press

Reprinted with permission from the Denver Post.

Family photographs infuse mixed-media show
By Kyle MacMillan
Denver Post Fine Arts Critic
Friday, April 8, 2005

Regis University’s O’Sullivan Arts Center likes to spotlight significant if sometimes offbeat artists who have been overlooked or neglected by the rest of the local art establishment.

Fitting that bill in many ways is Dawn Howkinson Siebel, a still little-known Boulder artist whose eccentric mixed-media works are showcased through April 21 in an intriguing solo exhibition at the university gallery.

The largely self-taught artist bounced through an array of styles and media before 2000, when her father gave her a collection of family photographs that have been the inspiration for her work since, including the 29 selections in this show.

In one way or another, she incorporates digital prints of the photographs in all her works and then paints and otherwise manipulates them, investing them with at least partially fanciful narratives, hence the exhibition’s apt title, “Biased Biographies.”

The result are pieces that deal with memory, nostalgia and the passage of time. Perhaps most important, Siebel is a visual storyteller, providing texts with some of the pieces that offer memories and interpretations of the events depicted in the scene.

Although many of these pieces have a certain folk quality, they are, for the most part, sophisticated artworks, especially the museum-quality assemblage, “The Weight of History.” In this spellbinding piece, she has hung from a rusted, wheeled scale two or three dozens glass chemistry bottles with tiny photographs in them.

This work relates in interesting ways to that of famed French artist Christian Boltanski, but it is unclear whether that connection is coincidence or whether she has looked at his work. Indeed, how much she pays attention to the rest of the contemporary art world is an open question throughout this show.

There are hits and misses among the selections, which range from a wall installation to tiny painted snapshots. Among the most successful are 16 1-foot-square paintings, in which Siebel builds a composition around a vintage snapshot that has been printed onto canvas-texture paper and collaged to a wood panel.

This veteran artist has struck a rich creative vein in this latest body of work. Let’s hope she keeps mining it with the same compelling originality.

Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.

Solo shows
Here are the details on these two solo shows in Denver:
“BIASED BIOGRAPHIES”|Mixed-media paintings and sculptures by Dawn Howkinson Siebel|Through April 21|O’Sullivan Arts Center, Regis University, 3333 Regis Boulevard|Free|1:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesdays, 2:30-5 p.m. Wednesdays, 2-8 p.m. Thursdays, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Fridays and 11 a.m. -3 p.m. Saturdays; 303-458-4287

ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS & OTHER MEDIA:

* Denver Post, Denver, CO April 8, 2005, “Family Photographs Infuse Mixed Media Show” by Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post Fine Arts Critic, p. 3FF (image)
* American Art Collector, 2004, Vol. 1, Book 2, p. 79, Alcove Books, Berkeley CA
* Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, Denver, CO, August 2004, “Itinerary” section, p. 82 (image)
* Vail Daily, August 6, 2004, “Soke Fine Art: Memories” (image)
* Vail Daily, October 27, 2003, “Soke-ing it Up in Minturn” by Wren Wertin, Arts In Entertainment section cover story
* KMGH TV, Denver CO, October 5th, 2003, Sunday morning news show interview
* Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, Denver CO, October 2003, “Itinerary” section, p. 44 (image)
* Westword, Denver CO, January 23-29, 2003
“Art: Artbeat” by Michael Paglia
* Rocky Mountain News, Denver CO, January 18, 2003
“Critic’s Choice” by Mary Voelz Chandler, (image)
* Denver Post, Denver CO, January 3, 2003
“Best Bets,” (image)
* Boulder Weekly, Boulder, CO, December 14-20, 2000
“Artflash: Beauty Meets the Beastly” by Kristie Betts
* Daily Camera, Boulder, CO, Sunday, December 24, 2000
“Perceived Beauty Explored in Dairy Display” by J. Gluckstern
* 1490 KWAB Radio, Boulder CO, January, 2000
Interview with Gina Ferrari
* Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO, April 28, 2000
“The Mask Project”
* Colorado Daily, Boulder, CO, September 24, 1998
“Even this Article is Not Ed” by Mark Gelband
* Boulder Planet, Boulder, CO, September 23-29, 1998
“This is Not Ed” by Jennifer Heath
* Boulder Weekly, Boulder, CO, September 10, 1998
“Panorama Picks” by David Serchuk
* Daily Camera, Boulder, CO, August 31, 1998
“Go & See” by Daniel Zantzinger