EXHIBIT BY WOLKEN ON DISPLAY THROUGH FEBRUARY 11

Missourian Jennifer Rose Wolken has an exhibit, titled Coping with Mortality, on display in the P.E.O. Foundation Art Gallery through February 11.

Jennifer Rose Wolken is a mid-career interdisciplinary artist whose work can best be described as sculptural artists’ books. A native of the Missouri Ozarks region, she received her MFA in Visual Studies from Missouri State University. Jennifer’s most current body of sculptural work deals with topics of coping with grief, chronic illness, and community connection. Recently, her artists’ books have shown in international juried shows in San Francisco, Chicago, and New Orleans. They have also been acquired by several private collectors, including University Libraries.

In her artist’s statement, Wolken wrote, “The conceptual theme of this work is coping with burdens of grief and chronic illness. I feel these are important topics for us all to acknowledge and contemplate, especially in light of recent world events. The topics are personal to me because of the untimely death of my father to colon cancer and my own struggles with chronic illnesses, including asthma and epilepsy, which daily remind me of my own mortality. The formal theme of the work is pushing the book form into sculpture through engaging with the form or concept of book. I consider most of the pieces to be sculptural artists’ books. The work is interdisciplinary and incorporates ceramic, wood, metal, paper, bookbinding, photography, calligraphy, letterpress, and painting. This work creates an environment where it is okay to linger with losses associated with grief and illness, to share those feelings, and to find safe ways to cope with them.”

The art gallery is located inside the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts on the northeast corner of Austin and Tower streets in Nevada, Missouri.

The exhibit is available for viewing by appointment. Please contact Kris Korb at kkorb@cottey.edu or 417-667-8181, ext. 2186, to see the exhibit.