At a glance
The Bret Llewellyn Art Gallery is currently hosting an exhibit “My Chinoiserie” until Friday, Dec. 1. The exhibition features the concept art and animation assets for a short film in progress by artist and filmmaker, Amy Lee Ketchum.
The Bret Llewellyn Art Gallery is currently hosting an exhibit “My Chinoiserie” until Friday, Dec. 1. The exhibition features the concept art and animation assets for a short film in progress by artist and filmmaker, Amy Lee Ketchum.
In the exhibit she visualizes the contrast between the fascination with Asian culture on the one hand and the xenophobia towards Asian immigrants on the other. By utilizing the language of Chinoiserie (a decorative art style, French for “in the style of the Chinese”), she explores her hybrid identity as an Asian American. The work experiments in Chinese ink painting, painting on ceramics, embroidery, and stop-animation.
On the closing night of the exhibit on Friday, Dec. 1, Ketchum will be on campus for a reception. The event will begin at 3 p.m. and will include an artist talk and a workshop.
Ketchum creates poetic narratives and abstract worlds in her animations which draw from personal and collective memory, metaphysical narratives, and dance. She holds a Bachelor of Art in art and architecture from UC Berkely and a Master of Fine Art in animation from the University of Southern California. Her work has been shown on broadcast independent television, various international film festivals, and on the Centre Pompidou web channel.
She currently resides in Philadelphia and teaches at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where she is the chair of animation. She is also a member of the artist collective Tiger Strikes Asteroid and a founding member of a Philadelphia experimental animation group, the Animation Ensemble.
The Llewellyn Art Gallery is in room 312 in the Engineering Technology Building. The gallery is open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. with extra hours during the Alfred Art Walk on Oct. 19 from 5 – 8 p.m.