Art Sprawl

An Interview with Meghan Duda coinciding with “On Tree Time”

July 4, 2025 / ellen.mueller

This interview is also available as a zine.

“On Tree Time” is on view through July 31, 2025 at Silverwood Park Gallery, 2500 County Rd E, St Anthony, MN 55421.

I first met Meghan Duda during a visit to NDSU several years ago and was delighted to get this chance to see her photographic work in person. Below you will find a brief interview with Duda focused on this exhibition at Silverwood Park.

pinhole black and white photograph of bare trees and a lake

Artwork by Meghan Duda; Photo of work installed at Silverwood Park by Ellen Mueller

EM: How did you come to know Three Rivers Park District?

MD: I good friend of mine, artist and curator Tessa Beck, connected me with Eileen Cohen last year, as she thought my art practice would be a fine fit for Silverwood. In our first conversation, Eileen and I discussed the idea to photograph the parks, as I am particularly interested in photographing to learn more about specific places. I’m also really interested in trees and local ecologies, so it fit well to connect with the Forestry Management department to explore the parks from their perspective. I soon found myself camping in the parks and visiting to photograph 4 times over three seasons. It was just a wonderful immersion in the Three Rivers Park District.

black and white pinhole photograph of a landscape

Artwork by Meghan Duda; Photo of work installed at Silverwood Park by Ellen Mueller

EM: What criteria or process did you use to select sites for your pinhole photographs?

MD: I was really drawn to the narrative of restoration and forest building. Many of the sites I visited were once farmland which were donated to the Three Rivers Park District for conservation and recreation. After meeting with Shawn Howard at the Forestry Nursery at Crow Hassan, I came to learn about the efforts the people of Three Rivers are going through to allow the native ecology to rewild itself. The pinhole process, with its effort to stage and its very long exposures, also forces me to really slow down and appreciate space and light. This meditation had a huge say in the photos that were made. Each space has a story all its own.

Artwork by Meghan Duda; Photo of work installed at Silverwood Park by Ellen Mueller

EM: Reflecting on this beautiful series, what’s next for you in relation to this project or other upcoming projects?

MD: Great question! I truly am a dreamer and usually wait to see what lands in my lap. That said, the week of the opening at Silverwood we installed a temporary camera obscura in the classroom adjacent to the exhibition. I got to meet and have great conversations with so many visitors and campers in the space while reflecting on the magic of photography. I would love to get a permanent Camera Obscura installed in the sculpture garden at the park. Trees have also been a theme in my work recently, so I hope to connect with Forest Service Managers in the Minnesota Northwoods. They are doing some pretty awesome work to help prepare the forests for a warmer future. It would be great to take my pinhole camera and make some long exposures up there!

2 black and white pinhole photographw of landscapes

Artwork by Meghan Duda; Photo of work installed at Silverwood Park by Ellen Mueller

An Interview with Shoshana Fink on “Sylvan Essence”

June 21, 2025 / ellen.mueller

This interview is also available as a zine.

“Sylvan Essence” is on view through July 31, 2025 at Silverwood Park Gallery, 2500 County Rd E, St Anthony, MN 55421.

I first met Shoshana Fink at the MCAD MFA program and was delighted to get this chance to see how Sylvan Essence had evolved from its initial installation. Below you will find a brief interview with Fink focused on this latest variation at Silverwood Park.

a cylindrical shaped installation with custom printed curtains

Sylvan Essence by Shoshana Fink

EM: Can you give a brief 2-3 sentence summary of this exhibition for those that may be new to the work?

SF: Sylvan Essence is a multi-sensory, interactive installation exploring the visual, auditory, and aromatic language of the Hoh Rainforest, a temperate rainforest situated on the ancestral lands of the Hoh and Quileute Tribes. Using image, sound, and scent from the Hoh, Sylvan Essence employs photography, sculpture, sound, and olfactory elements, allowing the viewer to see, hear, and smell the entangled web of relationships and complex conversations that make up the arboreal universe. Drawing from scientific research on plant communication, plant sensing, and tree bioacoustics, this piece coaxes the imagination to think and breathe in attunement with the trees.

a curved custom printed curtain in front of some framed photographs on the wall

Sylvan Essence by Shoshana Fink

EM: I’ve seen this work installed elsewhere, and this round gallery feels like a perfect fit. Can you talk about how you approached this unique space and the preparation it took?

SF: I wrote a detailed proposal for this exhibition which took into account how the form content of the work aligns with the mission of Silverwood Park, using art as a vehicle to explore and connect with nature. I also thought about how the piece would work in the gallery. I considered how the curvilinear architecture of the space and size of the room related to the curvilinearity and size of the work. I provided a map, to scale, demonstrating how Sylvan Essence would fit in the gallery. In addition, I reflected upon the relationship between the work and the landscape beyond, visible from a large bank of curved windows, connecting interior to exterior, imagined forest to real forest.

two photographs of forest landscapes framed in white on a wooden gallery wall

Photos from “Sylvan Essence” installation by Shoshana Fink

EM: What are your hopes for the multi-sensory experience of visitors to the space?

SF: My hopes are twofold. The first is one of inclusivity. Sensorily speaking, this work has many entry points and can be appreciated by people of diverse ages and abilities. Hearing-impaired and sight-impaired individuals as well as young people who like to explore through touch can access this work. One might argue that Western visual culture preferences the visual over the other senses, and I believe this leaves a lot of people out. Interestingly, I have a cousin who attended the opening who is blind — and she is not the first to experience Sylvan Essence — and she was still able to appreciate the piece.

My second hope is that, by employing multiple senses, the work transports and suspends the viewer into another space.

detail photo of the forest-printed curtain where it meets the gallery floor

Detail shot from “Sylvan Essence” installation by Shoshana Fink

EM: Do you see the photographs on the wall as distinct from the installation or as a part of it? And can you talk about the creation of those photographs?

SF: The photographs on the wall are not formally part of Sylvan Essence, but they are most definitely related. Two of the three photographic images appear in the piece itself, albeit in the form of large, sheer, fabric photographs suspended from the ceiling. These photographs were made in January of 2022 during my trip to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, and they became part of my MFA thesis at MCAD four months later. While the project has expanded since then, that trip was the genesis of everything in this project.

detail of base of listening booth as it meets the custom printed flooring featuring ferns

Detail shot from “Sylvan Essence” installation by Shoshana Fink

All photos in this article by Ellen Mueller.

An Interview with Marge Buckley coinciding with “Bringing The Outside In”

June 9, 2025 / ellen.mueller

This interview is also available as a zine.

“Bringing The Outside In” is on view through June 2025 at The Ox Museum, Indeed Brewing, 711 15th Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413.

Photo Courtesy of Marge Buckley

EM: If you had to summarize your artistic practice in two sentences, what would you say?

MB: My primary mediums are painting and playwrighting; my work depicts people and the worlds we build together as flawed, challenging, and worthy of deep study. I use dramatic colors and surreal compositions as tools of optimism which assert that the systems around me can be transformed in radical ways.

EM: I’m loving these paintings with densely marked compositions – can you tell us a bit about your process?

MB: I’m an experimental artist in the sense that I love to experiment! I tend to just go for it based on an initial idea and reference materials, but without planning too much about how I’m actually going to paint the work. I usually do a couple layers of acrylic or gouache before I switch to oils, so the underpainting essentially becomes a sketch that I’m building off of. I’ve been playing with these scenes where nature takes over human industry, so I try to strike a balance where you can make out structures under the overgrowth.

EM: What else are you working on right now, and what should folx look forward to?
MB: I’ve always got a bunch of projects in the works, so here’s the next couple! I’ve got a few paintings up at Lanesboro Arts from June 7th-August 9th in a show called “Our Bright Unfolding” – https://lanesboroarts.org/calendar/our-bright-unfolding/. Plus, my theatre company Commutator Collective is throwing one of our classic experimental dance/theatre parties on June 28th, this time on the theme of Unwrapped/the Food Network…learn more at https://commutatorcollective.org/

Photo Courtesy of Marge Buckley

An Interview with Derek Meier coinciding with “Bringing The Outside In”

June 6, 2025 / ellen.mueller

This interview is also available as a zine.

“Bringing The Outside In” is on view through June 2025 at The Ox Museum, Indeed Brewing, 711 15th Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413.

Photo courtesy of Derek Meier

EM: If you had to summarize your artistic practice in two sentences, what would you say?
DM: My process is one of action and redaction. I oscillate between two modes: instinctive action painting and editing back mark making to bring constructs and narratives into focus.

EM: I’m loving these paintings with bold mark-making and divided picture planes – can you tell us a bit about what influences this work?

DM: Much of my visual influence is built on landscapes that hold collaboration of organic and man made forms and finding space to invent within them.

EM: What else are you working on right now, and what should folx look forward to?

DM: I’m presently building a body of work for a solo show at Artistry this November.

an abstract painting with a lot of reds and pinks

Photo courtesy of Derek Meier

An Interview with Vincent Dezutti coinciding with “Bringing The Outside In”

June 3, 2025 / ellen.mueller

This interview is also available as a zine.

“Bringing The Outside In” is on view through June 2025 at The Ox Museum, Indeed Brewing, 711 15th Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413.

a lamp with a tree projected over its shade

Photo courtesy of Vincent Dezutti

EM: If you had to summarize your artistic practice in two sentences, what would you say?

VD:I’m primarily a photographer and video artist with an experimental approach – examining how making and consuming images impacts our relationship with others, the world around us, and our own memories. My work intentionally foregrounds the artist’s hand to show how different photographic techniques and technologies document time and space to varying degrees of realism.

flowers projected on an open interior door

Photo courtesy of Vincent Dezutti

EM: I’m loving these latest photographs that look like they are made using projections – can you tell us a bit about them?

VD: They were made with projections! I actually used photos from a previous project that I shot at Tofte Lake Center in Ely, MN. The exhibition theme, Bringing the Outside In, was decided before I made the work, but projecting photos and re-photographing them has been something that’s been bouncing in my head for a while, so it was a perfect opportunity to actually do something I’ve been wanting to do. I’m really interested in the photograph as an object itself, and there’s a lot going on in this series that I’m really excited about! Projecting each of the nature photos on the walls of home recontextualizes them and deliberately distorts their shape, mirroring the way that photography itself is imperfect at accurately documenting its subject, as well as how memory distorts over time. I’m also using previous work to create the new series, which literalizes the way I take ideas from one project and build toward others in the growth of my artistic practice. I also just really like the play between shapes and colors in these images. The series is titled Reminder because the photos serve as a reminder of the thing they actually depict, but also as a reminder to myself to take a deep breath and step outside sometimes.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Dezutti

EM: What else are you working on right now?

VD: I feel like I’m always working on a bunch of things, most of which are about 25% done…. Every couple of projects actually makes it out into the world, eventually. Right now I’m working on a short film made from a series of 35mm photos I shot while biking over the winter. I shot a couple of rolls, scanned them all, then started physically damaging and rescanning them so I could keep sequencing them as they slowly degrade with cuts, scratches, and pen marks. It’s still very much a work in progress, but I’d love to screen or have it show in a gallery setting at some point in the near future. I also do a lot with cyanotypes – I have a couple that will be showing at the Phipps Center this fall in their Human x Machine: Exploring Art in the Age of AI exhibition (no AI was used for my work, but it uses found AI created images from Instagram).

a projection over window curtains and blinds

Photo courtesy of Vincent Dezutti

Disclosure: I know Vincent from a past walking workshop.

Moving through “JAHEZ” by Meher Khan

May 17, 2025 / ellen.mueller

This reflection is also available as a zine.

MEHER KHAN

JAHEZ

May 7-31 at This and That

2731 E 25th St, Minneapolis MN 55406

Formally, this show grabs your attention with the warm colors and soft shapes of the block-printed and draped saris to the right when you walk in, followed by the stage and the space through the doorway straight ahead.

Having knowledge of Khan’s work from studio visits and past exhibitions, I knew this show was likely to delve into aspects of her second-generation, Indian-American identity. I walked to the artist statement as directed by the gallery sitter, and I had to agree with their assessment that it is really well written and helps contextualize the entire show.

I won’t quote the entire statement here, but themes of identity and cultural expectations take center stage. As Khan state, “‘Jahez’ is a bridal trousseau for a wedding that never happened, self-appointed heirlooms with nowhere to go.”

A black sari hangs to the right of the print studio, with a partially obscured photo of the artist behind the textile. The arrangement and the detail on the sari both invite closer looking, which reinforces concepts about adapting these objects to the artist’s goals.

On the walls on either side of the black sari piece are two large paintings from Kahn’s exploration of the Urdu language, and showcase her sense of humor. The green one over the stage means “butt,” and the orange one means “turd” specifically the kind when one is constipated.

I really enjoyed “Patched Gateway,” made of a collection of screenprinted patches and block printed shapes, as well as the work to its left showcasing a quilt-like arrangement of patches. These works helped mark the change in purpose for the space beyond, where hand-printed bandanas are made.

It’s worth the time to make your way over to check out this show. Hours are Mondays and Fridays 12-4pm, and Wednesdays 3-7pm. There are also a number of activities planned during the run of the show – check out Meher Khan’s Instagram page for more details: https://www.instagram.com/meherk_art/

Reflecting on “Patio – de casa” by Edson Rosas at White Bear Center for the Arts

August 6, 2023 / ellen.mueller

This reflection is also available as a zine.

I stopped by the opening reception for Patio-de casa by Edson Rosas at White Bear Center for the Arts. This exhibition is on view July 10-August 19, 2023 at 4971 Long Ave. White Bear Lake, MN 55110.

installation with blue painted wall, print and fake grass

Edson Rosas, Outside Inside, monoprint, relief ink, posca marker, 30″x22″, $275

This poignant exhibition contrasts heavy emotional content with soft shapes and highly saturated colors. Rosas highlights his Mexican roots and concepts of home and family through a combination of printmaking, soft sculpture, and installation.

a cartoonish portrait on a long wall in a gallery

Edson Rosas, Ed, monoprint, relief ink, 30″x22″, $250

The long gallery furnishes the space for contemplation that the work deserves. Attention to edges and negative space throughout the exhibition provide a softness and safety.

Edson Rosas, Memories in English, monoprint, relief ink, 30″x22″, $350

Playful imagery and a rainbow of colors invite the viewer in for reflection, while the topics of deportation, borders, and translation take center stage. Rosas brings forward messy unresolved systemic issues related immigration and frames them in a deeply personal way for public consideration.

Edson Rosas, Sugar Cane, monoprint, relief ink, 30″x22″, SOLD

Some works have no text and just indulge in play, color, and shape, which is also welcome.

Edson Rosas, Guau, monoprint, relief ink, posca marker, 30″x22″, $275

Rosas is generous with his storytelling, sharing intimate reflections filtered through the mechanics of Google translation.

Edson Rosas, Outside Inside, monoprint, relief ink, posca marker, 30″x22″, $275

Squishy shapes and artificial grass invite closer inspection and indicate a care and concern for welcoming. Catch this show while you can!

Disclosure: I first me Edson Rosas as a co-worker from my time in the MCAD MFA program.

Reflecting on “Second Sources” by Genie Hien Tran at White Bear Center for the Arts

June 13, 2023 / ellen.mueller

This reflection is also available as a zine.

I stopped by the opening reception for Second Sources by Genie Hien Tran at White Bear Center for the Arts. This exhibition is on view April 24-June 16, 2023 at 4971 Long Ave. White Bear Lake, MN 55110.

a drawing of a yellow gate over a photograph of medical equipment

Genie Hien Tran, “Untitled (merging)”

I was lucky to be present for the artist talk on this body of work, and one of the concepts that stood out to me was the squishiness of memories. Genie Hien Tran talked about a gate at her childhood home in Vietnam, and the struggle to remember its exact form once she discovered there were no existing photographs of it. She consulted with relatives, and there was not a consensus. Throughout the show are different interpretations of the gate, creating a visual through-line for the exhibition.

and orange bordered collage featuring hands

Genie Hien Tran, “Am Phu”

The installation choices felt precise to the concept of memory. On large collaged works, various imagery comes together in what felt like moments of potential clarity, only to scatter again into smaller component parts. Floor-to-ceiling looser drawings of the gates live next to small reproductions of identification material or historic documents related to the American war in Vietnam.

person viewing an art exhibition with large and small drawings on the wall

Genie Hien Tran, large drawing: “Remembering”, small yellow gate image: “Untitled (merging)”

In the artist talk, there was also mention of the reproduction of various specific family photographs. In some works, those reproductions are worn and battered, then glued and taped over handmade paper, which is also made of various past imagery and documents. This layering of both materials and meaning invites close and slow looking as viewers search for clues to this narrative.

Genie Hien Tran, “Touch”

This work is deeply personal and lends itself to reflecting on one’s own family, memories, loss, and reconstruction. The artist’s keen eye for color, shape, and repetition keeps viewers engaged and looking for more.

a collage with 4 copies of a father and daughter

Genie Hien Tran, “Charteuse (to hold)”

Disclosure: I first me Genie Hien Tran from my time in the MCAD MFA program, and we have published a conversation together on Art Sprawl.

Reflecting on “Less is Enough” by Zoe Cinel at Second Shift Studio

June 5, 2023 / ellen.mueller

This reflection is also available as a zine.

At the opening reception for Less is Enough by Zoe Cinel at Second Shift Studio, I spent some time reflecting on the following works. This exhibition is on view May 17-June 12, 2023 at 1128 Payne Ave, St Paul, MN 55106.

4 photos of dying flowers hanging on a wall

Zoe Cinel, “Nature Mora Series” (2022) Epson banner prints, 58×32″ each

Cinel asks viewers to slow down, look closely, and think deeply about “chronic illness, care, and softness from an individual and communal point of view” (via written material at exhibition). The photos above feature dying bouquets of flowers with various prescription medicine bottles wedged among the stems. The images piqued my curiosity with small clues as to who these belong to (Cinel) and what they might be for (some of the medicine names are visible), while leaving space for broad interpretations to illness generally.

detail of photo with dying flowers and medicine bottle

Zoe Cinel, “Natura Morta with Prednisone” (2022) Epson banner print, 58″x32″ [detail]

There’s a vulnerability in sharing this often hidden information so publicly. Illness and disability are not well respected in American society, despite the fact that all people move in and out of disability throughout their lives. Sharing and uplifting discussion of this topic helps de-stigmatize people living with all sorts of illnesses and disabilities. The scale and detail of the Natura Morta photographs draws in viewers for that closer consideration.

detail photos of stuffed brown corduroy hands and cyanotype handwriting on a patch

Zoe Cinel, “Rest with Me” (2023) repurposed hospital mattresses, donated fabric and pillow stuffing, cyanotype prints; variable dimensions

Another piece that drew me in for deeper contemplation (so far in that I neglected to get a full shot of the installation!) was Rest with Me (details pictured here). These stuffed supports reminded me of a cross between a bean-bag chair and a body pillow with arms, which truly does invite softness, lounging, and reflection. The arms are covered in cyanotype patches with written reflections from past discussions on care. The position and placement of this installation invites full-body participation and rest.

two people holding heating pads with corduroy hands attached

Zoe Cinel, “Heating Pads” (2022-23) repurposed clothes, rice; dimensions variable

Nearby is Heating Pads, which is strategically placed near a shelf of books for participants to peruse. These heating pads repeat the soft hand forms from Rest with Me and are pictured here. The materials hold sentimental significance to Cinel, but also are an excellent textural choice due to the soft linear details of the corduroy, which invite touching.

an orange lit installation featuring a video screen

Zoe Cinel, “Self-portrait with Flare” (2023), monitor, video, tulle fabric, pillow stuffing, plastic, yarn, velvet, glitter glue, two mannequin arms, chain; dimensions variable

There was an additional video installation, Self-portrait with Flare, which featured a video screen, florescent lights, and sculptural elements. To me, the full transformation of the space of this installation, so different from the rest of the gallery, echoed the moment Cinel found out she was diagnosed with RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis). The shock of color, the towering structure, and the imagery on screen all stops the viewer in their tracks.

Overall, I was struck by the care and vulnerability of this exhibition, and welcomed the invitation to rest, reflect, and pace myself.

Disclosure: I know Zoe Cinel both as an alum of the MCAD MFA program, and as a participant in her “Conversations About Care” discussion group in November 2022.

Reflection on “[Re]collections & Earthly Artifacts” by Melissa Borman at Rosalux

April 24, 2023 / ellen.mueller

This reflection is also available as a zine.

I stopped by [Re]collections & Earthly Artifacts by Melissa Borman at Rosalux to spend some time with this multi-media exhibition (on view through April 30, 2023 at 315 West 48th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55419).

a latch hook circle with a rose pattern hanging on the wall

Melissa Borman, “Rose,” 2023, latch hook rug, 20″ diameter x 1.25″ deep

While this exhibition had a clear foundation in photography, I enjoyed the many multimedia pieces, such as this latch hook rug. Like many of the works in this exhibition, Rose projects a sense of nostalgia and memory (I especially felt this in Sanctuary too). Rose also highlights the technical creation of images, and its own latch hook directions are featured in the artist book that accompanies this exhibition. I noticed this emphasis on visual components across multiple works, whether in terms of the enlarged half-tones in Memorial, or in this case, individual pieces of yarn brought together to create a visual whole.

a detail image of a half-tone dove flying in the sky

Melissa Borman, “Memorial,” 2022, archival pigment print with custom frame, 18″x44″

Multiple works connect to ideas of shifting and change. In Troubled Waters, a beautiful grid of images of ocean waves churning, we see the actual tumult of nature, and right next to it, in My Father was a Flower Garden, Borman’s father is featured in a lenticular print that shifts from his military portrait to tropical flowers. As she shares in the exhibition statement, he was a closeted gay man, and this piece seems a beautiful tribute to that challenge.

a military portrait of a man with the name Borman and some flowers on the right

Melissa Borman, “My Father Was a Flower Garden,” 2023, lenticular print, 32.75″x24″

I also enjoyed the collaborative work between Borman and Julie Reneé Benda, The White Cat. This piece features Borman’s photograph of a white cat sculpture in a green field and Benda’s short written reflection about the image, which closes with, “…to remind me that love is the gift of being seen.” It feels like many works in this exhibition hold that same sentiment, especially the small box of snap shots that accompanies The Journal of a Sea Animal Living on Land.

a photo of a ceramic cat in the grass and a short story printed next to it

Melissa Borman and Julie Reneé Benda, “The White Cat,” 2023, archival pigment prints, 17″x25.5″

Also on view is a striking artist book with the same title as the exhibition. It features and essay by Sheila Dickinson, and was carefully crafted with several translucent inserts that mimic the qualities of a lenticular print. The reproductions are excellent and the book includes all the works in the exhibition. I highly recommend stopping by gallery hours when you can leisurely spend time with this text and the rest of the work.

an artist book held open by a hand featuring imagery of waves and leaves

Melissa Borman, “[Re]collections & Earthly Artifacts,” 2023, artist book

Disclosure: Melissa Borman and I are both members of Title Collective.

An Interview with Meghan Duda coinciding with “On Tree Time”

An Interview with Shoshana Fink on “Sylvan Essence”

An Interview with Marge Buckley coinciding with “Bringing The Outside In”

An Interview with Derek Meier coinciding with “Bringing The Outside In”

An Interview with Vincent Dezutti coinciding with “Bringing The Outside In”

Reflecting on “Patio – de casa” by Edson Rosas at White Bear Center for the Arts

Reflecting on “Second Sources” by Genie Hien Tran at White Bear Center for the Arts

Reflecting on “Less is Enough” by Zoe Cinel at Second Shift Studio

Reflection on “[Re]collections & Earthly Artifacts” by Melissa Borman at Rosalux

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