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The Distance Between

Monika Meler

 20^th May – 10^th June 2010

Monika Meler, Drogna Powrotna, Relief Print

Limerick Printmakers Studio and Gallery are delighted to present an exhibition of original fine art prints by Polish American artist Monika Meler. The show will open on Thursday the 20^th of May at 8pm.

Meler was born in Brodnica, Poland in the 1980’s, a time of tension between Eastern and Western Europe. At the age of ten, and a year before Poland’s ‘Solidarity’ movement, Meler and her family immigrated to Chicago. She lived in the United States without returning to her home country for fourteen uninterrupted years, and in her absence Poland’s political and economic situation changed drastically.

‘During my first visit to Poland after the fourteen-year absence, that spaces that I occupied as a child changed significantly.  These changes made me realize that the existence of some places and events were purely fictional and invented.  Yet this did not matter because no matter how much I looked at these actual places, I could only remember them the way they had existed in my mind.  The image of Brodnica that exists in my memory is so strongly engraved, it could never be replaced by actuality; my memory is my reality.  The house in which I grew up was recently painted pink by the new owners, yet it will always be the yellow that I remember from my childhood.  My work explores the invented landscapes and events that are components of these memories of childhood. During my visit to Poland, it became explicitly clear to me that I have always split my identity in half.  One part of me resides in America, while the other lives purely in a constant state of nostalgia for Brodnica.’

Meler’s prints, invite viewers to be in, look upon, and explore these spaces and events that exist in her mind. She prints in many layers, which is similar to the way that memory is formed. She use’s abstract forms that reference vessels, buildings, maps, and structures.  These references are all important aspects of her memories.  Images repeat, change, become more or less dominant, and change direction.  All of these actions mimic the actions of memory. 

‘My work expands upon the limits and boundaries of printmaking through the use of alternative print media. Traditional printmaking embraces technique more than concept.   Reversing this tradition has allowed me to explore concept over technique, while negotiating the tensions that invariably exist between traditional and alternative print media, which is similar to the way that I constantly negotiate the tension between past and present in everyday life.’

Meler is a professor of printmaking in Wichita State University, Kansas, USA. She has exhibited widely in the United States and internationally. Solo shows include 2008, Customizing the Matrix, Hendrix College Gallery, Arkansas. 2007, Past/Present/Tense, Temple University Rome Gallery, Rome, Italy. 2005, Memory Nostalgia Virus Vessell, West Gallery, Visual and Performing Arts Department, Perdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

The exhibition will run until 10^th of June. For further information please contact Limerick Printmakers Studio and Gallery at the details below. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 11am to 5.30pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm.

All are welcome. Admission is free.

Limerick Printmakers Studio and Gallery Ltd. acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council.