Elizabeth Jean Younce
to
Tandem Press 1743 Commercial Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53704
press release:
Elizabeth Jean Younce: Bestiary (Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition)
Location: Tandem Press Apex Gallery, 1743 Commercial Avenue
Exhibition dates: April 16-28, 2018. Reception: Friday, April 20, 2018; 6-8 PM
Tandem Press Apex Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 AM-5 PM; Saturdays 10 AM-1 PM
Tandem Press is pleased to host Bestiary, a Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition by UW-Madison MFA candidate and 2017-2018 Tandem Press Project Assistant, Elizabeth Jean Younce.
Artist Statement: Elizabeth Jean Younce’s work is born from the worlds of scientific, medical, and children’s-book illustration, as well as symbology, natural history, wunderkammers, and feminism. While her works take the form of fine art prints, much of Younce’s practice involves the physical collection of natural specimens from forests, prairies, and bodies of water. Lithographic prints serve as psychological investigations of such specimens. Specifically in this Bestiary, the flora and fauna serve to illustrate the dichotomy between their lives and our own human ones.
On a most basic level this work is based on the dissection of ideas involving fear and feelings of being overwhelmed, while simultaneously deconstructing what it means to be a fertile being. The evolutionary process of plants and animals metaphorically mirrors our own developments. Instinctual habits of the animal kingdom relate to our “civilized” lives. A mother swan’s capability to fight off a predator can function as a visual metaphor for ways we overcome seemingly impossible situations in our lives. The sheer fact that a fragile, fertile, feathered, female can overcome seemingly impossible situations can function as a visual metaphor for perseverance. The obstacles we struggle to overcome may be great or insignificant regardless this struggle is all-consuming. These conflicts involve questions of identity, equality, self-worth, depression, growth, change, life, and ultimately death. It is these fundamental and undeniable questions that define our humanity.
Simultaneously, there is duality between these symbols and their meanings. While a boar may appear a dangerous, beastly, creature, symbolic tradition would instead lead one to believe that the boar represents fertility as well as motherhood and all of the patience, nurture, and care that it requires. So much of perception is taught or learned yet, when we take a second look… things are not always what they seem. These creatures are beautiful, delicate, yet strong and capable of survival. We all are wild and fragile beings; we have similar wants, needs, and desires. Our bodies are incredibly resilient yet can fail us instantaneously. By warping or perverting the flora and fauna referential of fairytales or children’s books, we peer into the psyche of Mother Nature.
Elizabeth Jean Younce (b. 1993 Newport, RI) is a visual artist working primarily in Printmaking and Illustration. Specifically, through the mediums of Lithography and Intaglio, Elizabeth references scientific, medical, and children’s-book illustration, as well as symbology, natural history, wunderkammers, and feminism. Her work functions as a psychological investigation of the flora and fauna inhabiting our world. On a most basic level Elizabeth’s work is based on the dissection of ideas involving fear and feelings of being overwhelmed. The evolutionary process of plants and animals metaphorically mirrors our own developments. Instinctual habits of the animal kingdom relate to our “civilized” lives. While primarily (and proudly) a printmaker, Elizabeth has produced her prints in conjunction with installation, sculpture, bookbinding, found object, drawing, and painting. In addition to her Fine Art studio practice, Elizabeth is also the owner of Mustard Beetle Handmade where she sells mainly screenprints, relief prints, and giclée prints, on paper and on fabric. Because of Mustard Beetle, Elizabeth is able to simultaneously function as a Fine Artist and a Commercial Illustrator. Elizabeth received her BFA in Illustration and Printmaking from the Savannah College of Art & Design in 2015, her MA in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017 and is pending graduation with her MFA in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2018. Upon acceptance to the University of Wisconsin- Madison, Elizabeth was awarded a University Wide Fellowship (2015). She has also received other awards such as the Frogman’s Graduate Student Scholarship (2018), Frogman’s Design Scholarship (2016), and an Honorable Mention in 3x3 Magazine (2015). She has exhibited nationally in many cities such as Brooklyn, NY; Madison, WI; Savannah, GA; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR; Knoxville, TN; Omaha and Lincoln, NE; as well as internationally in Cairo, Egypt and Lacoste, France. Elizabeth is currently based in Madison, Wisconsin finishing up her MFA in Printmaking and is working at Tandem Press.
Tandem Press was founded in 1987 and is affiliated with the Department of Art in the School of Education at the UW-Madison. It brings in internationally renowned artists who use its facilities to create editions of prints and interact with graduate and undergraduate students. The Press is one of only four professional presses affiliated with a university in the United States, and is internationally renowned, with Tandem prints hanging in museums and corporations across the country, Europe and China. The Tandem Press Apex Gallery has been made possible through the generosity of Apex Property Management who donated the space, and Paula and David Kraemer who funded the renovation of the space.