Shannon Albright
Music has had a considerable influence on my work as an artist. Like music, visual art has the ability to transform one's mood, and change the way we perceive our surroundings as well as ourselves. It is this altered state of mind that makes me want to create.

At left: Sure

Saundra Bardak
When I began this journey at the College of St. Catherine, I had no vision for what would be encountered along the way or even that it would take me down the road of studio art. It is a pleasure to recall the path taken, and also to rest in the shelter of this journey's destination. What I see looking back over the body of work created during my academic career is a search to find my voice, a stronger identity. I now recognize a presence in my work and, over time, a voice that has became a little stronger, a little more confident. Initially this voice was a delicate fragile thread, but as it was spun together with each new thread, it has become a substantial cord. In turn, this cord will provide strength to every new thing it is woven into. I see my search for 'groundedness', which has grown into an expression of my organic nature and universal energy. This work now feels like it is a genuine statement with a personal investment. It has become an expression and revelation of my identity. I must remind myself frequently to trust my instincts, not give up, and to take courage as my voice continues to strengthen … and encounters the response.

At left: earth Prtraits

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Susan Brown

Art became a podium for me to tackle diverse issues such as nature, family, current and historical events, power and violence to beauty and spirituality. Art emerged as a vehicle for my voice, once long suppressed and oppressed, to finally find its freedom and to invite others to join in the process of seeing and exploring art as a way to tell our stories, explore cultures and folklore, voice our opinions, mourn our losses and celebrate life's victories.

I add abstract images to create a story through creative interaction with the viewer. Placing paradoxical objects together in an attempt to call attention to existing reality, historical and whimsical figures and spiritual issues creates tension. The weaving of these elements with the original image allows me to make connections that create an enlivened composition with active positive and negative space. I explore the use of color to dramatize the mood I hope to invoke in the final prints. This merging of the realistic with the abstract creates a new paradigm where imagination and creativity meet and new possibilities are allowed to emerge each time the work is contemplated therefore never allowing the work to become stagnate. Using this methodology allows me to express my vision while opening and challenging viewers to discover their own.

At left: Indian Lore

Shannon Dallenbach
Art is my sin, my sex before marriage. It is creating something beautiful under moral disapproval. It is becoming woman. Like sin, I make art because everyone I meet does not assume it of me. I make art to fight against the saintliness of my dimpled smile and to command the attention my soft voice is not able to obtain. Art is my exploration of personal growth, leaving youth and entering adulthood. There is a sense of play and childhood whimsy in my work mixed with the sense of embraced femininity. My work takes many forms. I create large metal and wood sculptures to contradict the typecast of gender. I make works of fabric and needle-work to do just the opposite. I choose mediums that want me to challenge their customary treatment. Strong steel that desires organic curves. Smooth fabric pleads with me for tension. I give them what they want. Art is my sin, my sex before marriage and I am a proud offender.

At left: Untitled

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Kara Fraki
The work in this show is a representative sample of different visual themes I have investigated in the past two years while attending the College of St. Catherine. Some themes relate directly to art history but always carry a deeply personal theme of spiritual connection to the past and present. Other themes, specifically related to my photography, relate to moments of time that are unnoticed or just outside of action.

At left: Sacred Series: Quad

Jennifer Gordon
As an artist, I experiment with work that is both tangible and intangible, both physical and virtual - work that connects both my real world and my spiritual world. I work with two-dimensional, three-dimensional and digital art and with that attempt to move the technological world closer to the natural /organic world. I am currently pursuing the creation of artist books, both three-dimensional and virtual that continue to grow and morph into objects that have the intention of moving a viewer through an organic and intuitive experience rather than a jarring, unreal and industrial experience.

At left: Naturally

Elyssa Jackson
I have always considered good artists to be those who question both themselves and their work. The questions I ask and incorporate in my work as a Native American artist have to deal with my membership of a sovereign nation and the effect this has on my relationships with others. I work specifically with my friends and family as my subjects, and while I document their lives I am simultaneously trying to make connections and explain my own life. All of my work turns out to be self-portraiture regardless of whom or what is in the photograph. Each series I create divulges more information about my circumstances, mainly being young and a part of an independent and wealthy tribe. I want my art to be more than just appealing to the eye, but to convey to the audience what it is like in both my subjects' shoes and my own.

At left: Emily & Ja'Haan

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Kirsten Koehler
Through my work I explore my identity and make statements about the world around me. As a woman I comment on body image. As a bisexual woman I struggle with the pull to appear more butch or more feminine. I make art that expresses my individuality and tells narratives of my life experiences. I also pay attention to the relationship between the elements of design, creating work that is bold, sleek, and simple. Although I have something very specific in mind when I make an artwork I leave the finished product somewhat abstract so that the viewers can discover their own meaning.

At left: Mask

Sarah "Rain" Lawrence
I am a figurative painter working primarily in acrylics. I paint portraits of the people around me -- my friends, and my family. I try to show everyday people in a way that reflects who they are and how I feel about them. It is an emotionally charged style of painting. I look to the old masters for much of my palette and figurative studies. I endeavor to make images that people can relate to, images that reflect the personality and emotions of the subject.

At left: Self Portrait: One in Three

Maley Neil
These portraits are a documentation of the friends and family I encounter in my everyday life. The unremarkable subject matter and conversational perspective cause this visual narrative to be not only representative of my own experience; the images are malleable and therefore recognizable to others as well. I invite the audience to engage with the images, perhaps to see themselves within the subjects' space. By displaying the familiar, I ask the viewer to cross into the photographed instance. In my attempt to create a conversation between viewer and photograph, I hope to instill a realization that even the mundane is worth looking at twice.

The series "Five Blocks Apart" is a documentation of the economic disparity that exists in St. Paul. Each pair of photos depicts two houses within five blocks of one another. It is worth noting that the very affluent live in such close proximity to those living in abject poverty. This series asks the question, "How can the wealthy and the underprivileged occupy the same space, yet remain so disconnected from one another?"

At left: House Series

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Jaqueline Revord–Howe
I work with abstracted forms that articulate motion. The mediums that I utilize are generally wood, metal and ceramics. I concentrate on what the experience of the motion is: how does it feel, what does it sound like? The answer to these questions is the visualization of the abstracted form. The form comes to me like an epiphany – I work fast and rough – this style adds to the illusion of motion within each piece.

At left: Water & Motion

Gina Vincent
My art is about exploring. It is about seeing things a different way and trying to express my interpretation of an experience, a place, or a person. I strive to capture an emotion or create a feeling in my art work. I think it is an amazing experience to look at something you have seen a thousand times before, like a tree or a person, and actually see it for the first time. I used to think art was about making one thing look like another, now I am more interested in revealing how things feel when you interact with them. My art has become less of a product of me and more a part of me. The experience of exploration is what my art is about.

Jean Wright
This project began with the passing on of family artifacts, in the form of old photos and table linens. The linens were a gift from my mother, who had inherited them from both her mother and grandmother. The photos capture moments in time representing five generations of women who have been intimately connected with fibers and textiles in one form or another. As I learned more about the lives of these women, and sought a way to honor them, it seemed appropriate that I use these linens as a kind of canvas or form to work from.

At left: Untitled

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