The Artist Space Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the first Artist's Choice online Art Exhibition. Along with the selected artists, the jury selected award winners in the following art categories: painting, photography and sculpture. The show displayed a variety of artistic styles and mediums: oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, gouache, marble, ink, digital art and photography. Out of all submissions received 50 artworks were selected to be included in the exhibition.
Best of Show
Joel Shapses
Short Biography and Statement
I have been sculpting for over fifty years. I started out in college by taking elective courses in my junior and senior years. I immediately fell in love with the process. What I try to achieve is originality in design and beauty in form. My creative inspiration is fuelled by my subconscious mind which is filled with the images of the masters such as Michelangelo, Moore, Hepworth and Arp. Each sculpture I create is a derivative of these masters. I started out in stone but after a while I began to incorporate other materials in my designs. Neon lighting was introduced to bring a new dimension to translucent stones. Today I use led lights to create more dynamic colors. I work in various mediums, metal, aluminum, granite, fused glass, marble ,alabaster, canvases and bronze. These new materials added more fuel to my now combine as many imaginations as possible and I these different mediums help me to create my artist expression. I create to delight, to interest, to provoke thought & to move & inspire.
Painting Prize
Cher Pruys
Short Biography and Statement
Cher Pruys, ASAA SCA, IGOR, AAPL, CSAA, AMS, LMS, OSA, MAA, CFA, NOAPS, PSOA, AWA., AAOA. "To take my inner visions with my hands and create a work of art for you the viewer .... That is the ultimate in self expression." Cher Pruys was born in Regina. Over the years she lived in many places including Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Fort Frances, settling into her present home in Devlin, on the banks of the Rainy River with her husband Mark, and pets. By age three, Cher was seldom found without a drawing tool in hand. She worked in pencil, charcoal and ink over the years, until, she picked up a paintbrush at the age of 35. Beginning with oil paints, she found her chosen mediums in acrylic, watercolor and gouache. Although self taught, her dedication and talent has seen her work juried into 659 International exhibits. She has won 993 awards for her work in the International Juried Exhibits. Her work has graced the covers of 3 books, 38 magazines, including The Best Of Acrylic Fall 2021, cover of the May 2022 Arabella Magazine, #20 Hyperrealism Magazine with “Girls Girls Girls”, & #21 with “The Young Cowboy”, Artists & Illustrators March 2024 & the latest Artistonish 2024 July edition. She has been featured in over 480 International publications. Cher's works have found a permanent home in private and public collections worldwide.
Sculpture Prize
jason Shih
Short Biography and Statement
Jason Shih was born in 1972 in Taiwan. In 1991, he began to specialize in metal sculpture when he was a sophomore in the Fine Arts Dept. of Taipei National University of the Arts. In 2001, he graduated from School for American Crafts, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA, and majored in Metal Sculpture. And then, he served as the metal sculptor Albert Paley's assistant, involved in crafts and public art work practices. Furthermore, he earned his Art Ph. D. from China Academy of Art, China (2015). Now, he lives in Taiwan, and consistently engages in the both areas of sculpture and public art. Jason Shih’s artistic vision is shaped by a diverse array of influences, from contemporary dance to avant-garde fashion. He cites German choreographer Pina Bausch and British designer Alexander McQueen as significant inspirations. Bausch’s explorations of time and space resonate with Shih’s interest in sculpture’s capacity to embody kinetic energy and spatial imagination. McQueen’s innovative approach to contemporary imagery and themes provides Shih with a broad canvas for creative expression. Shih’s work is also influenced by the aesthetic principles of Futurism and Constructivism, movements that emphasize dynamic energy and continuous motion. These influences are evident in his pursuit of capturing the beauty of movement and the elegant restraint of natural forces. Shih’s sculptures often depict moments of defying gravity, capturing the fleeting beauty of motion in a static form. As a professional sculptor, Jason likes to experience the taste of life with perceptual observation in the subtle moments, and also likes the ever-changing situation of game shapes in the poetic imaginary space. For Jason, art creation is to share various moods and stories in daily life.
Photography Prize
John diephouse
Short Biography and Statement
I am a primarily self-taught photographer and am attracted to a wide variety of subjects ranging from natural landscapes, botanicals and street photography to images that reflect themes ranging from abstract expression to social commentary. I am interested in sharing images that evoke a story of some kind. Images may be simply documentary, reflect a sense of time and place, or resonate on a more abstract level of color, shape or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection. Most often I am drawn back to images created while wandering through the upper Midwest. These images of architecture, commerce and social interactions that often reflect a mixture of nostalgia and a changing set of forces that shape life in the heartlands. Most recently I have begun exploring digital collages as a means of expression. I have exhibited widely and have earned recognition in local, regional, and national exhibitions. My photographs are also included in several corporate and private collections.
Winners