Artist Therese Zemlin

Therese Zemlin – Artist Statement

The series entitled Clusters is the accumulated work of 2007-08, and is based largely on Ernst Haeckel’s scientific illustrations from the mid-1800’s of single-celled organisms and protozoa. The organisms he has drawn are simultaneously exotic and familiar, with patterns and pleasing proportions that are universal, and truly amazing. I chose patterns from Haeckel’s illustrations almost at random, and drew the patterns onto sheets of Japanese paper that I had previously printed with photographs from nature. After I finish cutting a piece, I wad the piece up into a tight ball about the size of a marble. When the piece is opened up and spread out, the character of the webbed structure is transformed. Before the pieces are crumpled, they resemble some sort of cross between lace doilies and scientific diagrams. After they have been wadded up, the wrinkles, creases, and irregularities of the previously regular pattern evoke images of the skins and husks of things that are no longer alive, but somehow still capable of movement. The cut crumpled, and stretched paper pieces have an internal tension and compression that, hopefully, begins to mimic the ubiquitous push and pull that is a part of life, and a part of all aspects of our known universe.

Resume

Education

1986 M.F.A., University of Texas, Austin - sculpture

1981 B.F.A., University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

Exhibitions

Solo

2005 Boundaries and Infinities, BF Annex, Boston, MA
2003 Mute/Mutations: The Bed Project and Other Recent Work, I-Space, Chicago, IL
2003 Therese Zemlin: Recent Works, American Museum of Papermaking, Atlanta, GA
2003 The Bed Project and Other Related Work by Therese Zemlin, Ganser Art Gallery, Millersville University, Millersville, PA
2001 Unconditional Silence: Pattern and Membrane, Trustman Art Gallery, Simmons College, Boston MA
2001 Visiting Faculty Exhibition, Jewett Art Center Gallery, Wellesley College, Wellesley MA
1998 Birmingham-Southern College Kennedy Art Center Gallery, Birmingham AL
1996 Vortex and Dialogue : New and Recent Work by Therese Zemlin, Handworkshop, Virginia Center for the Craft Arts, Richmond VA
1996 Vortex and Dialogue : New and Recent Work by Therese Zemlin, University of South Carolina at Spartanburg Art Gallery, Spartanburg, SC
1993 Art Currents 14: Therese Zemlin, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
1992 New Sculpture, Holden Gallery, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC
1992 Increased Surface Area, Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery, Coker College, Hartsville, SC
1990 Therese Zemlin: Cross-Structural Sculpture, Artemesia Gallery, Chicago, IL

Group

2009 Community of Artists Juried Exhibition, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
2009 Massachusetts Artists 2009, Brush Art Gallery, Lowell, MA
2009 Edge; Artspace Gallery, ArtSpace-Maynard Art Center, Maynard, MA
2008 Endoskeletal/Exoskeletal: Sculpture with Armature, Tower Fine Arts Gallery, SUNY, Brockport
2006 Material Difference: Soft Sculpture and Wall Works, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2005 Summer Group Show, BF Annex, Boston, MA
2004 Collected Evidence: Regeneration and Containment: Therese Zemlin, Phyllis McGibbon, and Tanja Softic?. New Art Center, Newtonville, MA
2004 Altered States: Printmaking After Modern Technology
2003 Fold Here. 3-d paper. Ellipse Art Center, Arlington, VA
2002 Paper Remix. Dieu Donne Papermill, NYC
1999 Abstract Craft/The Non-Objective Object. Southwest School of Art and Craft, Russell Hill Rogers Gallery, Navarro Campus, San Antonio, TX
1998 Voices, an invitational group exhibition of work by women, Gallery 701, Carolina Pacific Community Foundation, Columbia, SC
1998 North Carolina Arts Council Film/Video and Visual Artist Fellowships 1996-97, traveling exhibition, organized by the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
1997 Women Artists of North Carolina: Asheville Area, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC
1996 Pulp Fusion, Recent Art from the Dieu Donne Papermill
1996 Work by artists in the Visiting Artist Program, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1995 Five person exhibition at Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
1994 Handmade: The Year of American Craft in South Carolina, the State Museum, Columbia, SC
1993 Craft of the Carolinas, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC.

Publications

2006 Ullrich, Polly. “Material Difference,” Essay on Fiber Art collected in Chicago. Published by Friends of Fiber Art International.
2004 Hagan, Debbie. Review: Collected Evidence: Regeneration and Containment, Art New England, August/September 2004, p. 26.
2004 “Selected Paper Artists 2004,” CD-Rom, slides, and booklet, published by Hand Papermaking.
2003 Camper, Fred. Critic’s Choice: Therese Zemlin, Chicago Reader, September 26, 2003. Section two, p. 27.
2003 Fox, Catherine. With Paper, Shedding Light, Capturing Worlds, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Sunday, Oct. 5.
2002 Harris, Patricia, and David Lyons. “Unconditional Silence: Recent Sculpture by Therese Zemlin,” Surface Design Journal, Vol. 26, No.2, Winter 2002, pp. 50-51.
1999 Ryan, Dinah. "Therese Zemlin Explores Form," Fiberarts, Vol. 25, No. 4, Jan/Feb, p. 55.
1997 Durgin, Michael. "An Interview with Therese Zemlin," Hand Papermaking, Vol.12, No. 1, Summer 1997, pp. 9-16.
1997 Schuweiler-Daab, Zan. "Therese Zemlin: Microcosm and Metaphor," Fiberarts, Vol. 23, No. 4, Jan/Feb 1997, p.15.
1994 Leach, Mark. "Therese Zemlin," catalogue for a solo exhibition, 'Art currents 14,' Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC.

Grants and Awards

2007 Kenan Research Grant, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
1996 North Carolina Arts Council Artists Fellowship Award
1995 Research Grant, Appalachian State University
1993 Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment for the Arts
1993 Regional Artists Fellowship
1992 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

Artist Residencies

1999 Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN 1999
1995 Dieu Donne Papermill, New York, NY
1994 Great Lakes Art Foundry, Chicago, IL

Teaching

2002- Phillips Academy, Andover MA, Sculpture, Fibers, and Visual Studies
2000-02 Tufts University, Medford MA, Instructor for Foundation Drawing.
2000-01 School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Visiting Faculty, Drawing and Mixed-Media
2001-02 Wellesley College, Wellesley MA, Visiting Faculty, 3-D Design.
1994-2000 Appalachian State University, Boone NC, Assistant Professor, Fibers
1991-94 University of South Carolina, Columbia, Assistant Professor, head of Fiber Arts.

Professional Experience

2004 Georgia State University, Slide lecture and critiques with graduate students
2004 Mid-America Print Council, Presentation on digital design and output of 3-d forms.
2003 Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC. Two week workshop, intro. to papermaking
2001 Paper and Book Intensive, Tooele UT. Sculptural paper and light workshop
2001 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME. Sculptural paper workshop
2001 Pyramid Atlantic, Riverdale, MD. Sculptural paper workshop
2000 Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. Print and sculptural paper workshop
2000 Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Visiting Artist , papermaking
2000 Friends of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum National Conference, Chicago. Presentation on digital design and output of 3-d forms
1999 Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis. Sculptural paper workshop
1997 Rollins College, Winter Park, FL. Lecture, and collaborative print and sculpture workshop.
1996 The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Workshop and lecture
1995 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ox-Bow summer school
1994 Southwest Craft Center, San Antonio TX, sculptural paper workshop
1993 Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, Lecture

Collections

Dieu Donne Papermill, Inc., New York, NY
South Carolina Arts Commission, Columbia, SC
(private collectors not listed)



	Therese Zemlin – Artist Statement The series entitled Clusters is the accumulated work of 2007-08, and is based largely on Ernst Haeckel’s scientific illustrations from the mid-1800’s of single-celled organisms and protozoa. The organisms he has drawn are simultaneously exotic and familiar, with patterns and pleasing proportions that are universal, and truly amazing. I chose patterns from Haeckel’s illustrations almost at random, and drew the patterns onto sheets of Japanese paper that I had previously printed with photographs from nature. After I finish cutting a piece, I wad the piece up into a tight ball about the size of a marble. When the piece is opened up and spread out, the character of the webbed structure is transformed. Before the pieces are crumpled, they resemble some sort of cross between lace doilies and scientific diagrams. After they have been wadded up, the wrinkles, creases, and irregularities of the previously regular pattern evoke images of the skins and husks of things that are no longer alive, but somehow still capable of movement. The cut crumpled, and stretched paper pieces have an internal tension and compression that, hopefully, begins to mimic the ubiquitous push and pull that is a part of life, and a part of all aspects of our known universe. Resume Education 1986 M.F.A., University of Texas, Austin - sculpture 1981 B.F.A., University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Exhibitions Solo 2005 Boundaries and Infinities, BF Annex, Boston, MA 2003 Mute/Mutations: The Bed Project and Other Recent Work, I-Space, Chicago, IL 2003 Therese Zemlin: Recent Works, American Museum of Papermaking, Atlanta, GA 2003 The Bed Project and Other Related Work by Therese Zemlin, Ganser Art Gallery, Millersville University, Millersville, PA 2001 Unconditional Silence: Pattern and Membrane, Trustman Art Gallery, Simmons College, Boston MA 2001 Visiting Faculty Exhibition, Jewett Art Center Gallery, Wellesley College, Wellesley MA 1998 Birmingham-Southern College Kennedy Art Center Gallery, Birmingham AL 1996 Vortex and Dialogue : New and Recent Work by Therese Zemlin, Handworkshop, Virginia Center for the Craft Arts, Richmond VA 1996 Vortex and Dialogue : New and Recent Work by Therese Zemlin, University of South Carolina at Spartanburg Art Gallery, Spartanburg, SC 1993 Art Currents 14: Therese Zemlin, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC 1992 New Sculpture, Holden Gallery, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC 1992 Increased Surface Area, Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery, Coker College, Hartsville, SC 1990 Therese Zemlin: Cross-Structural Sculpture, Artemesia Gallery, Chicago, IL Group 2009 Community of Artists Juried Exhibition, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA 2009 Massachusetts Artists 2009, Brush Art Gallery, Lowell, MA 2009 Edge; Artspace Gallery, ArtSpace-Maynard Art Center, Maynard, MA 2008 Endoskeletal/Exoskeletal: Sculpture with Armature, Tower Fine Arts Gallery, SUNY, Brockport 2006 Material Difference: Soft Sculpture and Wall Works, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2005 Summer Group Show, BF Annex, Boston, MA 2004 Collected Evidence: Regeneration and Containment: Therese Zemlin, Phyllis McGibbon, and Tanja Softic?. New Art Center, Newtonville, MA 2004 Altered States: Printmaking After Modern Technology 2003 Fold Here. 3-d paper. Ellipse Art Center, Arlington, VA 2002 Paper Remix. Dieu Donne Papermill, NYC 1999 Abstract Craft/The Non-Objective Object. Southwest School of Art and Craft, Russell Hill Rogers Gallery, Navarro Campus, San Antonio, TX 1998 Voices, an invitational group exhibition of work by women, Gallery 701, Carolina Pacific Community Foundation, Columbia, SC 1998 North Carolina Arts Council Film/Video and Visual Artist Fellowships 1996-97, traveling exhibition, organized by the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC 1997 Women Artists of North Carolina: Asheville Area, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC 1996 Pulp Fusion, Recent Art from the Dieu Donne Papermill 1996 Work by artists in the Visiting Artist Program, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 1995 Five person exhibition at Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC 1994 Handmade: The Year of American Craft in South Carolina, the State Museum, Columbia, SC 1993 Craft of the Carolinas, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC. Publications 2006 Ullrich, Polly. “Material Difference,” Essay on Fiber Art collected in Chicago. Published by Friends of Fiber Art International. 2004 Hagan, Debbie. Review: Collected Evidence: Regeneration and Containment, Art New England, August/September 2004, p. 26. 2004 “Selected Paper Artists 2004,” CD-Rom, slides, and booklet, published by Hand Papermaking. 2003 Camper, Fred. Critic’s Choice: Therese Zemlin, Chicago Reader, September 26, 2003. Section two, p. 27. 2003 Fox, Catherine. With Paper, Shedding Light, Capturing Worlds, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Sunday, Oct. 5. 2002 Harris, Patricia, and David Lyons. “Unconditional Silence: Recent Sculpture by Therese Zemlin,” Surface Design Journal, Vol. 26, No.2, Winter 2002, pp. 50-51. 1999 Ryan, Dinah. "Therese Zemlin Explores Form," Fiberarts, Vol. 25, No. 4, Jan/Feb, p. 55. 1997 Durgin, Michael. "An Interview with Therese Zemlin," Hand Papermaking, Vol.12, No. 1, Summer 1997, pp. 9-16. 1997 Schuweiler-Daab, Zan. "Therese Zemlin: Microcosm and Metaphor," Fiberarts, Vol. 23, No. 4, Jan/Feb 1997, p.15. 1994 Leach, Mark. "Therese Zemlin," catalogue for a solo exhibition, 'Art currents 14,' Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC. Grants and Awards 2007 Kenan Research Grant, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA 1996 North Carolina Arts Council Artists Fellowship Award 1995 Research Grant, Appalachian State University 1993 Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment for the Arts 1993 Regional Artists Fellowship 1992 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Artist Residencies 1999 Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN 1999 1995 Dieu Donne Papermill, New York, NY 1994 Great Lakes Art Foundry, Chicago, IL Teaching 2002- Phillips Academy, Andover MA, Sculpture, Fibers, and Visual Studies 2000-02 Tufts University, Medford MA, Instructor for Foundation Drawing. 2000-01 School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Visiting Faculty, Drawing and Mixed-Media 2001-02 Wellesley College, Wellesley MA, Visiting Faculty, 3-D Design. 1994-2000 Appalachian State University, Boone NC, Assistant Professor, Fibers 1991-94 University of South Carolina, Columbia, Assistant Professor, head of Fiber Arts. Professional Experience 2004 Georgia State University, Slide lecture and critiques with graduate students 2004 Mid-America Print Council, Presentation on digital design and output of 3-d forms. 2003 Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC. Two week workshop, intro. to papermaking 2001 Paper and Book Intensive, Tooele UT. Sculptural paper and light workshop 2001 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME. Sculptural paper workshop 2001 Pyramid Atlantic, Riverdale, MD. Sculptural paper workshop 2000 Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. Print and sculptural paper workshop 2000 Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Visiting Artist , papermaking 2000 Friends of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum National Conference, Chicago. Presentation on digital design and output of 3-d forms 1999 Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis. Sculptural paper workshop 1997 Rollins College, Winter Park, FL. Lecture, and collaborative print and sculpture workshop. 1996 The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Workshop and lecture 1995 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ox-Bow summer school 1994 Southwest Craft Center, San Antonio TX, sculptural paper workshop 1993 Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, Lecture Collections Dieu Donne Papermill, Inc., New York, NY South Carolina Arts Commission, Columbia, SC (private collectors not listed)





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