Apr. 3, 2014
CWU Art Professor Opens Two Exhibits in April
Art Professor Maya Chachava is undertaking the unusual and arduous endeavor of presenting two exhibitions this month, True Blue, opening Thursday, April 3 in the Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, and Travel Diaries opening Friday, April 4 at Gallery One Visual Arts Center.
“The process of developing and mounting one exhibit is extremely hard work,” said Gregg Schlanger, CWU art chair and professor. “Presenting two in the same month is a remarkable achievement.”
In True Blue, Chachava’s mixed-media prints trace back real or imagined childhood memories through the manipulation of family photographs. She uses a multilayered process of digital imagery, printmaking, and drawing to create a dense, mark-making surface. True Blue, which will also feature painter Natalya Burd, will open with the artists’ lectures at 4:00 p.m. in Randall Hall, room 117. The lecture will be followed by a reception in the gallery from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The Sarah Spurgeon Gallery is located in Randall Hall on the CWU campus.
In Travel Diaries, a new body of work, her objective was to create mixed-media images using bits and pieces from various paintings and found materials and to challenge more familiar ways of compositional choices. She wanted to convey the feeling of discovering the exotic and mysterious world of Istanbul where East and West are so beautifully intertwined. Travel Diaries will be displayed from April 4 through April 26, and there will be an opening reception on April 4 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Gallery One is located at 408 Pearl Street in Ellensburg.
“My work is deeply rooted in the myths and legends of my native culture, childhood memories, lost and found connections in my new life,” writes Chachava. “I try to fully rely on the process and inherent properties of the chosen media. My major objective is to infuse the work with expressive quality and meaning, but still retain a sense of mystery.”
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, (Soviet Union), Chachava completed her BFA in English Language and Literature at Tbilisi Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. She earned a BFA in Fine Arts and Spanish at CWU in 1997 and received her MFA in painting from the University of Washington in 2000. She returned to CWU as a professor in 2005.
In addition to solo exhibitions at Linda Hodges Gallery In Seattle, Square Inch Gallery In New York, Utah Museum Of Fine Arts in SLC and Chardin Gallery in Tbilisi, her work has been featured in over 40 group shows including those at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, Brad Cooper Gallery in Tampa, Liz Afif Gallery In Philadelphia, Steward Gallery in Boise and Springville Museum of Art in SLC.
Graphic: Maya Chachava, "Childhood," 30 in. x 40 in., mixed media print, 2014
Media Contact: Valerie Chapman-Stockwell, Public Affairs, 509-963-1518, valeriec@cwu.edu