Virtual Exhibit
Open to view starting Saturday, September 9, 2022 through November 13, 2022
Juried art exhibition featuring recent works by our region and the nation's most talented artists. Witness recent and relevant artwork that will enlighten, inform, and entertain.
MEET THE ARTIST RECEPTION & AWARD CEREMONY
November 4, 2022 from 5-8 p.m.
Grab a drink at our lobby bar and join us for an evening of artfull conversations.
Artist Statements and Biographies
Statements and biographies are written by the individual artists and are published with their permission. The views expressed are their own. All artwork pricing is set by the artist and is non-negotiable and non-refundable. All artwork sales are by commission with Pablo Center at the Confluence. Your purchase supports ourendeavors to present quality visual arts programming that is free and open to the public. Thank you.
ARTISTS BIOS
About the Confluence of Art Annual
"This exhibit ushers in our Fifth season in the James W Hanson Gallery at Pablo Center.
Welcome to our annual juried art exhibit Confluence of Art Annual. One of the joys of this annual exhibit is the variety of mediums that are on view. Our patrons are treated to new works from some of the top artists in our region and beyond. Please be sure to read through the artistic statements and biographies of the artists on display; these words will add to the enjoyment and appreciation of the artwork and may give you further reason to purchase a work of art from Pablo Center. Who knows, it may even inspire you to take the next steps in your creative endeavor.
A special thank you goes out to all of the artists who submitted their artwork to our juror. It takes courage to create and to extend yourself out for the world to see. It takes even more courage to offer your work up to the scrutiny of a practiced and professional eye. Our juror, Susanna Gaunt, had the challenge of sifting through over 210 images to select 54 works of art that create an exhibit. Ms. Gaunt spent countless hours perusing images and selecting artwork. We thank Ms. Gaunt for her commitment to the arts."
Rose Dolan-Neill, Curator
Assitant Director of Artistic Programming
Pablo Center at the Confluence
Meet the Juror - Susanna Gaunt
ARTIST STATEMENT
Working with mediums such as drawing, photography, embroidery, and collage, I analyze the human condition through a philosophical and scientific lens. Inspired by historic European curiosity cabinets, natural history museums, and personal specimen collections, I tangle human anatomy with animal taxonomy, creating works that encourage curiosity and wonder. In recent years, my work has evolved from two-dimensional photographs to mixed-media installations. These are a coherent assembly of repeated forms designed to encourage the viewer to move in for a closer look at the details. In the work, I search for ways to impose unexpected connections between human and animal, blurring the lines between the observer and the observed: The human figure is pinned in a specimen drawer; translucent paper sculptures are reminiscent of both insect chitin and a person’s skin; human and animal details are inventoried on toe tags. The entanglement can disrupt what is known and therefore open a door to reflection.
ARTIST BIO
Susanna Gaunt has been an artist for over 30 years, transitioning from strictly photography to installation art in recent years. In addition to a BA degree in Philosophy from Boston College, she received a BFA in painting, drawing, and printmaking from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2017. Her degree culminated in Taking Stock, a solo exhibit at the Tweed Museum of Art in Duluth. In the years since, Susanna has had solo shows at Kruk Gallery at UWS in Superior, Wisconsin, MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, MN, and the Duluth Art Institute. Many of these exhibits were funded in part through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. She has also shown pieces in numerous juried exhibits including Pablo Center’s Confluence of Art Annual, in 2016 and 2021, and the DAI’s 61st and 63rd Biennials. She taught photography for 10 years at Rocky Mountain School of Photography, has given workshops in collage, photography, and sculpture at Duluth Art Institute, and has been a reviewer for the Minnesota State Arts Board and juror for multiple exhibitions in the region. She lives and works in Duluth, MN.
Interested in Purchasing a Work of ART?
Interested in a work of art exhibited in one of our virtual galleries or exhibits? It may be available for purchase.To purchase a work of art, contact Rose, our Assistant Director of Artistic Programming.
All artwork pricing is set be the artists and is non-negotiable and non-refundable. All artwork sales are by commission with Pablo Center at the Confluence. Your purchase supports our endeavors to present quality visual art programming that is free and open to the public.
2022 Confluence of Art Annual Award Winners
Best of Show RECIPIENT
"Worn by My Father" - Ellen Mahaffy
Archival Pigment, each 24 x 30 | $1795
What is loss? What is memory? How does one live their life? What do they leave behind? What is their worth? This triptych is from a larger art installation, A Life Undone. This body of work excavates artifacts from two generations of two interconnected lives within my family. In this project I will explore themes of dis(ease) within a person and our social welfare system.
My father never threw things away. Probably due to living in a rural areal, or because he grew up with influences of reuse or repurpose. His father’s red overcoat with gloves in the pockets, T–shirt while he toiled with raw lumber for future gun stocks, and a hunting vest in which he would manually fill the shells.
First Place
"Emma & Bhodi" - Jean Young
Needle & wet felted fiber, 52 X 22 X 22
Not for sale
Life size sculpture created with needle felted wool with wet felted accents and recycled fabrics. The name Emma is derived from an old Germanic word meaning whole or universal. Bhodi is a Sanskrit word meaning enlightened or wisdom. Emma is my interpretation of Mother Nature and Bhodi the fox is her spirit animal companion.
Fiber sculpture using various wool and silk that is both needle and wet felted. Recycled fabric and hand stitching.
Second Place
"Fathom" - Heidi Schreiner
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20
$450
I have a gut reaction to color and paint. Running through the store and loading up on art supplies? YES! Gorgeous art? Same. When I paint, I am looking for that same gut reaction. When I connect with other people through my art, it’s joyous. Sharing art captures that connection. I have found that when I’m surrounded by beauty, it elevates my spirit, and I want others to experience that, too.
Have you ever wanted someone to understand what you’ve been through? He looks back at us. What is he feeling?
THIRD PLACE
"The Way In" - Susan Carey
Oil and cold wax, 18 x 24
$400
In my paintings I strive to evoke a place the viewer can enter and explore while savoring the marks and texture of the surface itself. While I am inspired by land and nature, my paintings walk the line between reality and other unseen worlds.
Honorable Mentions
"Under the Bark" - Barry Grill
"Ace of Hearts" - Tracy Wiklund
"Self-Portrait with Sunflowers" - Amy Fichter
"Weather Eye: New Horizon" - Christopher Hagen
