The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts welcomes Corvallis-based artist Joan Truckenbrod for her exhibition, “the flow of woven light” in the Upstairs Gallery. Truckenbrod will exhibit two new series – seven digital tapestries and six limited-edition lithographs. Truckenbrod will participate in an artist interview with Oregon State University professor Kirsi Peltomaki at 1:30 p.m. during the June 1 reception, set for 1 to 6 p.m. An OCCA members-and docents-only artist talk is set for 3 p.m. Thursday, May 2.
A professor emeritus from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Department of Technology), Truckenbrod is recognized as a pioneering digital media artist with works internationally represented in museum collections, exhibitions and publications.
“I am inspired by visible and invisible traces of light waves,” she writes. “This exhibition pairs my early coded algorithmic drawings with my current digital weavings embodying the ephemeral trajectories of light. As particles of light move through nature, shadowing and reflecting off of surfaces, and distorting as they undulate through water, these tapestries entangle the image on the screen with the physical realm.”
“The goal of these tapestries is to be a catalyst, transforming the viewer into a caretaker and guardian of the natural world. The work is inspired by the rock image ‘She Who Watches” along the Columbia River – recreated in sculpture and jewelry by Lillian Pitt.”
“Precarious Sheltery,” the second body of work in Truckenbrod’s exhibit, is a series of lithographs that address issues of shelter and homelessness. The series, created in partnership with master printer Mark Mahaffey in Portland, includes imagery of houses filled with bubbles with contrasting marks implying layers of hidden analytical information behind the bubble geometry inside.
Truckenbrod received her master’s degree in fine art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her master of arts degree from Northern Illinois University. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the State of Illinois Museum, and South Dakota State University, among other institutions.
Her work was included in the recently completed exhibition, “Programmed: Rules, Codes and Choreographies in Art,” at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York City, which also recently acquired four of her coded algorithmic drawings. As part of the same exhibition, Truckenbrod was interviewed on National Public Radio’s Science Friday. She was the recipient of the 2015 Media Arts Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission.
She is also the operator of the Joan Truckenbrod Gallery in Corvallis, which shows the artist’s work in video sculpture, digital painting, fiber art and coded algorithmic artwork.
“Exhibiting my work is essential for me to consider and evaluate my progress,” writes Truckenbrod. “I particularly value the reactions of a broad audience of people that are attracted to Newport in the summer months. I hope that my artwork adds to and expands their experience of delight and joy at ‘the beach,’ while simultaneously challenging them.
Further background can be found on her website at joantruckenbrod.com.