FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 10, 2005

EXHIBITION:
Meanwhile
Featuring the work of
Zoë Sheehan Saldaña
(January 18 – March 10)

Light Work, 316 Waverly Avenue, Syracuse 13244
RECEPTION: February 10, 6–8 pm, Robert B. Menschel Media Center

Nationally renowned artist Zoë Sheehan Saldaña is about to kick off Light Work’s new exhibition year with work that creates a solid relationship between photography and digital techniques, sewing, cross-stitching, embroidery, and other craft processes. According to her artist statement, she is interested in "exploring the shared ground of virtual and actual, mechanical and manual, new and traditional, domestic and obsessive."

Sheehan Saldaña specializes in using computer technology to change a digital photograph into a stitching pattern, where each stitch represents one pixel of the image. Once the pattern is created, the stitching is either completed by hand, or with a high-tech computerized sewing machine. The end result is always a distinctive image, which appears fragmented when viewed up close, but blends into a comprehensive picture when viewed from a distance.

Sheehan Saldaña’s cutting-edge work is rich in background story and meaning that is not always apparent in the final work of art. A piece hanging in the gallery may seem to be a decorative mural or a straight-forward image of a young girl’s face in the midst of other faces. Below the surface though, the mural may depict America’s most dangerous intersection, or the girl may represent one of many missing people alerts found in the media and on the Internet. Neither title nor gallery context necessarily reveal the complexity of the work’s source material.

This exhibition consists of work made over the last several years. Sheehan Saldaña participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence program in 2002. Her work is exhibited nationwide. She is currently an assistant professor of fine and performing arts at Baruch College in New York City.

The gallery hours for this exhibition will be Monday-Friday, 12pm-5pm, or by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please call 315-443-1300. A reception will be held on Thursday, February 10, 2005, from 6 to 8 pm. It will be hosted by Light Work, a non-profit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. There are a limited number of free parking spaces available, please RSVP to reserve. For more information contact Light Work at 443-1300.