Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Pottery from fictional company and therapist’s paintings in two new shows

Mari Marks Encausting painting "Sedimentary Series, Terra"

Mari Marks Encausting painting “Sedimentary Series, Terra”

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Ceramic pieces created by imaginary employees of a make-believe pottery company and encaustic paintings by an art therapist will be featured in two exhibitions Oct. 19 through Dec. 1 at I space, the Chicago gallery of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:

• “Don Pilcher: Rascal Ware” will give gallery-goers a glimpse into the creative mind of the artist, who taught for many years in the U. of I.’s School of Art and Design. The exhibition focuses on a body of work Pilcher has been making since 2002, which includes vessels and sculptures produced at the fictional Rascal Ware Pottery company by an assortment of characters – among them, Junior Bucks and Hairy Potter.

The project is conceived as both a ceramic and literary expression. Pilcher himself is a character in the Rascal Ware narrative, and the text and art are always presented together. “The narrative at Rascal Ware is actually my biography, with some exaggerations, and the prose is an attempt at comment, humor, irony and some half-baked philosophy,” he said.

• “Mari Marks: Sedimentary Series, Terra” consists of a dozen 12-foot-square encaustic paintings created using a cyclic process in which layer after layer of hot wax is applied, allowed to dry, then scraped or otherwise augmented. Marks compares the layering process in her art – with its complex, variable terrain – to what occurred as Earth’s crust was formed. Her references to the number 12 and the natural world are not coincidental, as she observes that “in metaphysics, 12 describes life-giving forces,” and “structures and interpretations of 12 permeate the natural world.” Bringing into play her sensibilities as an art therapist, Marks also intends for the work and its process to have healing and spiritual qualities.

An opening reception is scheduled from 5-7 p.m. on Oct. 19 at the gallery, 230 W. Superior St., Chicago. I space gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Read Next

Life sciences Portrait of the research team posing together.

Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions. The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate […]

Arts Photo of seven dancers onstage wearing blue tops and orange or yellow flowing skirts. The backdrop is a Persian design.

February Dance includes works experimenting with live music, technology and a ‘sneaker ballet’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The dance department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will present February Dance 2025: Fast Forward this week at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. February Dance will be one of the first performances in the newly renovated Colwell Playhouse Theatre since its reopening. The performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Dance professor […]

Honors portraits of four Illinois researchers

Four Illinois researchers receive Presidential Early Career Award

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. The winners this year are health and kinesiology professor Marni Boppart, physics professor Barry Bradlyn, chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010