"Faculty Spotlight"

St. Ambrose Art Department faculty members, Kristin Quinn, MFA and Renee Meyer Ernst, MFA, are featured in the exhibit, "Faculty Spotlight," in the Catich Gallery.

Join us for a Question & Answer with the artists  on Wednesday, March 15, at 3 p.m.

Renee Meyer Ernst

DisplacedSpace.com

NOTE: There are three versions of this website, all viewable from the same URL.
Each version explores three different questions: ‍ Where did all the children go? Where will all the children go? Where should all the children go? ‍

The theme and question displayed depends on the device you're using, as well as the orientation of the device (mobile portrait, mobile landscape, desktop/tablet). Why? Because in this world, perspective is everything.

As an intercultural/interracial adoptee, immigrant, minority, and single mother of two, I find myself falling into many roles & categories yet unable to fit under a single one-perpetually displaced. Recent events concerning adoption, immigration, and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed many others in similar situations. People are longing for connection and empathy, yet finding themselves isolated and misunderstood. This moving collage explores the dynamic of uprooted relationships, physical distance, and diverse experiences behind a single event. ‍

Dedicated to all who've ever felt displaced.

Kristin Quinn

My painting process is energized and transformed by study of the natural world. Exploring new ecosystems in uncommon environments is valuable visual and conceptual research. Living along the Mississippi flyway gives front door access to observe bird migration patterns. I love the puzzle of "finding" a particular species of warbler, such tiny gems of birds. I study their songs, their characteristic behaviors and their distinct coloring and wait for their arrival and sadly, departure. For me the most important aspect of birding is the time spent outside by the river or in a grove of trees. I watch light change, see reflections on water, look for movement in the trees. My work is informed by this exploration of light, reflection, water and patterns.

​In the past three years I have had the opportunity to travel north to the Great Lakes of Superior and Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, Northern Wisconsin and the north shore of Minnesota. The exoticness of this landscape - full of rivers, bogs, preserves, fens, falls and lakes. These diverse waterways have been a large source of inspiration for my most recent work. The driftless landscapes, endless floating other-worldly spaces, waterfalls with phosphorescent mists have entered my paintings and have become metaphors for our current pandemic era. The knotted, painted combinations force a continual shift of attention among the many levels. I compare this to a single moment in landscape and the competing levels of activity. It's the density of this kind of experience that continues to raise questions and excite me as a painter.

Catich Gallery Hours During the Academic Year

Fall and Spring Semesters
Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Closed Saturday and Sunday