2015 Members’ Exhibit Award Winner: Joanna Mersereau

Exhibition: April 5 – May 1, 2016

The Riverside Art Museum is proud to continue an ongoing series of mini-exhibition features highlighting artist-members who have received awards in previous Members’ Exhibitions. Joanna Mersereau was a Honorable Mention winner back in 2015.

Artist Statement:

I believe that everything is connected—the earth, the sea, all life forms, and the universe. My way of showing this philosophy is in my technique of  ‘see-through’ arcs and lack of perspective. Unlike usual perspective which places objects in the foreground as larger, in my paintings size does not matter. As in sumi scrolls, the higher in the painting, the farther the object. In my paintings, an object can be the same size, whether in foreground or background. My intention is for the viewer to be engrossed visually in the painting, with his eye continuing to follow new paths in lines and values. The painting is successful if the viewer sees traditional objects, which morph into semi-abstract design, then back into representation, i.e., a circular path.

About Dashilism:

In March 2015, Joanna Mersereau created a new kind of painting she called “Dashilism”. Two layers of paint are formed, with the first layer being a traditional complete image. The second layer is a series of lines formed by quarter-inch dashes on top of the first layer. The second layer could be composed of vertical or horizontal lines of dashes.

The interesting effect of dashilism is that, at close range, the painting takes on the look of a tapestry. As the viewer steps back, the dashilism effect is lost and the painting becomes traditional in appearance.

At present, the series contains several paintings with more to come. All are approximately 30”x11”, which is half of a typical watercolor full sheet, divided vertically.

The first layer of dashilism is in transparent watercolor; the second layer, because of the need for the dashes to be opaque, is done in gouache, an opaque watercolor.