Juror, Zsuzsanna Nagy
Zsuzsanna Nagy is a Hungarian American artist currently residing in State College, PA. She received her MFA from Pennsylvania State University. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions across the US. Zsuzsanna currently teaches photography at PSU. She is the gallery manager and curator of PSU’s Woskob Family Gallery in downtown State College.
In her photo practice, she uses the camera to render the observable into an impressionistic and subjective reality. Her work explores notions of familiarity, belonging, and transience.
IG: @zzaphotoaday | zzphoto.myportfolio.com/work
Award Sponsor
Thank you to State College Framing Co. & Gallery for sponsoring the awards. State College Framing Co. & Gallery is a full-service custom frame shop serving individual clients, businesses, and artists for more than 25 years. They are located at in Hills Plaza South on South Atherton St.
Art Alliance members receive a 30% discount. Even if you don’t need to print or frame artwork, stop by to visit their gallery by local artists.
Show Winner
Melissa Forkner Lesher
Grey Matter
Juror’s Comments: Observing Grey Matter is a meditative experience. It invites the viewer to slow down, it exudes tranquility. Beautiful use of repetition and rhythm. Spreading out from a central point, it’s meticulously constructed. It calls me to get up close and observe the subtle details as well as to step back and take it in, in its quiet wholeness. At times I read the piece as delicate cellular membranes, as a living organism.
Awards
2nd Place
Waterfall, Joanne Landis
Juror’s Comments: The woman character depicted in the piece is just as confident as the artist’s brushstrokes. The painting tells a narrative in an emotionally resonant way. This evocative painting employs a striking color palette. The lone female figure radiates strength. In this world created by Joanne, women rule.
3rd Place
Twisted Sister, Linda Hale
Juror’s Comments: Linda’s sculpture is an expression of unmediated emotion. The relatively small physical form can hardly contain the raw energy, its voids and solids defy rules. The passionate piece emanates struggle, tension, and distress.
Honorable Mention
The Energy of Owl, Melinda Curley
Juror’s Comments: I was captivated by the energy of this exuberant painting. The piece is fluid, organic, and dynamic, as well as contemplative. It invites the viewer to enter an abundant, almost hypnotic world. Rich in texture, Melinda’s painting alludes to water, nature, and minerals.
Honorable Mention
Grid Piece, Joe Beddal
Juror’s Comments: The piece layers various textures and materials. I’m intrigued by the interplay of the different planes–the screen, the painted surface, and the non-physical layer of shadows created by the grid pattern. I commend Joe’s piece for its 3-D quality.
Honorable Mention
Untitled, Stacie Bird
Juror’s Comments: I am drawn to this photograph for its simplicity and subtlety. I applaud its wide tonal range. Behind the texture and layer of backlit raindrops, I notice the horizon. Stacie’s black and white photograph is mesmerizing, serene, and quiet.
Artists
Irina Ashel
Rick Avery
Nancy Brassington
Lisa Baumgartner
Joe Beddall
Tom Berner
Stacie Bird
Jim Bright
Scott Camazine
Melinda Curley
Mary Deutsch
Mark Farmer
Dotty Ford
Melissa Forkner Lesher
Susan Graham
Linda Hale
Sue Kauffman
Anne Kenyon
Barry King
Ruth Knowles
Joann Landis
Lisa Mazzocchi
Mark Messenger
Tom Mickle
Saylor Milhomme
Charlie O’Neill
Tim Reeder
Jennifer Shuey
John Skrabalak
Candace Smith
Lesley Strother
John Strother
Marica Tacconi
Deena Ultman
Mary Vollero
Erin Welsh