MFA Thesispalooza, Part III

Solongo Monkhooroi's MFA Thesis Show is up at Dewberry Gallery. The opening was Friday evening.

"Monsterous Imaginarious" explores monsters from different cultures around the globe. Many of the "monsters" are women, and some are depicted as beautiful and alluring rather than hideous and disfigured. This makes them even more sinister as they draw their victims in before they have their way with them. There are twelve paintings that depict these dark and strange beings, and one large mandala entitled "COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS".

This piece is the largest at 36X36", and the rest are 24X24". All are acrylics on wood panels, and the edges are finished in silver leaf. Solongo makes her own gold paints with powdered gold and acrylic medium or glue.
Solongo carefully researched these mythical monsters and depicted them in their native environments and in appropriate periods in time. 


"Medusa"


"Vampire"


"Banshee"


"Werewolf"


MFA candidates who came to support Solongo:
Obekr Orhan, Julia Berman, Sean Twiddy, Aaron Jackson, Solongo, Nazanin Kani and Semin Chun.


SCAD Vice President P.J. Johnson and Prof. Brett Osborn, Dean of Fine Arts, were very impressed.






There's even a Medusa Munny! All of the work is for sale, and you can inquire through her website.


Julie and I and the rest of the faculty are very proud of you, Solongo! Best wishes as you head out into the art world. I know we'll be seeing you in the best art and illustration publications soon and for years to come.

MFA Thesispalooza, Part II

Juxtapose- Ethan Mongin and Alan Hawley

Ethan Mongin and Alan Hawley held a joint show at StudioPlex on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta.


It was an interesting show because the work is so different in content and execution.
Ethan's work is line-driven and deals with his own visual reinterpretations of classic literature. It is about pattern and line and works just as well in black and white.


One of Ethan's pieces from the "Treasure Island" series. The lines are inked by hand and color is added digitally.


An image from Ethan's "Alice in Wonderland"series. All of Ethan's Thesis work can be seen here.


Alan's work, on the other hand, is hard-edged but not dependent on line, and deals with mythological gods, heroes, and apocalyptic scenarios of death and destruction. Alan is more interested in color and light, and built his thesis work around a series of specific two-color relationships; each piece in his 12-image thesis relies on two dominant colors to give each image the perfect palette for the narrative, and to make each piece visually unique from the rest.


"Plague of Rats". All of Alan's pieces are acrylics on illustration board.


"Death Dragon"


Ethan and his wife chatting with Julia Berman.


Alan and his mentor, Bryan Stelfreeze, always teaching. And Asa Ayers and Jay Montgomery

Great job, guys!

MFA Thesispalooza!

SCAD-Atlanta's Illustration Department has, for the past several years, enjoyed some amazing MFA candidates streaming through our doors, and this year is one of the biggest and best groups yet. In the past three weeks, four of our star students have mounted their Thesis Exhibitions, and have made us all very proud.The first of the shows this spring is...

Sandee Chamberlain's show, "Colorful Curiosities", was held at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur. It was the perfect venue for her show that contained all of the artwork that was created for her picture book entitled "Hugh", the story of a little bird who taught his friends all about colors. Sandee is also an animator, and created an animated version of her delightful story.


Sandee and her proud (and relieved) dad!


Each page from the book as well as all of the character art was printed and framed for the show, and the animation was on a loop running on a laptop for everyone to see.


Sandee and Prof. Julie Mueller-Brown


Sandee's posse; Sean, Duncan, Aaron, Asa and Alan "The Enforcer"


Obekr Orhan; International Man of Mystery


Yohei!


Prof. Mike Lowery
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Congratulations, Sandee! Well done! And best wishes on your new job on the faculty at Art Institute's  Decatur campus!