Ann Shostrom, assistant professor of art at Penn State, has a solo exhibition of paintings, titled "Harvest," on display at the Elizabeth Harris Gallery in New York City, through Feb. 5.
Shostrom’s paintings operate within the seams of fine art and craft tradition using collage in modern and folk art. Her work combines two powerful traditions, formalist abstraction and handmade craft, using fabric along with household linens that are dyed, painted, embroidered and sewn together. Her work is firmly grounded in the traditions of painting, but her methods and ideas are unconventional. Shostrom uses open-ended processes to create the fabrics that become the building materials for her constructions. Her wax resist methods include melting by blowtorch, burning votive candles and drawing with traditional tools. Fluid dynamics combine with chemistry to produce landscape forms.
A native of Chicago who lives in New York City when not teaching at Penn State, Shostrom received her bachelor of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and master of fine art degree from Syracuse University. "Harvest" is her first solo exhibition in New York City in 18 years. She has exhibited in galleries and museums both nationally and internationally, including the Linhart Foundation in Prague, Czech Republic; Art Now in Goteborg, Sweden; and Rule Gallery in Denver.