Colors

Our fourth Art competition “Colors” started in January 2021 and concluded on February 18, 2021. Art Room Gallery received entries from many countries around the world: USA, Germany, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil, China, Poland, Slovenia, Japan, France, Philippines, Kuwait, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, Mexico, Finland, Austria, South Korea, Russia, Romania, Israel, Greece, United Kingdom and Switzerland. The Colors theme in this competition included a diversity in types, styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, photography, mixed media, digital, installation, steel, wire mesh, fiber, graphite, colored pencil, fused glass). The following evaluation criteria has been used for judging the artwork: creativity, interpretation of the theme, originality and quality of art, overall design, demonstration of artistic ability, and usage of medium. Jury decided to select 157 artworks for inclusion in the exhibition. Aside from First, Second, and Third place Jury also presented Merit awards and Honorable Mention awards.

Thank you, and enjoy the exhibition!

First place

Statement:

Marisa graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2011 with a Bachelor in Two- Dimensional Art with a minor in Italian Renaissance Art History. In 2013, she received her Post-Bacclaureate degree at SACI (Studio Arts College International) in Florence, Italy with an emphasis in Painting and Art Conservation/Restoration. In 2018, she graduated with her Master of Fine Art in studio art with an emphasis in painting at The University of Mississippi. Falling in love with teaching during her tenure there, she is pursuing a career in teaching painting full time. With an interest in portraiture, Marisa continues to search to combine aspects of people that are visible as well as hidden away from society. She works in themes of revealing and concealing parts of the self that compose of a person's identity. In her current body of work, she continues questioning notions related to identity and portraiture. These questions may, or may never be truly answered, but she aims to create portrait paintings that bring her one step closer to a personal resolution with each new painting.

Statement:

Hayen is an artist from South Korea, currently based in Paris. She uses oil paint, water color, ink, and photography in her works. She deals with her diverse cultural identities, as well as interprets the traditional practices of painting in modern and abstract manners. -- “Remember 0416” is an homage to the three hundred Danwon high school students who died from the South Korean Sewol ferry incident in 2014. To remember the lost lives of the students, I hand-dyed each handkerchief in yellow with turmeric, which is the color that signifies the Sewol ferry incident in South Korea. On display, the viewer can see the individuality of every victim’s life from the different tones of yellow. Each handkerchief also has an embroidery on the bottom right, with a shape that mimics the route that the Sewol ferry took just before it began sinking in the morning. -- “Falu Red” is a visual translation of Paul Klee’s writing on the act of drawing. I made a system where each line represented an alphabet. For example, one line would imply the alphabet “a,” two lines would mean “b,” three would suggest “c,” and so on. I chose to embroider on a drawing paper with red thread because red has a strong connection with the culture in Northern European countries. From the Paleolithic period until today, Falu red is a pigment that has been used in cave painting and painting barns. This long history of Falu red ties with the act of drawing as Klee suggests, how it is an exercise that people have done for ages and is an act of leaving one’s marks. Embroidering throws more attention to the amount of time that it takes to finish the work, and the close relationship built between the work and its creator.

Statement:

Born 1982. B.A. in Polish philology, M. A. in fine arts, graduated from the University of Rzeszów. Diploma with honours under the supervision of prof. Stanisław Białogłowicz. Twice scholarship holder of the Polish Minister of Science. 20 individual exhibitions, participant of more than 100 national and international collective exhibitions and plein aires. Winner of several artistic prizes, e.g. winner of "Vivivacolors Prize" 7th edition of the Prisma Art Prize, finalist King House Gallery 2020 Art Competition, Honourable Distinctions of The Jury and Special Awards by The Museum of Art in Miskolc / Hungary International Painting Triennial of Carpathian Region „Silver Quadrangle” 2012 and grand prix Artist Event „Belle Époque” Bad Gastein Austria 2012. She publishes in the literary-artistic journal „Fraza“. A member of Polish Association of Artists (ZPAP) and the editor in chief of Rzeszow ZPAP branch newsletter „Sztuka i Życie“ in years 2011-2018. Currently a PhD student at the University of Rzeszow. The author of the idea of MaMalarka“ („MamArtist“): a mother who struggles between art and everyday life. The documentary „„MamArtist/MaMalarka“ (dir. K. Mazurkiewicz) about the artist undertakes this topic using the language of film.