April & May Exhibit: Martina Celerin

Works by Artist Martina Celerin on exhibit in City Hall Atrium

[The Offering by Martina Celerin|image:4772]

Bloomington, IN - The City of Bloomington and BEAD will showcase work in fiber by local artist Martina Celerin in the City Hall Atrium April 1 - May 13, 2009.

The exhibit, entitled Inch by Inch, Row by Row features three dimensional works inspired by nature, imagination and memory. [Fruit Salad by Martina Celerin|image:4771,right]

Martina Celerin was born in Prague, immigrated to Canada and eventually came to Bloomington to accept a postdoctoral position as a molecular geneticist in the Biology Department at Indiana University. In 2002, she left IU to begin her art career as a painter, primarily using oil and acrylic. Feeling unfulfilled by the two dimensional limitations of the medium, Martina adapted her work, adding found objects to her paintings. Not entirely satisfied with the results, Martina soon realized that to achieve her artistic vision, she would need to weave her own canvases. By incorporating needle felting, found objects, textures and shapes, as well as colors and coarsenesses into the canvas, she was able to push the dimensional limits of wall art to create weaving-felting fusions that are three dimensional tapestries. [Three Sunflowers by Martina Celerin|image:4141,left]

In the few years that Martina has been weaving, she has won several awards including first place in the 2007 4th Street Festival 3-D category, Best in Show at the 2007 Penrod Art Fair in Indianapolis, First Place Award of Excellence in the 60th Annual Wabash Juried Exhibition in Terra Haute, and First Place in the 2004 Governors Environmental Art Challenge sponsored by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Indiana Arts Council. In addition, she has been a featured speaker at educational conferences, museums, arts workshops and schools throughout Indiana.

The exhibit is free to the public during City Hall's regular business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday.

Additional information can be found at www.MartinaCelerin.com or www.MartinaCelerin.blogspot.com.

The City of Bloomington is committed to providing opportunities for Bloomington and area artists to exhibit artwork in City Hall Atrium. For more information on the City Hall Atrium exhibition program, contact: Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts, at michaelm@bloomington.in.gov or (812) 349-3534.