Visual Arts

Now Showing in the Harris Gallery

Little Folk: paintings and prints by Cindy Tomczyk

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 21, 2009
7:30-9:30 pm
Harris Gallery, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave.
with live music by Jonas Friddle and Chris Walz

Exhibit runs April 24-July 1, 2009

Visit cindytomczyk.com for artist information.
Please contact the artist to purchase artwork: cindyann@cindytomczyk.com

Cindy Tomczyk was raised on HB pencils, neatly folded paper, half- hazardously planned family road trips, folklore, and lots of homemade soup. So it was no surprise then, at the age of 18 she longed for a change of scenery. She fled to Sarasota, FL to study illustration, a supposedly doomed career. She disregarded pleas to study a safe major in the name to keep storytelling and image making alive. After college, she came back to Chicago with a disillusioned sense of the world and a new found Southern demeanor. Once the post-college smoked cleared, she realized she might have to play by society rules, even if for a short time. Despite this, she continued to daydream, write love letters, jump on planes, and recite the world through art.
Her art ranges from the quirky and playful to the surreal and somber. With a strong emphasis on figurative forms, her work often combines uniquely stylized images that paradoxically convey a strong emotional reality. During her free time she designs tissue boxes, paints long distance lovers, letterpress prints on a vintage press, manages a stationery line under the name Paper Parasol, and orchestrates a gallery with four other lovely ladies. She prefers analog over digital, mechanical over electronic, and process over high-speed processing.

She has a fascination for taxidermy, pachyderms, Eastern Europe, and obscure animals. She enjoys wearing dresses with pockets, making a mess of foreign languages, traveling to places where she attempts to use these languages, and of course, making lots of homemade soup.

Artist's Statement: "My newest series of art celebrates music, life, and soul. In such an intricate and intangible world, we need to take a step back and disentangle all the complexities. There is a need to return to the basics. These pieces interweave the desire for culture and knowledge inspired by traditional music in American custom, folk art, and human relationships. I'm enchanted by American folklore and the idea of returning to a simpler way of life that is reflected in my paintings and letterpress prints."

Gallery Information

The Old Town School's Lincoln Avenue location features rotating exhibits of visual art in the Harris Gallery, which is in the main hall of the second floor.

The Harris Gallery is available for viewing during open school hours: Mon-Thur 9am-10pm and Fri-Sun 9am-5pm

The Harris Gallery curator accepts artists' exhibition applications at any time. Please send a cover letter, including a description of your work and yourself, as well as any other pertinent information. Along with the letter, please provide examples of your work either electronically or in the form disc or slides. If you have a website, please provide a link to it. If submitting by mail, send to:
Alicia Manson, Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, 60625.

If submitting your information electronically, send to amanson@oldtownschool.org.

For more information contact Alicia Manson, Visual Arts Curator.

CLASS DATES

8-WEEK CLASSES