Five Maine artists featured at UMA exhibition through Nov. 7

AUGUSTA – Five Maine artists working in five different media – painting, installation, photography, performance and computer programing – explore how their work addresses point of view at a University of Maine at Augusta exhibition that runs through Nov. 7.

In “Above, Below, Before, Behind, Within,” artists Eileen Gillespie, Frank Mauceri, Kristin Dillon, Rachel Zheng and Heather Lyon use point of view as a point of departure for their works: paintings, algorithmic drawings, portrait photography, installation, and performance/video.
The exhibition, which began Oct. 4, is in the Charles Danforth Gallery, Jewett Hall.
The artwork provokes such questions as: Does a work of art put the viewer in a unique place? Are you as an artist putting me in your shoes? Do you want me to see from a certain vantage point in order to gain perspective? Do you want to celebrate a space, person or an object differently?
Gillespie’s painting has become inspired by a bird’s eye view while sitting in a plane. Zheng’s “site-specific, sculptural installation of monofilament interrupts a familiar space and draws attention to architectural specificities.”
Mauceri uses “the computer as a tool for stipulating procedures and constructing systems; making marks that refer to, and resist, the gestures of drawing.” Lyon uses her body to probe a depth of emotion, “video and performance work to explore the ways in which we negotiate longing, loss, power, and desire within interpersonal relationships.”
Dillon explores the relationship between people and their most prized possessions, “expos[ing] truths about each person while generating more curiosity.”
Events scheduled throughout the exhibition include a series of Potluck Talks at which the artists will discuss their work, hosted by Community of Artists for UMA Social Empowerment.They are both from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. Frank Mauceri, digital drawing, is Oct. 16, and Eileen Gillespie, painting, is Oct. 23.
There will also be a dinner reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct 18, at which Zheng will provide an installation talk and Lyon will perform. Tickets are required.
To buy tickets, visi, umabookstore.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.