnbitters.com/home.html

Patrick Casey is an artist-in-residence at the Lux Art Center.  He received his MFA from University of Iowa, and BFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston.  His work has been exhibited in the International Print Center New York, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY, and Metro Community College Gallery, Elkhorn.

https://patrickcasey.net/

Bernice Ficek-Swenson is Professor Emerita at University of Wisconsin-River Falls.  Her practice spans photography, printmaking, book arts and installation. Her work is in collections including: the Museum of Contemporary Photography @ Columbia Chicago, Minneapolis Institute of Art, the University of Vera Cruz -Xalapa, Mexico and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN.

https://berniceficekswenson.com/

Karen Kunc is Professor Emerita of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and owner/director of Constellation Studios. Her works have been shown widely and are held in numerous collections including: Museum of Modern Art NYC; the Library of Congress; the Milwaukee Art Museum; American Art Museum Smithsonian; Stanford University; Jyväskylä Art Museum, Finland.

http://www.karen-kunc.com