Fair Ophelia

Julianna Foster and Lori Spencer
Friday, May 7th - Sunday, May 30th, 2010

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Fair Ophelia marks the first collaboration between Julianna Foster and Lori Spencer, although both have a history of collaborating with other artists. While examining, interpreting and elaborating on the life and death of the character Ophelia, the ideas generated from Ophelia’s story will explore the myriad-layered portrayal of this woman seen through the eyes and perspective of the three fates from Greek mythology. By defining the three fates as the Spinner/Weaver, the Measurer/Builder, the Cutter/Warrior which are thought to determine a person’s lifespan: the making, the measure and the cutting of the life-thread, a new dialogue emerges as these stories intermingle. The investigation of these characters will be realized through photography, video and text.

Julianna Foster is a Vox Populi member and a Senior Lecturer in the Media Arts Department at The University of the Arts. Lori Spencer is an Associate Professor in Printmaking at The University of the Arts. As a printmaker, Lori Spencer incorporates traditional print such as screen-printing and lithography with new innovative digital processes to create imagery that reveals an ongoing investigation into and with the medium. Her imagery explores states of existence as a response to environmental stimuli. She often juxtaposes multiple images together with text as a means of setting up a dialog. Focusing primarily on the photographic image, Julianna Foster’s most recent work features distinct pictorial narratives. Drawing upon her interests in cinematography, Foster presents a combination or series of images—sometimes sequential, some times not—that take the form of framed photographs, a book or video which, similar to Spencer’s strategy of juxtaposing images, convey a larger subject and meaning.

This exhibition was made possible by a Faculty Enrichment Grant from UArts.