Everything is Othered

Jeffrey Haddorff's recent work are sometimes botanical, sometimes anatomical, sometimes architectural, always interested in the physicality of working with clay, the dialog between maker and material, color, surface, scale, the work being arecord of the action in the studio. Jeffrey is interested in how parts come together or don’t, how shapes talk to each other. He is exploring how far he can push the clay before it tears or collapses and if it's possible to go beyond that point. Jeffrey is open to the metaphorical possibilities of this process and its result, though he is not interested in overtly dictating or narrowing these possibilities. Jeff strives to get out of the way intellectually and to trust that intuition and the act of making will lead the way.

Jeffrey sees it as his job to be curious and engaged broadly with the world and with culture at large, be it the arts, politics, nature, whatever.However Jeff is disinterested in his work being topical, or a direct comment on anything other than the vicissitudes of being a human in complicated times. Jeffrey’s desire for the work is that it will reward those who approach it empathetically, Jeff would like his work to be felt rather than understood. Jeffrey is dedicated to ceramic processes and materials and also in thwarting the orthodoxy of ceramic art and its prioritizing of technical virtuosity over raw expression.

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Janet Lobberecht's recent paintings and multimedia work are evidence of prior and recent creations coalescing, introducing a continual wave of discovery that oscillates between the past, present, and future. As we fuse in and out of many forms and spaces, her work invites us to question what "human" will mean in the future. Drawing upon the quintessential art historical hierarchy of genres—history, portraiture, landscape, daily life scenes, and still life—Lobberecht denies the traditional hierarchical order by combining all genres into a singular composition.

Janet’s practice sits between multimedia works & painting, where she ponders the complex precariousness of our world and envisions possible futures for our planet and all species, both living and nonliving. She holds an MFA in Transdisciplinary Design from Parsons School of Design | The New School, NYC, with a focus on systems and urban ecologies. Her work has been recognized with a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant, the McKnight Visual Arts Fellowship, and the Jerome Emerging Artist Fellowship.