The ETSU Slocumb Galleries held an awarding reception followed by a juror’s lecture to conclude the “Positive/Negative 39 National Juried Art Exhibition” on March 7.

The exhibit highlighted 39 artists that underwent a selection process held by this year’s juror, Michelle Millar Fisher.

“While the selection process was undertaken with no specific criteria or predetermined theme in mind, several strands of inquiry emerged in constellations of work once the 39 artists had been chosen. These themes include a pronounced attentiveness to mothering, caretaking and the emotional and physiological aspects of human reproduction; the expressive and abstract potential of color, materiality and form across media; the enduring importance of the natural world as a source of artistic inspiration, including sensitivity to ecological issues and the fragile wonder of the environment; and the continued centrality of the human figure through which to explore questions of subjectivity and relationality,” said Fisher.

Four artists received an award in recognition of their art and its story. Valerie George was recognized as “Best in Show” and Eloise Philpot, Monika Malewska and Elizabeth Weber received honorable mentions.

Photo taken at the Positive/Negative 39 National Juried Art Exhibition. (Contributed/ETSU Slocumb Galleries Facebook)

Valerie George focused her art on human figures, tapping into the life of another through a photographic narrative. In her nude portrait, she reflects on nude female portraits painted by European artists in the nineteenth century and shows admiration for feminist ancestors that were questioned of illness, disability and the female body.

Monika Malewska expressed her opinion on capitalism and consumption with her abstract and unidentifiable shapes that depict a myriad of objects such as spaghetti, ground meat and intestines. Elizabeth Weber and Eloise Philpot centered their subjects around nature, Weber displaying a hand-crafted pine-needle basket to explain nature’s role in supplying its raw materials, and Philpot’s animation of paint swirls to tell a story of natural life cycles and seasonal fluctuations.

The “Positive/Negative 39 National Juried Art Exhibition” has been held at Slocumb Galleries since 2007, growing over the years. What began as “Positive/Negative 22” has grown from 22 artists to 39 artists, each year adding a new number of hand-selected artists.

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