A VISUAL MEMOIR is a Solo Retrospective of Cassandra Swierenga’s Art Practice

A VISUAL MEMOIR is a solo retrospective of Cassandra Swierenga’s art practice, exhibited at the Elmhurst Artists’ Guild Gallery at the Elmhurst Art Museum.

Twenty-five years ago, Swierenga's painting journey began with an introductory class at the College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In the semesters that followed, Swierenga had the opportunity to experiment with various painting mediums and techniques, such as oils, egg tempera, encaustic, watercolor, fresco, and acrylic. As Swierenga developed her painting practice, she focused primarily on realism in oils. In 2007, she started painting in watercolor and became a member of the Illinois Watercolor Society, achieving Signature membership in 2010. She briefly attended painting classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and taught watercolor painting at the Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College for five years. Swierenga joined the Elmhurst Artists Guild in 2013, where she is currently a member. She also served on the EAG Board of Directors for nine years, holding various roles including Program Director and President of the board.

Swierenga’s style and focus have changed and evolved over the years. Early in her practice, she focused on realistic figurative portraits of children in oil, with each painting attempting to capture the innocence and spontaneity of a child. Her first solo show in 2002, “Children of Abby Woods”, showcased many of these portraits. Her style, subject matter, and mediums have evolved over the years to include works in woodblock printing, screen printing, oils, watercolors, collages, and acrylics. By creating in these different mediums, styles, and subjects, she aims for her work to capture a sense of wide-eyed wonder about life, surreptitiously giving the viewer insight into their own thoughts and feelings as they view the images. This show, covering her last 25 years of work, reflects her various experiences, influences, and explorations, which quite recently involved a deep dive into Wassily Kandinsky’s approach to art during the pandemic, where she experimented in abstract modernism.

This exhibition, titled A VISUAL MEMOIR, will feature selections from various collections Swierenga has created over the years. The showcased pieces will include works from the watercolor Black Bird Farm series, the Rock and Water series in oils and watercolor, and her abstract watercolor series. Additionally, her latest graphite series, Looking in the Mirror, will complete the show with over 40 plus small portraits of people. These portraits demonstrate a wide range of facial expressions that can be conveyed through simple lines and shading. Please join us for an opening reception on September 13, 2024, and take the opportunity to meet and talk with Swierenga about her art practice.

The artist's proceeds go to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.