Peter Klosky, Prize Judge
I have been Director of Exhibitions at Roberson Museum for more than 30 years. I studied printmaking with Don DeMauro, Charles Eldred, and Linda Sokolowski at Binghamton University, and have worked as a free-lance exhibition and graphic designer for almost 50 years, with clients throughout New York State and the Northeastern US.
First Prize $350
A recognizable Ithaca Cityscape, this work uses very gestural brush strokes to create a progressively planar sense of horizontal space. These architectonic broad strokes are reinforced by the window framing, all of which contrast with the finer upstrokes in the background to give an expansive feel to a fairly small painting.
Second Prize $250
Woods Home • Upcycled book, mosses, and tree bark • 12″×11″×6″
This engaging collage/assemblage uses natural, nostalgic, and recycled elements to create multiple dialogues. The detail of the small scaled piece intrigues the viewer with many possible narratives: who is the woman with the champagne bottle, the young bride, the button accordion player? Adam and Eve stand in the Garden over ten after ten, while the ruffed grouse drums up out of the book.
Third Prize $200
Homesick! • Digital work • 24″×30″
This digital piece creates a number of visual and existential tensions. The background shifts from a very stable vertical plane to an open doorway with jarring perspectives. Both women are enigmatic, but in contrasting ways: the wet-haired one is calm, relaxed, but possibly apprehensive. The drier is harder to read: she could be angry, concerned, or even bored. There are many possible stories to envisage.
Honorable Mention $50
Still Life of a Meadow • Graphite on paper • 14″×11″
A very fine rendering, this work employs balanced composition, curvilinear space, and a variety of textures to produce a sampling of organic forms. The animal skull might be thought to be a naturalistic reference of the tradition of the Stoic’s “memento mori,” but in a more positive vein of cherishing all living things.
Honorable Mention $50
These Are the Days of Miracle and Wonder • Collage (cut imagery and acrylic medium), colored pencil • 7″×12″
This work incorporates generated, found, and altered images to create an enigmatic and intriguing, almost Byzantine collage. The title, of course, is from the Paul Simon song. The lyrics of the chorus seem appropriate to this piece:
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all, oh yeah
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry baby, don’t cry, don’t cry.
Honorable Mention $50
Library Seats View 1 • Etching ink on BFK Rives paper • 22″×15″
This piece shows a comfortable relationship with the reductive imaging process involved in creating a monotype. The process of “drawing with light” can be taxing, but here it is used to imbue a very mundane setting with a more extraordinary gravity.
Honorable Mention $50
Creek, Morning Light • Soft pastel • 8″×6″
The subtle blend of color and texture lend this piece a wonderful atmospheric presence. A fairly simple scene, no smoke or mirrors, but a real sense of being “there”.
