Bernice Ficek-Swenson: Stone Voices – Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art

Public Reception
Saturday, March 11, 2017, 6:00  – 8:00 pm

Lecture Presentation
Tuesday, April 11, 2017, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Contemporary Copper-plate Photogravure

Free and open to the public
Exhibit showing — March 13 – April 14
Gallery is open Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Metered parking on the street

Bernice Ficek-Swenson, Stone Voices, detail

Description
Traffic Zone Gallery presents Stones Voices, exhibition of artworks by Bernice Ficek-Swenson. The exhibition includes a large-scale installation of black & white photographs of 12 stones accompanied with narratives written by 6 contributors. Incorporated are stones from evocative locations as a D-Day Beach, Ganges River, Pompeii and a beloved Lake Superior cove. Each “story” tells a history or description of the landscape/geology and a personal reaction to each site. The exhibition also includes 2 suites of photogravure prints and an artist book that thematically reference the installation. The Here/Now There/Then photogravure suite was created during an artist residency at Izote Editions, in Mexico, with a unique edition of color photogravures hand-printed by the artist for this exhibition.

Artist Statement
Stones have been an important part of my imagery, an interest that began as a 20-year-old map drafter working with geologists.  Prehistoric megalithic locations have also been sources of inspiration, with visits to sites leaving impressions of monumental scale and a vast sense of time. Stone Voices was created after a “pilgrimage” to Carnac, France where 3000 Neolithic stones older than the pyramids are aligned. In my Stone Voices installation I’ve expanded the metaphor of “stone” beyond a reference of landscape/time, to implying environments touched by human presence. Photographed stones reflect places of historic relevance: a D-Day Beach, a cremation site on the Ganges River and the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Bernice Ficek-Swenson

Bernice Ficek-Swenson, Stone Voices, detail
Pigment print installation of 12 photographs with accompanying text : 60  x 98 in.

Artist Biography
Minneapolis based artist Bernice Ficek-Swenson is known for her work in copper plate photogravure and digital installations that explore the elemental forces of nature using stone, ashes, fire and water. She has exhibited internationally and has had artist residencies in Athens, Greece, Chicago, Hong Kong, Xalapa, Mexico and Newfoundland. Ficek-Swenson’s work is included in public printmaking and photography collections including the Museum of Contemporary Photography @ Columbia Chicago, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Frederick Weisman Art Museum and the Polaroid Collection. In 2012 she received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant and the CAS Excellence in Creative Activities at University of Wisconsin River Falls where she is a Professor of Art. Her photogravures will be exhibited in the 2017 World Print and the 2018 International Printmaking Biennial, Duoro, Portugal.

Traffic Zone Mission Statement
Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art supports the work of mid-career professional artists with high-quality, affordable studios and the engagement of audiences with gallery exhibitions, open studio events, art classes and workshops.