Exhibit: Monday, October 14, through Saturday, November 23
Q&A and Reception: Friday, November 8, 4 p.m.
St. Ambrose University's Catich Gallery, 2101 Gaines Street, Davenport IA
Colorful and expressive work by one of Iowa City's premier artistic talents will be on display at St. Ambrose University October 14 through November 23, as the Catich Gallery showcases evocative photographs by Sandra Louise Dyas in her new exhibition Truth & Beauty.
A Lecturer in Art at Mt. Vernon's Cornell College, where she teaches photography, video, and performance art, Dyas received her MFA in Intermedia: Performance Art and Video from the University of Iowa in 1998. She is the recipient of an Iowa Arts Project Grant whose first book of photographs – Down to the River: Portraits of Iowa Musicians – was published by the University of Iowa Press in June 2007, and as the artist states in her biography at SandyDyas.com, “It is my intent for my work to reveal the unspoken, the poetic, the immense mystery of being human. These photographs and experimental 'moving poems' are a personal response to my inquiry into the human condition.”
She continues, “My work is influenced by my surroundings, both place and people. I am interested in landscape as it relates to us, what traces people have left behind in the landscape, the ghosts that inhibit a place. We figure out who we are by knowing where we are. Our roots play a critical role in shaping who we become. The psychological and philosophical relationships formed between humans and the landscape is what inspires and drives me to make art.” A quote by legendary photographer Diane Arbus, on Dyas' site, helps define her mission and style: “The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way.”
A Q&A with Dyas and reception for Truth & Beauty will be held at 4 p.m. on November 8, and the exhibition will be on display October 14 through November 23 in St. Ambrose's Catich Gallery in the Galvin Fine Arts Center. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, admission is free, and more information is available by calling (563)333-6444 or visiting SAU.edu/catich.
