Gallery reception Wednesday for Spinosa art exhibition

The Foster Art Gallery and the Department of English and Visual Art at Westminster College will host a gallery reception to celebrate the current exhibition “Unpacked” by Youngstown artist Amanda Spinosa from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6.

The exhibition, which runs until Oct. 24, features a series of Spinosa’s works that combine printmaking, collage and drawing.

The gallery reception will include a slide presentation talk by the artist during which she will discuss the complex process of creating her multi-layered works. her work in the show.

Spinosa said her artwork references autobiographical narratives, self-reflection, memory and sentiment expressed through recontextualized objects to create personal metaphors that speak to broader human experiences.

“Although the work starts from a personal place of experience or thought, I want my viewer to be able to connect or insert themselves into the work,” said Spinosa. “Calling attention to a sense of imitation or artifice, my work mimics the original item through differing types of paper, low-relief layers, drawings, printed color and patterns.”

Spinosa uses drawing and print as investigative tools, documenting and transforming the physical object into two-dimensional interpretations represented through gestural marks, abstraction, shape simplification and time spent in the process.

“At first glance, these images have a strong sense of representationalism; however, upon closer inspection, they fall apart and reveal the drawn, abstracted, sculptural, and printed elements,” Spinosa said.

Spinosa earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in interdisciplinary studio art from Youngstown State University in 2018 and her Master of Fine Art degree in 2-D studies with a focus in printmaking from Bowling Green State University in 2022. Her work has been nationally exhibited and is influenced by an interdisciplinary methodology when approaching materials and processes.

The gallery reception is free and open to the public. Seating and light refreshments will be available. For more information, contact Summer Zickefoose, associate professor of art and director of the Foster Art Gallery, at 724-946-7267 or zickefse@westminster.edu.

The Foster Art Gallery, located in Patterson Hall on Westminster’s campus, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Pictured above: Cable-knit Sweater, 2022 (left). Monotype, collage, graphite, color pencil; Cashmere Cardigan, 2022 (right). Monotype, collage, graphite, color pencil.

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