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First Place Award of Excellence
The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild
2024 Spring Online Exhibition
An International Juried Online Exhibition
March 25, 2024 – May 25, 2024
JUROR:
Nancy Lim, Associate Curator
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Department of Painting & Sculpture
Congratulations to our
First Place Award of Excellence Winner
Judith Roston Freilich
Judith was awarded the first place for her 30x24” Mixed Media (Gorilla Glue, Joint Compound on Paper)
Life Cycles IV
About Judith
I remember the moment in college when I was drawing a typewriter for an object drawing class and as I stared at the keys, they began to come alive. It became clear to me then that I had a whole world hidden inside my head, a world full of organisms with their own rhythm and their own way of relating to each other. I wondered if it was healthy to live in two worlds—one experienced only by me. How would I move back and forth between these worlds? Eventually, simply seeing life forms, themselves, triggered organisms to morph and evolve within my thoughts. I realized that my reactions to our biologic world had more to do with the process and cycles of life than with rendering a drawing. It isn’t surprising that all organic species have been a springboard for the ideas in my work. I spent my childhood walking with my father through his garden, pollenating Daylilies and cutting open strange vegetables. Eventually, I wanted to work three dimensionally, so a passion for textiles that had been handed down through generations of my family became a way to bring organisms alive. Our family life revolved around the cycles of the seasons—the cycles of life. These life cycles were enriched by my parents and grandparents who lived their passion for music, books, beautiful holidays, drawing and teaching. Any idea was a good one to be met with joy and exploration. I’ve hoped to carry on this legacy, advocating for the joy of integrating visual arts and music into learning and everyday life—a way of understanding ourselves and the world around us.
About Life Cycles IV:
Life Cycles IV invites us to step inside the complicated journey within each of us—our complex rhythms, incongruities, and relationships. The paper, itself, holds hidden aspects of our lives while we journey through the cycles of life. When I’m drawing, the paper and the media work together as images emerge— images that reflect my reactions to life’s experiences. The images also reflect a lifetime of split second memories along with elaborate memories— the peaceful, beautiful ones and the harsh difficult ones. A narrative develops between the paper, the media and myself. In some ways, the drawing seems unfinished, leaving traces of past journeys and pathways for future exploration of life’s journey.
Important Exhibitions:
Two exhibitions come to mind that were important to me and where I felt that my work made a difference.
The first was Climate Change:Tipping Into Chaos, a 2020 exhibit, with the Space 900 cooperative gallery just outside Chicago. The exhibit used visual arts in continuing to bring global warming to the forefront. It opened not long after I had visited the acidic, boiling springs in Yellowstone, where I was overwhelmed as I realized all living things on earth, including humans, share elements of life. The experience heightened my sense of our relationship inside ourselves, to each other and to all life on our planet—from gigantic trees to microscopic mold and fungi and yes, to viruses. A world of life forms that multiply from microscopic particles morph into new worlds and decay. Along with this two dimensional work, I produced a video working with a dancer and musician, that revealed the fragility of our planet and my realization that our cherished cycles of life are threatened.
The second exhibition was Naturally, a two-person show at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago. UIMA preserves the Ukrainian arts legacy and promotes cultural understanding and diversity. Two weeks after the exhibit opened the war in Ukraine broke out and UIMA became an important haven for the Ukrainian community to connect with their heritage. Hoping to find a way to support this community, I realized that listening to visitors’ reactions to my work helped them express what they were feeling at that time. It was a powerful way to learn that what we do can give people strength.
For more information, please go to: http://judithrostonfreilich.com
and https://www.instagram.com/rostonfreilic.