ASIA WARD

Contact: asiawardatgmaildotcom

Artist Statement

Brief Summary

Within the past ten years I have created two different bodies of work.  My current and future work is about strong dreamscapes that have affected my life. My earlier work is about using animatronics and fabric from stuffed animals and old clothes to give artificial spirit to my animal sculptures.  Although the themes of both bodies of work are different, they are related through my use of electronics that give them light, motion, and sound.  Basic circuitry and electronics give an interactive quality to my work, so they can move, make sound, and “live” in an installation place.   I have included documentation of both bodies of work to show my thematic and formal interests about two separate but important statements in my art.

Aluminum Landscapes

I create diorama-like landscapes of environments that have suffered from turmoil and destruction, both natural and man-made.   My sculptures are a return to peace, a gesture to remember a time before the destruction.  By riveting or welding thin sheets of aluminum and steel, I create layers of artificial depth and perspective, twisting and fanning metal into sculptural clouds, hills and rivers. I use my experience as well as historical evidence to interpret events that have taken place around the Mississippi River valley, Fort Snelling, the Saint Croix River, and the caves and tunnels that make up the sewer and drainage systems of Minneapolis and St. Paul.   These sites, scenes, and historical narratives have made a deep impression on me.  I want to capture the essence of what the landscape may have been like during different time periods in Minnesota history, then distort that image into a dreamy, surreal landscape.

I use thin aluminum sheet to translate memories, stories, and facts into flexible and sharp representations.  The suspended layers create a shallow depth; a space for the shadows to fill out the sculptures.   The shadows are their own landscape, and can be part fantasy, dream, or illusion.  Light is added to the scenes to accentuate the shadows, and to give the sculptures an aura of self-contained energy. The landscapes hang on the wall to give the impression of floating, as if they were removed from a scene of memory or moment of time, and placed on the wall in permanent suspension.

Resume

EDUCATION:

2000                  B.F.A., Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS:  Selected

2014                  Phipps Center for the Arts, Gallery One, Hudson, WI

2011                  Create, The Dining Studio, N.E. Minneapolis, MN

2010                  Rosalux Gallery, Scene from Above, N.E. Minneapolis, MN.

2009                  Rosalux Gallery, The Pocket Gallery, Solar Creatures, Minneapolis, MN.

2007                  Minneapolis Central Library, Exhibition Case,  Creature Corner, Minneapolis, MN.

2006                  St. Cloud State University, Kiehle Gallery, Asia Ward Sculptures, St. Cloud, MN.

2000                  Museum of Contemporary Art, Emerging Artist Gallery, Grow Up, Fort Collins, CO.

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RECENT GROUP EXHIBITIONS:  Selected

2013                 Soap Factory, Artists on the Verge, Minneapolis, MN.

2012                 Rosalux Gallery, Silverfish:  Asia Ward and Amy Toscani, NE Minneapolis, MN.

2012                  Northern Spark, Body Pong, Minneapolis, MN.

2011                  Fulton Street Collective, Exquisite Corpse, Chicago, IL.

2011                  Altered Esthetics, Home, N.E. Minneapolis, MN.

2011                  Burnsville Performing Arts Center, XXL, Burnsville, MN.

2011                  Anderson Center at Tower View, Main Gallery, Holiday Celebration Art Show, Red Wing, MN.

2011                  Rosalux Gallery, Platinum Black, N.E. Minneapolis, MN.

2010                  Lexington Art League, Creatures Great and Small, Lexington, KY.

2010                  Yeiser Art Center, Creatures Great and Small, Paducah, KY.

2010                  Rosalux Gallery, To Be Continued. . ., N.E. Minneapolis, MN.

2010                  No Assumption Arts, N.E. Minneapolis, MN.

2010                  The Exploratorium, The Tinkering Studio, Motion, San Francisco, CA.

2009                  Rosalux Gallery, Peepshow, Minneapolis, MN

2009                  Murray State University, Eagle Art Gallery, Creatures Great and Small, Murray, KY.

2009                  The Science Museum of Minnesota, Make:Day, St. Paul, MN.

2008                  The Exploratorium, Second Skin, San Francisco, CA.

2008                  Minnesota Museum of American Art, Minnesota Biennial: 3D 11, St. Paul, MN.

2007                  The Soap Factory, Festival of Appropriation, Minneapolis, MN.

2007                  Carmichael Lynch, First Contact, Minneapolis, MN.

2006                  Viridian Artists Gallery, Seventeenth National Juried Exhibition, New York, NY.

2006                  Galesburg Center for the Arts, Small Works, Galesburg, IL.

2006                  Stevens Square Center for the Arts, Stevens Square 3D Show, Minneapolis, MN.

2005                  SOO Visual Arts Center, Bunny, Minneapolis, MN.

2005                  Rocky Mount Arts Center, 48^th Annual National Juried Art Exhibition, NC.

2005                  Rosalux, Rosalux Open Door Exhibition, Minneapolis, MN

2005                  Andenken Gallery of Art and Design, Kinetic Show, Denver, CO.

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AWARDS AND GRANTS:

2011                  Minnesota State Arts Board, Artist Initiative Grant, St. Paul, MN.

2011                 Northern Lights, Artists on the Verge,  Minneapolis,  MN.

2011                  Science Museum of Minnesota, Northern Lights, Northern Spark Grant, St. Paul, MN

2008                  Minnesota State Arts Board, Artist Initiative Grant, St. Paul, MN

2008                  Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Jerome Fellowship, Moose Lake, MN.

2005                  Installation grant for “Flying Horse” in Western Sculpture Park, St. Paul, MN.

2003                  Franconia Sculpture Park/Jerome Fellowship, Shafer, MN.

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ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (A.I.R):

4/1/07 – current              Resident Artist at The Science Museum of Minnesota.

10/22/09-10/25/09        Murray State University, Chain Reaction Machine! Workshop, Murray, KY.

8/6/09                               The Walker Art Center, Target Free Thursday Nights, Frankenstein Workshop, Minneapolis, MN.

7/30/07 – 8/3/07            The Walker Art Center, Robo Plushy, Education and Community Programs, Minneapolis, MN.

10/01/06 – 12/15/06        The Kulture Klub Collaborative, Project Offstreets, Youth Link, Minneapolis, MN.

5/07/06 – 5/13/06           The Science Museum of Minnesota, P.I.E. Atelier Workshops, St. Paul, MN.

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ARTIST RESIDENCIES:

9/01/11 – 10/1/11              The Anderson Center, Red Wing, MN.

7/01/08 – 8/01/08          The Blacklock Nature Sanctuary, Moose Lake, MN.

3/01/07 – 4/01/07            The Weir Farm Art Center, Wilton, CT.

5/01/07 – 6/15/07             Kimmel-Harding-Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE.

9/01/05 – 9/20/05            The Hall Farm Center for Arts and Education, Townshend, VT.

8/01/05 – 8/31/05            The Neuwirth Institute for the Arts at Wormfarm, Baraboo, WI.

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RESIDENT INTERNSHIPS:

6/01/04 – 6/30/04                  Resident Intern, teaching assistant, Vermont Carving Studio and Sculpture Center,West Rutland, VT.

8/01/03 – 6/01/04                  Resident Intern Artist of Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN.

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WORK AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Selected

2011-current              Developed and manage the Rosalux Gallery Assistant Program for Rosalux Gallery

2006-current             Artist in Residence, Program Specialist, and Instructor, Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.

2009,2010,2011        Jurist for University of Minnesota Robot Show, Minneapolis, MN.

2009,2010                 Jurist for Blacklock Nature Sanctuary, Moose Lake, MN.

2008                           Artist Talk, Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN.

2008                           Slide Lecture, Blacklock Nature Sanctuary, Moose Lake, MN

2007                           Talk and Demonstration, University of Minnesota, Magnet School, Minneapolis, MN.

2006                           Talk and Demonstration, St. Catherine’s College, Minneapolis, MN.

2006                           Talk and Demonstration, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN.

2005                           Slide Lecture, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN.