MFA
I will be moving to San Francisco in August to pursue a MFA in printmaking from the California College of the Arts.
Show @ Chicago Art Department
In honor of Abraham Lincoln's 200th Birthday this February, the Chicago Art Department will feature 200 portraits of Honest Abe in a variety of mediums. In Lincoln's spirit of equality and diversity this exhibition is about participation. An open call was made to artists and non-artists alike to submit their portraits of Abraham Lincoln. Although the exhibition opens a day after Lincoln’s birthday (Friday, February 13th), the opening promises to be a Lincoln birthday party - with cake!
Prints
I have a small batch of prints available at keepcalmgallery.com
Show at Montclair State University
Continuum : Studio Montclair Annual Exhibition
March 8 - April 11, 2009
Juror: Patterson Simms, Director, Montclair Art Museum
Studio Montclair, Inc. a regional association of professional visual artists in NJ will host their 12th Annual National Juried Exhibition.
March 8 - April 11, 2009
Juror: Patterson Simms, Director, Montclair Art Museum
Studio Montclair, Inc. a regional association of professional visual artists in NJ will host their 12th Annual National Juried Exhibition.
Show at ARC Gallery
1/7/2009 to 1/31/2009
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, January 9, 6-9 pm
Juried by Mary Jane Jacob, Professor and Executive Director of Exhibitions at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. "Money, Money, Money" is an exhibition of contemporary artwork that addresses personal, political, and economic issues pertaining to the cultural currency of money. In today's political climate, how does money move, change, and affect both nations and/or individuals? The effects of economic issues on national decisions, the effect of a global economy on the individual, the individual artist's relationship to the economy, and the aesthetic value of currency are some aspects that the artist is asked to contemplate.
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, January 9, 6-9 pm
Juried by Mary Jane Jacob, Professor and Executive Director of Exhibitions at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. "Money, Money, Money" is an exhibition of contemporary artwork that addresses personal, political, and economic issues pertaining to the cultural currency of money. In today's political climate, how does money move, change, and affect both nations and/or individuals? The effects of economic issues on national decisions, the effect of a global economy on the individual, the individual artist's relationship to the economy, and the aesthetic value of currency are some aspects that the artist is asked to contemplate.
Interview with What to Wear During An Orange Alert
There has always been an artful nature behind the way humans choose to translate the sounds they make into a visual form. The alphabet, no matter the language, is the connection of symbol and sound, and it is a beautiful sight. It is the artist's job to take the symbols and images of the world and filter them through their eye, mind, and hand. In a similar fashion, the writer takes these symbols and sounds and combines them in such a way as to explain their thoughts and experiences. It is symbols that tie all art forms together, and ties the artist to the world.
Chicago artist Rachel E. Foster utilizes symbols, specifically letters, to make little artistic statements. At times humorous and at times thought provoking, her work ranges from found playing cards, to a cut-up Bible passages, to ghosts, to blessed dots. Regardless of the statement, her work is always through provoking and extremely clever. What to us is a figure of speech takes on a whole new meaning in Rachel's hand. A graduate of Columbia College, Rachel's work has been shown in several local galleries, but last year she had the honor of traveling to Tokyo and working with the Machida City Museum.
Recently, Rachel was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.
Orange Alert (OA): How would you describe your work?
Rachel E. Foster (RF): I think that all art concerns itself with trying to find a way to show the unseen. Most artists apply that mantra a little more abstractly than me. I’m a literal kinda girl so I literally like to take something intangible and make it tangible.
OA: First of all let me tell you that of what I have seen of your work "99 Problems" is my favorite piece. Why that song and that lyric?
RF: I’m glad you like it. I picked that lyric simply because I thought it would be funny surrounded by a nice, floral border. I want to learn to embroider so I can make a series of gangsta rap lyrics embroidered on pillows.
OA: I also enjoy your emoticons series. This seems to be a common them in some of your work, modern media and communication in the context of an ancient medium. Is that where emoticons is coming from?
RF: I’m attracted to language because it is some thing that is both seen and unseen. You can diagram it, analyze it, record it, etc. While at the same time its constantly flowing, changing, and growing. The emoticons amuse me because you’re taking some pretty complex ideas, like love, and reducing it to its simplest form.
OA: Your scientific proof of Karma is a fascinating study. Attitude affects outcome, and not outcome affecting attitude. Why gambling, though?
RF: To give a monetary value to the idea of karma. It becomes pretty mathematical, one week of shitty behavior costs X amount of money. Plus, I think most people don’t care about things unless it effects their wallets.
OA: Last year you spent some time in Tokyo. Did your time there influence your work in any way?
RF: Japanese culture is one of the most amazing things I have witnessed. There’s simplicity, a desire for connection, and humility to everything they do. In my more optimistic moments, I like to think of my work as containing some of these things.
I strive to make Asian art even though in no way does my work physically resemble Asian art.
OA: What's next for Rachel E. Foster?
RF: Oh man, I don’t know. (Smiley emoticon). Hopefully grad school.
Chicago artist Rachel E. Foster utilizes symbols, specifically letters, to make little artistic statements. At times humorous and at times thought provoking, her work ranges from found playing cards, to a cut-up Bible passages, to ghosts, to blessed dots. Regardless of the statement, her work is always through provoking and extremely clever. What to us is a figure of speech takes on a whole new meaning in Rachel's hand. A graduate of Columbia College, Rachel's work has been shown in several local galleries, but last year she had the honor of traveling to Tokyo and working with the Machida City Museum.
Recently, Rachel was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.
Orange Alert (OA): How would you describe your work?
Rachel E. Foster (RF): I think that all art concerns itself with trying to find a way to show the unseen. Most artists apply that mantra a little more abstractly than me. I’m a literal kinda girl so I literally like to take something intangible and make it tangible.
OA: First of all let me tell you that of what I have seen of your work "99 Problems" is my favorite piece. Why that song and that lyric?
RF: I’m glad you like it. I picked that lyric simply because I thought it would be funny surrounded by a nice, floral border. I want to learn to embroider so I can make a series of gangsta rap lyrics embroidered on pillows.
OA: I also enjoy your emoticons series. This seems to be a common them in some of your work, modern media and communication in the context of an ancient medium. Is that where emoticons is coming from?
RF: I’m attracted to language because it is some thing that is both seen and unseen. You can diagram it, analyze it, record it, etc. While at the same time its constantly flowing, changing, and growing. The emoticons amuse me because you’re taking some pretty complex ideas, like love, and reducing it to its simplest form.
OA: Your scientific proof of Karma is a fascinating study. Attitude affects outcome, and not outcome affecting attitude. Why gambling, though?
RF: To give a monetary value to the idea of karma. It becomes pretty mathematical, one week of shitty behavior costs X amount of money. Plus, I think most people don’t care about things unless it effects their wallets.
OA: Last year you spent some time in Tokyo. Did your time there influence your work in any way?
RF: Japanese culture is one of the most amazing things I have witnessed. There’s simplicity, a desire for connection, and humility to everything they do. In my more optimistic moments, I like to think of my work as containing some of these things.
I strive to make Asian art even though in no way does my work physically resemble Asian art.
OA: What's next for Rachel E. Foster?
RF: Oh man, I don’t know. (Smiley emoticon). Hopefully grad school.
FlatFile Gallery Show
February 29 - April 11, 2008
TEXTUALLY SPEAKING showcases guest curator Andrew Thomas’s keen curatorial eye. Thomas has gathered together four artists who create text-based art, and blended them into a remarkably unified exhibition. Nate Larson, www.natelarson.com, writes with smoke and typewriter text in his wonderfully cryptic new work. FLATFILE artist Monika Wulfers, www.monikawulfers.com, pieces use crisply etched block lettering in mirror as a medium to tell a story from her memory. Rachel Foster explores the strange phrases of a variety of signage and directives to create tongue-in-cheek statements, and Steve Panella www.stevepanella.com, physically uses books and other printed matter to create both 2D and 3D art. All four artists live and work in Chicago home.
TEXTUALLY SPEAKING showcases guest curator Andrew Thomas’s keen curatorial eye. Thomas has gathered together four artists who create text-based art, and blended them into a remarkably unified exhibition. Nate Larson, www.natelarson.com, writes with smoke and typewriter text in his wonderfully cryptic new work. FLATFILE artist Monika Wulfers, www.monikawulfers.com, pieces use crisply etched block lettering in mirror as a medium to tell a story from her memory. Rachel Foster explores the strange phrases of a variety of signage and directives to create tongue-in-cheek statements, and Steve Panella www.stevepanella.com, physically uses books and other printed matter to create both 2D and 3D art. All four artists live and work in Chicago home.
