Super Natural PEGGY JOHNSTON & VERA SCEKIC

LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (STREET LEVEL)

Peggy Johnston

Artist Statement

My love of paper made it almost inevitable that I would discover the book arts. Since crafting my first books 30 years ago, I have explored bookmaking as an art as well as a craft.

I love to be surprised by my work (and usually am). Often, materials that I have collected inspire a piece. What would happen if I sewed a few hundred slide mounts together? How about coffee filters or heat warped polyester? Pine needles? Beads? Bicycle spokes? I just need to find out.

I don’t always know what is going to happen when I start a work. As often as not, an organic form emerges. I often say that I am not in control of my art. It controls me. I name my forms after they are completed, frequently flipping through a pictorial dictionary until I spot something that resembles the sculpture. Other times, I make up faux Latin names.

About Peggy Johnston (Artist Bio)

I graduated from the University of Wyoming with a double degree in Art and Education. Since then, I have continued my studies in painting, printing and the book arts. I’ve taught book art workshops in Oregon, Colorado, Wyoming, Connecticut, and Iowa, and have studied with leading book artists across the nation.

Locally, I’m a busy artist. In addition to my own work, I teach at the Des Moines Art Center. I have also taught in the public schools as a visiting artist, working with k-12 students. Other opportunities have allowed me to teach at the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University, Simpson College, Central College, and Drake University. Occasionally, I speak to local groups about my work and the book arts, and conduct seminars for graphic designers and art directors.

I was instrumental in the founding of The Prairie Book Collaborative, a group dedicated to the book in all its forms. The group produced three books before disbanding in 2012. (A copy of each one is held in the special collections at the University of Iowa library.) My work is in public and private collections nationally and internationally. I frequently exhibit my work in local and national exhibitions. To date, my work is included in twelve special collections around the country, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Visit Waveland Studio for more info about Peggy Johnston.

Vera Scekic

Artist Statement

“For the first time in all time a living creature understands its origin and can undertake to design its future.”

-Robert Sinsheimer, as quoted in A Crack in Creation

My art practice originates from an abiding interest in the life sciences and an ethos that combines chance occurrences with a systematic approach. It is an analog response to recent developments (such as CRISPR) that have enabled alterations to mammalian genomes and
raised profound questions about human identity. Adopting the cell—life’s building block—as metaphor and armature, I treat paint as if it were an organism, exploring its material, chromatic  and formal properties through a biological lens.

I generate membranes of paint by mixing it with various thinning agents and pouring the viscous fluid on polyester and ceramic substrates. When dry, the membranes are peeled, cut, spliced, layered, abraded and adhered to wood and canvas, producing naturally unnatural
hybrid forms that merge the manufactured and organic.

The process of creating the paint skins is repeated—frequently on top of existing pours—to mimic the cycle of growth, repair and degeneration. Gravity is the sole constant in the production process, underscoring the centrality of entropy and the tension inherent in a living system’s efforts to keep it at bay. Phagocytosis also comes into play as paint skins from earlier (disassembled) works are recycled and integrated into new cells. Framing the tattered, abraded and misshapen cells within “perfect” circles and rectangles magnifies the relationship between precision and irregularity, which animates all my projects.

The methodology guiding each work is time-intensive and multi-step, incorporating at certain stages the “gestures” of the lab while inviting extended inquiry into the nature of paint. The surface is a record of my negotiations between opacity and translucency, flatness and
dimensionality, expansion and containment, chance and control. At the project’s core lies my argument: that painting remains relevant in a digital era, and its ability to reflect essential questions about human experience and identity endures.

About Vera Scekic (Artist Bio)

Vera Scekic lives and works in Racine, Wisconsin. She has exhibited her paintings, drawings and installations at art centers, galleries and museums throughout the U.S. Recent solo and small group exhibitions include: Art Reflects Science (Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL), Twilight (Fitton Center, Hamilton, OH), Naturally Unnatural (Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI) and Polymorphous Microtecture (Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL.) Scekic is a founding member of ArtRoot, a grassroots initiative to revitalize the city of Racine by building arts infrastructure, fostering connections and facilitating collaborations. Scekic is also the co-
founder and director of OS Projects, a contemporary art gallery located in downtown Racine.

Visit Vera Scekic’s website for more information.