Recent works by Susan Zurbrigg, assistant professor of art at James Madison University will go on display Monday, Mar. 12, in the art gallery at Eastern Mennonite University.
A reception for the artist will be held 7-8:30 p.m. Mar. 12 in the gallery on third floor of EMU’s Hartzler Library.
“Untitled,” oil on wood by Susan Zurbrigg The exhibit will feature recent sculptures and paintings created with the support of a JMU Faculty Research grant to Helsinki, Finland.
Zurbrigg grew up in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago and received her BA in painting from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY and an MFA from Indiana University at Bloomington.
Before joining the JMU faculty in 2000, she taught painting and drawing at Grinnell College in Iowa and Calumet College in Indiana.
During her time in Finland in 2005, the artist was intrigued by exhibits at the Helsinki Design Museum that prompted her to explore three-dimensional form and a “decorative interrelationship to space, gesture, color and nostalgia” in her work.
“I’ve always have a natural bridging beteween my painting and sculpture,” Zurbrigg said. “My recent work includes mid-scale abstract oil paintings, acrylic-graphite paper collage and clay, cloth, string and yarn sculpture installation.
Regardless of the media employed, Zurbrigg seeks to “reveal acultural struggle between ‘handmade’ and ‘manmade’ and the conflict between personal craft and disposable mass consumption.”
Recent exhibitions include the Haas Gallery at Bloomsburg (PA) University, The Miller Gallery at Bridgewater (VA) College and the RKL Gallery in New York City.
The exhibit will be open for browsing daily during regular library hours through Apr. 5. Admission is free.
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Hartzler Library Hours
Mon.-Thur. 7:45 a.m.-11 p.m.
Fri. 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sun. 2 p.m.-11 p.m.