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The Gallery at Chapin Features Printmaking of Shelley Thorstensen - “Counterpoint: The Leap from Vision to Print” from January 31 - March 10, 2011. Reception on Wednesday, February 2 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Gallery at Chapin will feature the printmaking work of Shelley Thorstensen in an exhibit entitled “Counterpoint: The Leap from Vision to Print” from January 31 through March 10, 2011 with a reception for the artist on Wednesday, February 2 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Shelley Thorstensen is a master printermaker.  Her printed images are complex and a combination of multiple techniques and creativity that form an integrated composition.  In arriving at her image content, Thorstensen doesn’t just copy subjects seen in the environment.  Instead, she combines her personalized interpretations of those references with her memory and imagination which are then inked and printed on fine rag paper. “I see my work,” explains Thorsetensen, “as a direct expression of consciousness, as in a feedback loop where the bilateral symmetry of the plate to print directly reflects my body, my imprint.  I see it as a method to look at myself in a mirror, a psychological means to literally face myself while making work.”

“It is a physical fact,” continues Thorstensen ,“that while working on a plate one stands behind yet in front of oneself, as if unmediated. This phenomenon occurs throughout the processes intrinsic to what we ascribe as the medium; in the conceiving, in the making, in the reflecting.  They are part and parcel of the process.  I am consistently and continually intrigued by what this process offers me emotionally and aesthetically.  For me, it is compelling enough to warrant continued and prolonged study.”

Ms. Thorstensen has a BFA in Experimental Studies from Syracuse University, School of Visual & Performing Arts and an MFA in Printmaking from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. She currently teaches printmaking and drawing at Tyler School of Art and Muhlenberg College.  She has taught at Moore College of Art, Rutgers Mason/Gross School of Art, and Minneapolis College of Art and Design.  “Counterpoint: The Leap from Vision to Print” is traveling from the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia to Chapin School following rave reviews.  Thorstensen has recently exhibited in the prestigious show “INK Miami Art Fair.” Her work can be seen at Dolan/Maxwell in Philadelphia.  Thorstensen’s work is collected across the U.S., Europe and Japan.

In addition to the artist reception, the exhibit can be viewed by appointment during school hours between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The Chapin School is located at 4101 Princeton Pike, Princeton, NJ. To make an appointment to visit the gallery, please call 609-924-7206.