An art exhibition of Agnieszka Sosnowska’s “Realities” will open with a reception from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday, March 4 in the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery.
During the reception, Sosnowska, who will be in Iceland, will present a gallery talk using Skype.
“Although self-portraits dominate in Ms. Sosnowska’s photography exhibit, her interactions with nature seem to be her primary subject matter,” said gallery director and assistant professor of art Larry Merriman. “For each photograph she adopts a persona that is by turns serious and whimsical.
“She is nature personified as she judges a harvest of apples in one image or mourns the death of a whale in a second. In a third portrait, she balances on a low tree limb, with the corners of her dress pointing up, like a wood sprite, while in another whimsy inspired portrait, she crouches on the forest floor dressed in a costume of giant leaves. Additional images suggest more somber thoughts, as she stands in a barren landscape wrapped in a grass-like blanket or naps in the snowy patches of winter’s brown grass. Her photographs are certainly self-portraits, but these are portraits that reveal Ms. Sosnowska’s perceptive understanding of human nature and our relationship to the natural world,” Merriman added.
“The effects of a cross-culture life inspire the characters that I create,” said Sosnowska. “Here in Iceland—a culture embedded by ancient sagas, and myths of elves that live inside rocks—there speaks many voices that come to life. My adult experiences have informed my sensibility to expose the hidden world of the stories my mind nurtures. As a woman, I interpret these cultural stories in a primal and sensual way. To embody what is sometimes ordinary, sometimes purely feminine and sometimes supernatural is to seek a way to take these private images in my mind public.”
Sosnowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, and raised in Boston. Sosnowska received her bachelor's degree in fine arts from Massachusetts College of Art in photography and her master’s degree in fine arts from Boston University in studio teaching. Sosnowska has received the Annie E. Blake and the Skriouklaustur awards as well as a variety of fellowships and grants, which have enabled her to travel to Poland and Iceland to continue her development as a photographer. Sosnowska’s artworks have been exhibited internationally. She resides in East Iceland with her husband Runar.
The reception for Sosnowska’s exhibit is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. The exhibition will continue through April 5. The gallery will be closed March 11-15 for spring break.
The Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery is located in the Gladys C. Fort Art Building on the Coker College campus. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, while classes are in session. For more information, contact gallery director and assistant professor of art Larry Merriman at 843-383-8156 or lmerriman@coker.edu.
Coker College upholds and defends the intellectual and artistic freedom of its faculty and students as they study and create art through which they explore the full spectrum of human experience. The college considers such pursuits central to the spirit of inquiry and thoughtful discussion, which are at the heart of a liberal arts education.
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