First Prize
Artist Name: Herb Appelson
Title: Random Marks
Medium: Mixed-Media
Dimensions: 19" x 19" x 0"
Year Completed: 2020
Artist Statement
Herbert Appelson was born in 1937 in New York City; studied at Brooklyn College, received his M.F.A. at the University of Wisconsin and an Ed.D. from Columbia University. Appelson specializes in printmaking and the relief technique. The graphic pieces in the exhibition, which he calls “hand threaded embossments,” are dimensional compositions in form, line, and texture. They are prints which activate the flat surface of paper and possess true sculptural qualities Appelson’s prints have been Featured in many shows including the A.A.A. and Macy Galleries in New York, the art Alliance and Woodmere Museum in Pennsylvania, and the Trenton State Museum in New Jersey. In addition, his works are represented in a number of public and private collections such as the Noyes Museum, Kansas State, Auburn, Columbia and Wisconsin Universities.
Second Prize
Artist Name: Cassandra Chalfant
Title: Objects In Space
Medium: Acrylic on panel
Dimensions: 15" x 15" x 1.5"
Year Completed: 2022
Artist Statement
Chalfant’s work delves into the ways we experience our most personal images. How do we hold them, alter them, imagine or escape them? Why do we revisit them over and over again? Largely through paintings referencing photographs, she explores her own memories, the collective memories of her family, and worlds she has created. With heavy influence from the photographic image, Chalfant’s work points to the role of image as storyteller, collector, historian, and deceiver. Through depicting Polaroids, slides, televisions, and digital images, she illustrates the change in recent history of the photographic image, and its exponential influence on our perceptions. With these images she references themes found in the works of the Romanticists such as solitude, introspection, and the relationship between humans and the environment, as well as contemporary conversations around nostalgia, mental health, and place.
Third Prize
Artist Name: Kevin Haran
Title: Core
Sequential Sample Number: 1 of 1
Medium: charcoal, ink and watercolor on Arches paper
Dimensions: 22" x 30" x 0"
Year Completed: 2022
Artist Statement
My drawings are inspired by science fiction, the military concept drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and perspective studies by Paolo Uccello. The process of combining line, watercolor and ink washes give the these imaginary drawings a sense of dimension and reality while revealing the history of the drawing.
Honorable Mention
Artist Name: Agnes Wyant
Title: 4 - 17
Sequential Sample Number: 1 of 1
Medium: walnut ink w/ dip pen on linen 'Odd Fellows' ledger paper
Dimensions: 16" x 11" x 1"
Year Completed: 2016
Artist Statement
This series of ink drawings on antique ledger (Odd Fellows) paper explores the concept of order/chaos and invites viewers' participation of this endeavor.
Honorable Mention
Artist Name: Michael Potts
Title: Rebirth
Sequential Sample Number: 1 of 1
Medium: Archival Print - Epson 4900 on Legacy Plating Paper
Dimensions: 14" x 11" x 1"
Year Completed: 2023
Description: Archival print via Epson Printer and Paper
Artist Statement
In my ongoing underwater work I seek moments of sublime peace (that fine line where the conscious and subconscious meet) and the creative chaotic (where energy is released that fine line is broken and the potential becomes kinetic). I see the water as a metaphor for a dream medium and I try to meet my subjects on that boundary and hope that we are able to take the viewer from tranquil peace to a burst of creation and back again. I think these dreamlike images may have been influenced by my desire to change my life direction and move from the chaos of the path I’d chosen and find the peace of the path not taken. Above the surface much of my work has centered around water, introspection, and emerging from darkness into light. Long moments of silence and self-reflection stand out as defining or favored memories, with water used in moments of renewal, and light in communion with the spirit.