January 8 - February 26, 2010
November 6 - December 30, 2009
Kathleen Waterloo is considered one of Chicago’s most prolific encaustic artists. Waterloo’s encaustic paintings are inspired by and infused with an architectural vernacular, which can be linked back to her twenty-year career in Interior Architecture. A perfected technique of the encaustic medium is evident in Waterloo’s abstracted geometric forms embedded in layer upon layer of the thick wax, which are partially transparent yet powerfully expressed by the drips and irregularities of the vibrantly painted colors. She uses this powerful language in map questto explore the directional journey from her studio address to two dozen major art museums in the United States. Cleverly expounding on the internet resource mapquest, the impetus for the show’s inspiration, Waterloo transforms the networks of winding pathways into more than a representation of travel, but an experience in itself. In her exciting new work she fuses neon lighting with select encaustic pieces.
Waterloo has exhibited in England, Italy, Singapore and Spain. She has also exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center for Art Futura, curated by James Rondeau from the Art Institute, in addition to being in the Fort Wayne Museum of Art Biennial. Waterloo’s work is included in their collections among numerous other private and corporate collections
Julie Karabenick is intrigued and inspired by the expressive power of simple geometric shapes. From the stability and symmetry of the grid, Karabenick creates compositions that are both asymmetrical and dynamically balanced. In just around the block, her paintings are filled with tension and movement as the colored squares seem to re-cluster themselves into various shapes and networks on the canvas. Karabenick says of her work, “A precarious and shifting order prevails, but its rules remain elusive.”
Karabenick has exhibited her work widely throughout the Midwest and the East Coast. She has also curated exhibitions in New York and Philadelphia, and since 2005, is the editor of an online scholarly project called Geoform. Karabenick’s work is found in many private collections as well as in the American Embassy, Tbilisi, Georgia. She lives in Ann Arbor, MI.
