Shared Energies: The Universe Within / City Gallery / March 15 – April 26, 2024
You can learn more about the artists and see their work here: http://shared-energies.com
Shared Energies: The Universe Within is a collaborative project between New Jersey, USA based artist Fiona Clark and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia based artist Maria Doering. Having known each other for over 20 years, Fiona and Maria reunited in the Parcival studio space at the Arts Centre between July 18th and August 9th, 2019 to work on their large format collaborative drawings. This exhibition is a culmination of that residency, along with previous residencies over the years.
Fiona interprets imagery of outer space while Maria explores the inner space of the human body. Their work juxtaposes the formation of star systems with human cellular structures while laying in emotional complexities. Their unique styles intertwine and merge in an unexpected explosion of energy through pen and ink on paper. They either draw simultaneously on the same sheet or both artists begin a drawing separately and then switch to continue working on the other’s drawing.
The Project started in 2014, while Fiona was visiting Maria in Dartmouth, when the two artists began drawing on the same piece of paper. They continued this dialog over a two year span through mailing their drawings back and forth between New Jersey and Dartmouth. They met during several residencies over the years to collaborate on larger format drawings, in places like the ICCA in Inverness, NS, Arts Council of Princeton, New Jersey and here at the Saint John Arts Centre, Saint John, NB. This culminated in a body of work of over 90 drawings, with a curated selection on view here.
BIOGRAPHY: FIONA CLARK
Fiona Clark is a New Jersey based artist who specializes in bright, bold, colorful abstracts that spark joy. Whether that is through ceramics, paintings or public art. Fiona began her signature style of drawings in 2001, as a way to accompany lettering she was exploring at the time. Over the years, she has developed lines, colors and forms as a means to express herself and interpret the world around her. She graduated cum laude in 2007 from the University of Hartford Art School with a BFA concentration in Visual Communication Design, minors in Photography and Art History. She moved to New York City post graduation to pursue a career in graphic design and worked as a digital art director in the fashion industry for 10 years before deciding to pursue art full-time. Fiona moved back to New Jersey in 2020 and now creates out of her home studio.
You can see a selection of her work on her website www.fionac.nyc and you can see her daily drawings on Instagram here: fionac.nyc
BIOGRAPHY: MARIA DOERING
Maria Doering is a German multidisciplinary artist and printmaker, living and working in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia since 2012. She left Germany with her family at the age of 15, arriving in New Jersey. She received a BFA summa cum laude from the Hartford Art School in 2007, majoring in Printmaking with a minor in Art History, then completed an MFA at Concordia University in 2010.
Maria’s work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally in the U.S., the U.K., Denmark, Italy, Romania, Taiwan, China and Japan. Her work has been recognized in international competitions, including the Tokyo Screen Print Biennale in 2015, the International Print Biennial organized by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in 2016, the Boston Printmakers North American Print Biennial in 2017, the Pacific States Printmaking Biennale for North America organized by the University of Hawai’i at Hilo in 2018, the G6 Graphic Arts Biennial of Szeklerland (2020), and with the Best of Paper Award at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (2022).
Maria has taught undergraduate printmaking courses at NSCAD University in Halifax since 2013 and was the President of the Nova Scotia Printmakers from 2016 to 2018. Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and by Arts Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Creative Industries Fund, and she has two pieces included in the Nova Scotia Art Bank collection.
Maria currently works from her studio in downtown Dartmouth. Her art practice moves fluidly between drawing, printmaking, installation art, painting and embroidery. A broad selection of her work can be viewed at www.maria-doering.com