Seminar Alumni Show Art at 2020 Faculty Exhibition

Faculty Exhibition 2020 Faculty Exhibition 2020
This piece by Tomiko Jones is one of three to be featured in the 2020 Faculty Exhibition.
This piece by Tomiko Jones is one of three to be featured in the 2020 Faculty Exhibition.

Beginning on February 1 and extending until May 10, the Faculty Exhibition 2020 will be on display in the Pleasant T. Rowland Galleries and throughout the Chazen Art Museum. Wisconsin Idea Seminar participant Tomiko Jones (WIS ’19) is showing three tricolor gum prints over cyanotype, inspired by a collection of Japanese ukiyo-e prints in the Van Vleck collection and by one of our stops on the River Tour last May — at Gottschalk Cranberry in Wisconsin Rapids.

Christian Andresen watches as Tomiko Jones uses cranberries to create a cyanotype at Gottschalk Cranberry in Wisconsin Rapids.
Christian Andresen watches as Tomiko Jones uses cranberries to create a cyanotype at Gottschalk Cranberry in Wisconsin Rapids.

Jones reflected on the experiences, saying, “Several of my colleagues urged me to go on the Wisconsin Idea Seminar. I saw the theme on Rivers, and that the seminar took water as a guide to developing site visits. This won my heart. I did not know what I would discover, but five days of exploration would surely uncover treasures. As an exercise, I promised to myself I would make a cyanotype at each site, using source water when possible. At Gottschalk (Cranberry), I couldn’t stop imagining the marshes flooded with the red of cranberries. One of my WIS colleagues, Christian, flew a drone, and I imagined what that sea of red might look like. I found a lone cranberry leftover from the year before and with that and the irrigation canal, made a cyanotype print. After our lunch and panel, I asked Fawn (Gottschalk) could I come back at harvest? She was friendly and generous and said, of course! I would touch down on sites from our trip often as I explored the ukiyo-e prints and thought about how I could look at the landscape of Wisconsin through a similar perspective. The image of the flooded cranberry marsh, the imaginary one imprinted on my mind from the spring, sprung back with such clarity, I wrote to Catherine and asked her to connect us.”

Tomiko Jones created this cyanotype while on the Wisconsin Idea Seminar -- using cranberries and water from Gottschalk Cranberrry.
Tomiko Jones created this cyanotype while on the Wisconsin Idea Seminar — using cranberries and water from Gottschalk Cranberrry.

Along with that piece, Jones created a variety of cyanotypes during the Wisconsin Idea Seminar in May, integrating water from stops in LaCrosse, Wisconsin Rapids, Genoa, and Milwaukee.

Other past WIS participants are also contributing to the faculty showcase, including Jennifer Angus (WIS ’02), Emily Arthur (WIS ’15), Jill Casid (WIS ’10), Marianne Fairbanks (WIS ’15), Sarah FitzSimons (WIS ’13), Stephen Hilyard (WIS ’05), Tom Loeser (WIS ’92), and Caroline Niziolek (WIS ’18). See details about the event: https://www.chazen.wisc.edu/index.php?/events-calendar-demo/event/faculty-exhibition-2020/