This exhibit at the Chessman Gallery is an exploration of the human face by 5 local artists: clay artists, Sam Jacobson and Julie Fiedler, mosaic artist, Mary Tapogna, mixed media/collage artist, Maria- Esther Sund and painter Erik Seeger.

Making faces is a naturally introspective and projective process, and viewing the artwork in this show is bound to be absorbing for the gallery audience as well. Whether incorporated into three-dimensional masks, busts or relief mosaics or painted on paper, this crowd of faces will express 4 approaches with 4 different mediums and 5 visions of the powerful attraction of the human face.

There will be an opening reception on October 11th from 5–7pm at the Chessman Gallery inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center. There will be wine, refreshments and a chance to meet the artists. The exhibit will be up through November 4th.

Julie Fiedler is both a painter and ceramic sculptor. She is well known for her ceramic tiles, as well as her ethereal sculptures. For her tiles, she learned how to use the overglazes she fires onto her tiles from expert china painter Joy Huttar. She especially enjoys the collaborative nature of custom tile painting so much that she began painting professionally for clients across the country. She paints and fires her tile from her Oregon Coast studio, surrounded by the plants, birds and animals that often make their way into her paintings and sculptures. For this show she has made self-referential life-size portrait busts and masks. Traditional bust and mask forms, with their historic and cultural weight, work as iconic, often joyous, platforms for self-expression and reflection. Julie works in earthenware, and create works in one piece, often combining casting and hand-building. Underglazes, glazes, and overgrazes requiring multiple firings satisfy her desire for both control and risky abandon.
See more at www.juliefiedler.com

Sam Jacobson’s art takes many forms, including working with clay. Her studio sits in the trees at her property on Cascade Head. She is inspired by the nature around her, by color that brings cheer to each day, and by a lifetime of experiences and travels around the world. Much of her clay work is functional, including teapots, vases, bowls, and containers. Other clay works are whimsical, such as dog masks, or thought-provoking, such as her faces. For Sam, sculpting faces is transformative. A mound of mud transforms into a face, a face transforms into a life, and each life created transforms the artist and hopefully the viewer. As she works she wonders: what would this person be thinking and feeling? What would his or her life experiences be and how would they reflect in the features…. In the end, Sam finds enjoyment in sharing the faces of people that she has known, observed, or imagined, creating something that goes beyond herself.
See more at www.pickledheronstudio.com

Maria-Esther Sund was born and raised in El Salvador. She studied art at Simmons College in Boston, MA and La Universidad de Las Americas in Puebla, Mexico.

She has been painting for many years, through her own personal desire to invent something original. Working with collage and mixed media, she is able to incorporate old and new elements while taking full advantage of the exploratory process in creating a work of art.

Maria Esther enjoys using acrylics, not only for its fast-drying capabilities but also for its ability to be combined with multiple layers of paint, glaze, and other media for a unique look. Through building up the layers, she is allowed to excavate certain areas of the surface, revealing and uncovering the hidden beauty that lies beneath.

Her work tells a story, conveying personal journeys about love, happiness, loss, and an array of life experiences. The essence of an idea or concept is rarely concrete, so as to leave the door open for personal reinterpretation.

For Maria Esther, being able to explore and have fun through the process of creating an art piece is more important than the finished result.

Inspired by Picasso, Matisse and Chagall’s work, especially their portraits, she developed an interest in painting faces and creating faces with different materials using collage and other techniques in mixed media. As the layers build she is able to excavate into the surface to reveal the hidden beauty that lies beneath. Her faces are not realistic, she tries to make them emotive, soulful, and personal.
See more at www.mariaesthersund.com

Mary Tapogna was born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, where she attended art school at The University of Cincinnati (graphic design), and graduated with a BFA in Photography from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Upon moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1990, she worked as a freelance photographer, mainly for The Oregonian Newspaper. Coming directly from art school, working as a photojournalist was educational and enlightening. she gradually began to dabble with the mosaic art medium and was soon having exhibits, and undertaking large and small scale commission projects.

This led to the opening of the brick and mortar, Hail Mary. A storefront/gallery/studio, Hail Mary was an arts and community fixture in Portland for 12 years. Community and her personal projects were born and executed there. Locals and travelers, from far and wide, deemed it a very special destination.

Her mosaic work covers a range of sometimes religious and secular portraits, crosses, rosaries, tables, lamps, etc. The portraits are fabricated using various accumulated materials, images, and layering. Working mostly from my photographic images and drawings, the portraits are made from found and recycled materials gathered from my everyday surroundings.

The work can take weeks to months to complete, depending upon size and challenge of the project. Traditional mosaics that utilize many tiny pieces of glass and tile are inspirational to me. She honors the traditional art form by striving for the same tedious intricacy, while incorporating contemporary unorthodox materials, and subject matter.
See more at www.marytapogna.com

Erik Seeger paints with oil on paper or canvas. His images are made using minimal symbols representing the face, and basic primary colors, with the evolution of line and light, to create a maximal effect on the emotions of the observer.

Art and music are vehicles for Erik’s activism, he speaks for a human community.

Erik’s art is the ultimate attempt to provide clues to one’s real identity and is the subliminal epitome of human expression.
See more at www.erikseegerstudio.com

The Chessman Gallery is inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101 in Lincoln City. For more information about this show or any of the many events going on at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, call 541-994-9994, head to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org , or follow us on Facebook.