OPENING: Tyler faculty showcased in group exhibition in Philadelphia

Opening at the Philadelphia Art Alliance tomorrow evening, January 28, 2016, is a group exhibition entitled "Hush," featuring work by four members of the Tyler School of Art's glass faculty: Megan Biddle, Amber Cowan, Jessica Jane Julius, and Sharyn O’Mara (the department head). Ranging from site-specific installations to sculptures and drawings, the work in the exhibition shares a common focus on concepts of "reflection (literal and figurative) and distillation," according to the official announcement.

"They began with a collective desire to see past the overstimulus of the digital age and to focus on the analog, narrow the vocabulary from color to gray scale, and capture the power of memory and reflection in interpretation of experience," reads the announcement. "And yet, there is nothing simplistic either in the ambition or scope of any of the artists' work."

Biddle's mixed media sculptures and images engage perceptions of time through various grid motifs. Richly ornamented decorative objects are cut and recast by Cowan into lush environments, transforming the detritus of industrial glass factories into something familiar yet unexpected. Julius takes on the intangible through a variety of media, seeking order out of chaos, balance out of unrest. In her images, installations, and drawings, O'Mara explores maps, geographic and experiential, as rendered in words. Of special interest to her are the pauses as new topography emerges. 

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