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Bees Echo the Moon-Mixed w/ Video Installation
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We are honored to have artist
Jim Toia as one of our finalists.Jim drove his work up from New Jersey last Friday and after finishing his temporary install of " Bees Echo the Moon",a mixed media sculpture with video installation,he took a trip to Flanders Nature Center to visit
Natalie VonVleck's Studio and Nature preserve.Hopefully Jim can be at the opening but he does have a tight schedule! Jim will be traveling to the Florida Keys in the next week or so, for a residency where he is working on his
"Petri Island Project" with about 2000 school children!!
According to the project's invitation;
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| Courtesy Jim Toia's Website |
"Every participant will be provided with an empty plastic petri dish and
asked to “fill” the dish by painting, sculpting, or whatever process of
treatment that suits you, to create “what an island means to you.” It can be
anything from a collection of items, to a picture or a finger painting, to an
elaborate work of art. The result can be metaphoric, literal, simple or
complex. The goal is to include every school child, and any citizen who is
interested in contributing, so we have a comprehensive representation of
viewpoints from every age group throughout the Florida Keys."
Jim Toia is also the Director of Lafayette College's Community Based Teaching Program."where he leads
high school students through an advanced creative arts curriculum, preparing
them for their future artistic pursuits. (WE LOVE THAT!)
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| Mushroom Spore Drawing- Jim Toia |
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Though the topic of the Plight of the Pollinators call is obviously Pollinator decline, the essence of "Field Projects" and the teaching at Blue Horse Arts is the intersection of art and Nature, in whatever way that may manifest.Jim is an artist whose work and teaching intersect and thereby create a bridge between artistic and scientific research. Based of that, I just have to give you glimpse into another facet of Jim's work.
This incredible Mushroom Spore Drawing, pictured on the left!
On
Jim's website he provides insight into his process of working with this very difficult natural medium.When you visit his site, you'll find many more mysteriously beautiful works comprised of the spore of fungus.
Another series of work that results in exquisite aesthetic renderings,is a body of work curently in process, where Jim utilizes the dried forms of
jellyfish, enhanced with gouache.
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| Jellyfish and gouache on paper- Jim Toia |
Jim Toia's Statement
"I am an artist that uses nature as my primary medium and
have had the honor of exhibiting my work around the world. I make my home in
the hills of northwestern New Jersey and am represented by the Kim FosterGallery in NYC, and the Haines Gallery in San
Francisco, CA. I received my BA from Bard College and my MFA from the School of
Visual Arts in New York. My work has been exhibited throughout the United
States, Europe, South and Central America and the Far East....... My art and my profession have led to numerous public and community projects."
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