Work of Una Mjurka On View at Ingham Chapman Gallery

For Release - February 6, 2009

The work of Una Mjurka is on exhibit at Ingham Chapman Gallery at UNM-Gallup through March 4.

The exhibition consists of a new series of wall pieces composed of numerous tiles. As Mjurka, a native of Latvia, explains the inspiration for the work: “This new development was informed by moving from the Bay Area to the rapidly changing San Joaquin Valley in Central California. I grew up on a small farm in Latvia. The landscape there, even though it was used for agricultural purposes, maintained its natural characteristics. It felt appropriate to human scale, comfortable to live in, familiar and personal. The environment and landscape of the Central Valley has been completely transformed by large scale commercial farming. The layout of the land has become grid-like, controlled, organized and de-personalized. Today this already altered landscape is going through its next transformation; it is becoming an enclave of urban sprawl and endless subdivisions. The disconnect I harbor towards this artificially created landscape is at the root of my current work.”

Mjurka grew up in Latvia during the Soviet era. In recent years, she has focused on exploration of human nature and conditioning through the prism of Maslow’s pyramid of psychological needs, categorized in two distinguished groups such as “basic” and “being” needs.

“Through my work I celebrate the beauty of simplicity in mundane rituals fulfilling our basic human needs,” Mjurka says. “These rituals award us with a sense of security and purpose, whether it would be building one’s shelter, growing or preparing food for one’s sustenance or seeking meaningful interactions. Unfortunately though, it seems like today’s society, plagued with consumerism, has lost the longing for a higher fulfillment of being needs.”

Mjurka says the emotional discontent she feels is mirrored in her creative process.

“Instead of employing direct hand-building techniques, now I am utilizing plaster press-molds to produce the work,” she said. “Unlike my still lives, where form dominates, here the development of surface treatments has taken center stage. In addition to painted and mono-printed application of engobes [liquid clay slips applied to the surface of ceramics], I also have begun experimenting with line drawing and silk-screening directly on tiles. The employment of various printing methods as a part of surface treatment reflects the character of my somewhat distant and strained relationship with the landscape I occupy.”

An artist lecture is set for Thursday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m. A reception will follow the lecture.

Call John Zimmerman, manager of the gallery, for more information at 863-7774.