The Remaining, Mourn | group exhibition | Northern Illinois Art Museum | Summer 2023
The Remaining, Mourn / group exhibition / Northern Illinois Art Museum / Dekalb, IL / 2023
The Remaining Mourn... is a group exhibition addressing the experience of grieving as seen through the lense of nine artists’ practices. Through tactile artworks, they address both individual and collective loss. Holding materials as one would onto someone lost, these artists use various techniques to freeze the moment, allowing themselves time to process what remains as well as what is gone. Their materials, and the memories and emotions they evoke, become a “language” the artists use to create their own rituals to navigate grief/mourning and move toward healing.
The artists featured in this exhibition include Selva Aparicio, Michael Chambers, April Dauscha, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Millicent Kennedy, Allen Moore, Monika Plioplyte, Nirmal Raja and Anne Wilson.
Curated by Michael Chambers and Millicent Kennedy.
Mater's Matrix
In this installation, Monika Plioplyte explores the profound themes of birth, death, and rebirth, which she envisions as an interconnected matrix. Delving into the etymology of "mater" (mother) and "matrix" (womb), the artist is inspired by those two word's Latin origins, where they signify a space from which new life emerges and develops.
Drawing inspiration from the natural world and the cycle of life, Plioplyte feels a strong need to use her own body as a way of interacting within natural environments. She seeks out unusual narratives that unfold before her, capturing these moments through photo-based performances.
Using her grandmother's tablecloths and doilies, which Plioplyte prints on paper and collages into paper latticework, she creates body coverings and safeguards that become integral to her performances. Additionally, the emerging symbolism of labyrinths, representing healing, or repurposed wilted flowers, aspires to evoke a sense of cyclical renewal amidst the interconnected matrix of life, in which new possibilities emerge from what was once considered lost.
*Images by Amy Shelton