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Artist Statement
As a maker, I think about how forms convey experience, sensation, and idea. The objects represented in my work create a foundation for tactility and familiarity. Process and craft are ways to examine material as a carrier of meaning. I ask, “How can form, texture, and material create affect? How might my work convey some of the existential concerns in life?”
My current work approaches these problems in mixed-media sculptures that present unique relationships between material and form. In recent work, cast objects take the shape of tools, architectural components, and the human body. Lace is incorporated as a surface and structure to convey a sensation of delicate form. The lace-clad objects, incorporated within sculptural compositions, express the contrasting relationships between strength and fragility, beauty and fallibility. These forms embody structure, substance, and stability while expressing vulnerability.
At the heart of my work is the casting of objects and materials. The casting process is a meditation that gives me time and space to concentrate. The transformational process from actual body into lace form speaks to the ultimate endurance and precarity of life. I often choose to work with cast porcelain slip because it carries this complexity of material association. It is both strong and fragile. I work with cast wax, concrete and other materials to experiment with degrees of meaning and experience. I want to create a space for thinking about the role of these materials in our everyday lives and what they reflect back to us.
Surface, color, and texture are intrinsic to my work. Industrial materials such as rebar, wood, foam, and concrete contextualize the lace forms while creating a dialogue with the built environment. The mixed media sculptures contradict expectations of material identity and function. Rebar, a hidden structural material, is a soft and visually tactile line within my compositions. Carved wood is a natural material that appeals to the corporeal senses. When I am creating a line in rebar or casting and carving a lace form, I am building an understanding of myself. There is endurance, spontaneity, wonder, humor, and vulnerability in the making of my work.
In the year and a half ahead I have three exhibitions that I am preparing for. I choose to approach each of these with a different installation of work that explores a studio question in depth. These questions are the beauty of resilience, the ability for opposing truths to be whole, and the energy that lies in the space between forms. All of these questions are meditations that I have been invested in. They come from unfolding revelations in my own life and take on new urgency this year as I endeavor to focus on their manifestation in my sculpture.
Education
MFA, Sculpture; Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, ME
BFA Sculpture; Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN
BA Spanish Language; Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN
International language program Estudios Internacionales Sampere; Madrid, Spain
SELECTED Solo EXHIBITIONS
2023
Forthcoming: Solo Exhibition at Tractor Works, Minneapolis, MN
Forthcoming: Solo Exhibition at Rosalux, Minneapolis, MN
2022
Breaking Point, Kiehle Gallery, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
Hanging in the Balance, Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2019
Holding Up, Holding With, Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI
Forms in Play, Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2018
Uncertain Structures, Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2014
Among Your Moments: New Work by Betsy Alwin, No Globe Exhibition Space, Brooklyn NY
2011
Hope and Weather, Cobblestone Contemporary, Rochester, NY
2007
Inner Limits, UW Tacoma Gallery, Tacoma, WA
2006
Figments of the Ordinary Life, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY
SELECTED group EXHIBITIONS
2023
Art is My Weapon: Unburden Yourself at Minneapolis Central Library. Organized by Nikki Mccomb
2022
MSA Select, Slocumb Galleries, Eastern Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
Faculty Biennial, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
2021
MPLSART Sketchbook Project Exhibtion, Gamut Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Winter Exhibition, Burnet Fine Art Advisory, Wayzata, MN
Escape, On-line group exhibition, Rosalux Gallery, Minnesota, MN
Art is My Weapon, Minnesota African American Museum and Gallery, Minneapolis, MN. Organized by Nikki McComb and John Schuerman
2020
Ten Artists, Twenty Works, Burnet Fine Art Advisory, Wayzata, MN
Intimacy, On-line group exhibition and catalog, Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Fragments and Supports, 2 person exhibition, Rubine Red Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
Art Palm Springs, Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA
2019
Up Close and Personal, Morrison Gallery, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN
Rubine Red Artists, Rubine Red Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
Rosalux Artists, Icosa Gallery, Austin, TX
Unapologetic: Women’s Ceramics in the Land of Mingei-Sota, NCECA, 3rd Floor Gallery, Northrup King Building, Minneapolis, MN curated by Susan Beiner and
2018
Living Together, Waiting Room Gallery @ Gallery 71, Edina, MN
Art is My Weapon II, Homewood Studios, North Minneapolis, MN
MCAD Faculty Biennial, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
In, Art Show, Hallberg Center for the Arts, Wyoming, MN
2017
Beyond the Canvas, Kolman and Pryor Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Faculty, Emeritus, Alumni, 150!, Carnegie Art Center, Mankato, MN
Art is My Weapon, Gamut Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Only Connect, AIR Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Organized by Alison Owen
Personals, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York, NY
20th Anniversary Exhibition, Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Haus Warming, De Chiara Projects, Stone Ridge, NY
Transitio, Edward J & Helen Jane Morrison Gallery, University of Minnesota, Morris, MN. Curated by Jason Ramey
New Members Exhibition, Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2016
Present Tense, Two person exhibition, Marian Art Gallery, Mount Mary University, Milwaukee, WI
Ancestors are So Yesterday, Biennial Faculty Exhibition. MCAD Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2015
39 x 17, LaMama Galleria, New York, NY
2014
Say / See, part of Bartertown: The Heather Hart Experience - The People’s Economy, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
Among Your Moments: New Work by Betsy Alwin, No Globe Exhibition Space, Brooklyn NY
Art Park, 340 W. Broadway, New York, NY. Curated by Laurie De Chiara
2013
Generations IX, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Dialogue: Past, Present and Future, Group exhibition at TCNJ Art Gallery, Ewing, NJ
Chance and Warmth, Interactive Sculpture, Bartertown, Curated by Heather Hart, Brooklyn, New York
2012
16th Annual Art Under the Bridge Festival, Dumbo Arts Center, Dumbo, Brooklyn
Wish You Were Here, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2011
Faculty Exhibition, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey
Chain Letter, Samson Projects, Boston, Massachusetts
2010
Utica’s Utopia, Islip Art Museum (in conjunction with Sculpture Space), East Islip, New York
Buy What You Love, Jack Shainman Gallery (Rema Hort Mann Foundation), 513 W. 20th St. New York, New York
Wish You Were Here, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Betsy Alwin, Cobblestone Contemporary, Rochester, New York
2009
Reaganography, No Globe Exibition Space, Brooklyn, NY, Curated by Frank Meuschke
Flora, U.S. Botanical Garden, Washington, D.C.
Quality Service, Cooper Union, New York, New York
Me, Myself and I, The College Gallery, Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont
2008
Cultivate, Berkshire Botanical Garden (In conjunction with Badlands, Mass MoCA), Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Curated by Denise Markonish
Generations 6, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, New York
12th Annual Art Under the Bridge Festival, Dumbo Arts Center, Dumbo, Brooklyn
Art and Environment, TCNJ Art Gallery, Ewing, New Jersey
2007
This is That, Peter Fingesten Gallery, Pace University, New York, New York also the Choate House, Pace University, Pleasantville, New York. Curated by Michelle Loughlin
Projects ’07, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York
Inner Limits, Solo show, UW Tacoma Gallery, 1742 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, Washington
2006
Figments of the Ordinary Life, Solo show, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, New York
Generations 5, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, New York
PUBLIC sculpture
2020
Eterne, Silverwood Park, St. Anthony MN
2019
Vaticinium Ex Eventu, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN
2009
(Hole) Zero, Governor’s Island, New York, New York. Organized by Figment
2005
The Favorite Inventions, Onoden Elementary School, Musashino-shi, Tokyo, Japan
RESIDENCIES
2019
Visiting Studio Artist Program, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN
2009
Sculpture Space, Utica, New York
2008
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
2001
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, Maine
AWARDS AND HONORS
2022
Grantee, Creative Support for Individuals Grant, Minneapolis State Arts Board, MN
Grantee, MCAD Faculty Support Grant, Minneapolis, MN
2019
Jerome Foundation Open Studio Fellowship, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN
Grantee, MCAD Faculty Support Grant, Minneapolis, MN
2017
Grantee, Artist Initiative Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board, MN
Grantee, MCAD Faculty Support Grant, Minneapolis, MN
2009
Nominee, Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant
2008
Barbara White Fellowship Award to attend the Vermont Studio Center, Cooper Union, New York, New York
2006
Fellowship Award, A.I.R. Gallery, 511 W. 25th Street, New York, New York
2005
Commission Award, Public Art International Competition, Onoden Elementary School, Musashino-shi, Tokyo, Japan
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wambach, Leia and Alexis Zanghi. “Uncertian Structures / The Small Parts, Review 1 and 2. “ INREVIEW, Summer 2018. http://www.inreview.org
Lefevre, Camille. “The Small Parts / Uncertain Structures,” City Pages. August 1-7, 2018
http://e.startribune.com/Olive/ODN/STCityPages/default.aspx
Locke, Steve. Art and Everything After, “One Question: Betsy Alwin,” January, 2014 http://artandeverythingafter.com/one-question-betsy-alwin/#respond
Field Projects. “Show #17 Top Ten selected by Benjamin Sutton,” December, 2013. http://www.fieldprojectsgallery.com/Index/show_17_Top10.html
Jordan, Elizabeth, "Sculpture Blooms in Botanic Garden," Roll Call: Around the Hill. June 1, 2009
Murry, Larry, "Cultivate, Eleven Commissioned Works for the Berkshire Botanical Gardens," Berkshire Fine Arts. May 18, 2008
Goleas, Janet, "Working the Rooms," Islip Art Museum, Aug. 2007. http://islipartmuseum.org/review09.html
Johnson, Paddy, "This is That at Pace University," Art F City, Dec. 3, 2007. http://www.artfagcity.com/2007/12/03/this-is-that-at-pace-university/