drawing

December 2018 - Update

  • Art on Demand 4.4 - Opening Reception

  • Glitch Series 03

  • Search & Rescue Fundraiser

  • Mainstreet Mixed Bag

Art on Demand 4.4 - Opening Reception

“When I Cross-Stitch I Feel Like a Machine” is now open at The Reach Gallery & Museum, for the Art Demand 4.4 exhibition and will run until January 6, 2019. Below are some installation photos from the night of the opening, stay tuned for high res images of the exhibition.

Glitch Series 03

I’ve been working on Glitch Series 03 and finally finished Crop 2 out of 9. Below are photos showing the progression of how it all came together. In total this cross-stitch took 25 hours to complete!

Search & Rescue Fundraiser

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Over this past year, I’ve been part of an art collective called “We Are Pie”, that meets once a month to discuss various art topics and support our art practices. In November, a few of us participated in a fundraiser for Search & Rescue at the Reach Gallery & Museum in Abbotsford. The theme was “Nature”, but a couple of us decided to put a little art collective flair into are paintings and put “Pie in Nature”. Below are process photos showing the step by step progression of the painting I did for the fundraiser. The painting was not sold at the fundraiser and is still looking for a home. I personally think that a baker needs this painting in their kitchen, what do you think?

Mainstreet Mixed Bag

I set up a booth for Mainstreet Mixed Bag in November, which was my second market! I also participated in the first Holiday Mainstreet Mixed Bag market today.

September Update

Things have been super crazy while I've been getting ready for my two exhibitions coming up in October. Therefore this will be a short blog! Amongst all of the chaos I did manage to create some new art! I also recently finished a cross-stitch commission based off of an 8-bit video game called, Chrono Trigger.  

Fall Exhibitions!

I'm excited to share that I will have two exhibitions coming up this Fall! The first is a group show with some fellow classmates, Julie Epp and Kendra Schellenberg, we all received our BFA degrees from UFV. The exhibition is titled, Horror Vacui, which simply means the fear of empty space. As you can imagine all the works in the show are extremely detailed and obsessive in nature. The show will include works created individually, as well as a collaborative mural we will be painting/drawing directly onto the gallery wall. Read more to learn about each of our inspirations for the show, as well as the exhibition statement. 

Horror Vacui

Horror Vacui is the fear of empty space and the filling of emptiness with details in a work of art. This visual art expression is an important source of inspiration for artists Mallory Donen, Julie Epp, and Kendra Schellenberg. Each artist struggles with issues of fear, joy, and acceptance throughout their creative process. Donen’s practice is driven by the conflict between order and chaos, and explores the infinite nature of digital imagery. On the other hand, Epp’s process is a battle with fear, inner thoughts, and a search for calm in the mundane creative process. Lastly, Schellenberg uses the overwhelming visual aesthetic of horror vacui to engage in conversations about gender, beauty standards, and acceptance. Everyone struggles with inner conflict; Horror Vacui visualizes the mental chaos of life. Art allows us to engage in moments of deep consideration and at times can be a gateway into a numbing calm, empty of worries or thoughts. 

Mallory Donen

My process fluctuates between spontaneity and my obsessive need for control. I find comfort in keeping things in order, but at the same time when things become too controlled there is little room for growth and change. That is why I am always pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and intentionally creating moments of disruption. This struggle between chaos and order is the driving force of my art practice. I am constantly introducing ways of relinquishing control throughout the artistic process. But I inevitably end up back where I started, in an ordered, restrained system of creation. My work explores notions of obsession, control, chaos, infinity, and absorption. Inspired by the theme of horror vacui, my art reflects on the infinite calming chaos of digital imagery.

Julie Epp

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In an age where lives are lived through online experiences, my brain has become over stimulated. Multitasking, my old friend, is an enemy of productivity; I must embrace the mundanity of focus. My artwork is likely the only consistent focus I’ve had. My mandalas sit inches from my eyes while I draw, and though I am focused, my brain is crashing, burning, bursting with thoughts. It might seem like a good opportunity to be thinking; a chance to be inspired. But the thoughts hang dramatically over me like a creature ready to crush. They are ideas and aspirations but they are also pressure and panic. My work is a chance for me to focus my energy, and it takes a lot of work to get into a headspace where something good comes out of it.

            My mandalas are a product of years of disrupted focus, followed by relief. The sculptures are the opposite: they are a product of intense concentration followed purely by thirst and hunger. To me, horror vacui is about the fear of allowing empty space to be filled by anything but artistic joy.

Kendra Schellenberg

I have always been drawn to work that contains a lot of detail. When I am creating my own work, there’s always a part of me that needs to prove that my art is worthy of attention, and my solution to this is often to fill it with detail—as if this somehow proves that I care about my work, that it is something of value—because I’ve spent a lot of time on it. At the same time, my art practice is an extension of my feminism, and is a way for me to engage with issues that trouble me. I saw an opportunity to use the overwhelming nature of horror vacui as a means of conveying the overwhelming feeling of needing to conform to gender roles and beauty standards. By incorporating imagery I’ve tapped into in previous work, I hope to dig further into representing the affect of the socially-constructed gender binary that is so prevalent in the media we consume.

The second exhibition is a solo exhibition, which will feature my new work titled Glitch Series 01. The show will also include a select few works from my MFA Thesis Exhibition. During the opening reception of the exhibition, on Friday, October 27th, I will also be giving an artist talk discussing ideas from my thesis and how it influenced the creation of this new body of work being showcased in the solo exhibition. The talk will also include a slideshow of images that give an even more in-depth look into my process and my hard drive of digital files. 

End of Semester Critique

Yesterday I had my final critique of the first year of the MFA program at U of M. I installed new work I had made since my midterm critique in one room, and I installed the work that I made in the first half of the semester inside of my studio.

 

Staying within the medium of digital art, I've been pushing myself even further with this new approach. I am using the computer to make complex patterns from drawings, paintings, and photographs. There are multiple layers with varying degrees of transparency. Sometimes I cut and paste sections into random places on the image or I delete sections altogether. My process has become very collage based and I like to recycle old works into new ones. My practice continues to surprise me and it is in a constant state of transformation and development. 

I'm so happy with the work that I have produced during my time in the MFA program. I never could have imagined this is what my art would look like. One of the most valuable things that I've learned this year is that artists need to take chances and try new things. I believe that this is the only way artists truly reach their full potential.

I'm excited to return home in 9 days! I can't wait to spend time with friends and family. I'll be working several jobs including sports photography, coaching indoor and beach volleyball. The rest of my summer will be spent playing beach volleyball, hiking, running, biking, and making art.

Coming Home

My first year in the MFA program is almost complete. I will be home in two weeks and I couldn't be any more impatient. I find myself missing the mountains, especially since everyone from BC has been posting photos of the nice weather all over social media. This longing for the mountains inspired me to paint a landscape in my studio the other day. Here is how it all came together. 

I started by using a paint brush and india ink to create an outline of mountains, a lake, and some trees. I visualized a scene from my camping trip last summer in BC. Next I added line details using coloured micron pens. 

Coming Home, India Ink and Coloured Micron Pens on Bristol, 11"x14", 2016, Mallory Donen

Afterwards I scanned the above image using a flatbed scanner. I used Photoshop to generate the panorama landscape image below. 

It's amazing how much you can miss things from home that you often take for granted. Can't wait to come home and be reunited with the mountains. 

Pattern Frenzy

Sunday, November 29th: 

Pattern frenzy?! What does this mean?! Well I've been slightly more pattern obsessed than usual. It all started after one of my professors asked if I had ever thought of printing on fabric or creating wallpapers. That's when my mind went crazy I began making patterns in Photoshop with anything and everything that I had access to. So basically this meant making patterns from my paintings, drawings, and photographs. 

Fire Hose, 8x10", Silver gelatin print, 2015, Mallory Donen  

My first experiment began when I cut out a fire hose from a photograph I had taken with my 35mm camera. I decided to scan the image since I found that the shape left behind looked interesting and I wanted to make a pattern from it.  

Next I began making patterns using old photographs I had taken with my DSLR. 

Here you can see how two photographs taken with my 35mm camera were combined to make a single pattern. 

The next group of patterns were created using test strips from the darkroom. The test strips were then scanned and manipulated in Photoshop to produce the images below. 

Negative scratching can come in various forms, some examples may include literally scratching a film negative with a sharp tool such as a push pin, paper clip, or even a nail. However, painting or drawing onto a negative is also a form of negative scratching. The photographs below were created by painting india ink onto blank negatives. The ink cracked upon drying which created a unique and intriguing naturally occurring pattern. The images were then scanned and digitally manipulated in Photoshop to create various patterns. 

This next series of patterns were created using photographs from a new project titled Paper Sculpture series. 

Here's a set of patterns I created using these ink drawings/paintings. 

Untitled, 8x10", Ink and water-soluble pencils on rag paper, 2015, Mallory Donen

Untitled, 8x10", Ink and water-soluble pencils on rag paper, 2015, Mallory Donen

This photograph is of an object I created for my Print Media class in 2013. The sculpture was created with a styrofoam ball and pipe cleaners. I also used this image to create several patterns. 

MFA Studio Sneak-peak

Sunday, November 15, 2015:

I know that I've been slightly MIA lately, but I promise it is because I have been working extremely hard in my studio at the U of M. I'm inspired everyday by my peers, faculty, and my surroundings. It seems like I'm constantly writing down new ideas for projects in my sketchbook. So here is a sneak-peak into my studio and what I've been up to these past couple of months. Enjoy and feel free to share! 

Daydreaming is a series of painted photographs, 
click here to see more of this project and the process of how they were created.

Daydreaming (series in-progress), 36x28", Acrylic on canvas photographic print, 2015, Mallory Donen

Remember my project Freedom Versus Control? Well I am currently recycling it into a new project. I've been cutting out shapes with an exacto knife and doing various things with them. I started out thinking I was going to use them to make collages, but then I began rolling them to keep them from curling and I discovered that they make interesting sculptural objects. That's when I started to glue them and create rolled paper sculptures. Here is a glimpse into what they look like, but you'll have to wait and see the photographs that I shot of them in the studio the other day (I need time to edit them). 

I've also shot a couple rolls of film since I've arrived in Winnipeg. I haven't had a lot of time in the darkroom as they took a while to get everything set up in the new building. But here is a look at some of the photographs I've taken around downtown Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba campus. Some of the photos have been manipulated in either the darkroom or Photoshop.

Here are some photos I took one day in front of my studio mural titled Fiesta. Click here to watch a time-lapse video of how the mural came together. 

That's all I am willing to show at the moment, until next time.

Check out my 2016 Calendars if you haven't had a chance!