Creature Feature: Unusual Beings from the Permanent Collection

August 17, 2024 - January 12, 2025

Weil Gallery

Step into a realm where the extraordinary meets the imaginative in our latest exhibit, "Creature Feature: Creatures and Unusual Beings from Our Permanent Collection." This captivating showcase invites visitors to explore a fantastical world inhabited by curious and enigmatic entities, each piece carefully selected from our diverse permanent collection.

"Creature Feature" celebrates the rich tapestry of mythical, fantastical, and surreal creatures that have fascinated artists and audiences alike for centuries. From the whimsical to the eerie, these works span various cultures, periods, and artistic styles, offering a unique glimpse into the boundless creativity that defines the human experience.

September 28, 2024 - February 16, 2024

East Gallery

Sigrid Zahner, Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Design at Purdue University, is known for her ceramic, sculptural, and figural work.

This collection focuses on utilizing mundane or even discarded materials to underscore the moment-by-moment footprints of our lives. Moreover, to dismantle hierarchal systems using ceramics to challenge perceptions of value and craftsmanship. Zahner's goal is to supply the audience with a source for thought and personal speculation rather than a didactic point of view in an attempt to allow the audience to experience the poetics of ambiguity. Overall, Croenation Collective aims to exemplify the inherent value of the overlooked and unseen.

Zahner has a BFA from the Herron School of Art, an MA from Purdue, and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has shown nationally, including at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, and internationally, and is represented in the UK by Castle Arts Gallery in Canterbury.

September 28, 2024 - February 16, 2024

McDonald Gallery

Influenced by a culture that values harmony with nature, Hoijin Jung creates work inspired by the circle of life. Her relief prints and paintings reflect her anxiety over how human-centered culture has suppressed Earth's inhabitants. In this exhibition, she uses fire to symbolize both wisdom as well as the unforeseen limits of human progress.

The drawing featuring a rabbit, cabbage, and tree represents interconnected life forms that transform into one another, embodying the cyclical nature of ecosystems. These relationships are the central theme in Jung's work. However, as environmental crises and rapid civilization changes intensify, Jung's concern grows for human convenience-driven lifestyles that threaten the Earth's ecosystem. The anthropomorphized rabbit, cabbage, and tree illustrate the disconnect, while fire is the ironic limit of human ability. Are we unaware of our situation? Or perhaps we are turning a blind eye, enjoying the beauty and convenience of fire while ignoring its destructive nature.

Jung earned her MFA in Printmaking and Painting from Purdue University and her MFA and BFA in Western Painting from Hongik University, Seoul.

October 19, 2024 - January 26, 2025

Shook Gallery

Rena Brouwer is an international award-winning watercolorist, instructor, and entrepreneur. With a passion for nature, Rena’s paintings reflect the beauty of a captured moment transposed onto paper in her unique contemporary style, one that is recognized worldwide.

For over 40 years, her innate artistic gifts have led her to teach at national art conventions, colleges, museums, and community venues across the nation. While her paintings can be found in both public and private collections around the world, Rena’s work is a voice that communicates her deepest values: Preservation of our natural resources, and our heritage, and the opportunity to educate future generations. With accolades spanning over four decades, her humbleness, gratitude, and sincerity echo these values.