OVAC-OK.ORG • 405.879.2400

I hope that these four selected artists

present an accurate cross-section of the

wide variety of talent and media

submitted to the Fellowship program. The

work of all four intersperse their own real

and authentic personal histories into a

wider examination of that individual’s

place in society, while at the same time

anchoring their work in an understanding

of their locality. Lindsay Larremore and

Mark Zimmerman concentrate on the

personal, both using their impressive

command of traditional media to actuate

their examination of the relevance of the

personal to universal. While Zimmerman

takes from his own painful personal family

history, Larremore uses the intensely

private medium of paint to mimic the

un-examined minutiae of her everyday life.

Positioned as the ‘other’ in a universalized

landscape of Oklahoma, Eyakem Gulilat

uses photography to expose both his

adopted home and his immigrant status,

allowing the viewer to experience his

CURATOR’S STATEMENT

OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS FELLOWSHIP

& STUDENT AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

• 2 0 1 1 •

sense of displacement, re-presenting the

familiar landscapes of rural Oklahoma as

new and strange. Paul Bagley’s complex

sculptures and attendant performance,

rooted in the landscapes and rural culture

of Oklahoma, also seek to universalize and

re-present those places as full of rich

layers of metaphor and experience; both

artists drawing deep strength from their

locality while ensuring that the viewer can

fully understand the intent of the artist as

present within the work.

Ben Heywood - Executive Director

The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN

Cover Images:

Paul Bagley, Symbiosis, 2010, Wood, steel, incandescent

lights, fasteners, fabric, 9’ x 11’ x 18’

Eyakem Gulilat, Norman, Grandfather’s Morning Prayer,

Archival inkjet print, 16” x 20”

PAUL BAGLEY • OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship

Through his three-dimensional, multimedia work, Bagley encourages communal, creative or functional interactivity. He often generates artwork in response to the location where he works. The origin of materials provides the conceptual framework for every piece, such as wood recycled from demolished buildings or adaptive reuse of outdated technology.

“In studying sustainable design over the years, I’ve developed sensitivity to the layers of applied design integrated into our modern culture and how art appreciation functions within this realm,” said Bagley. He said this examination of our rapidly changing world “drives my creativity, addressing embodied energy, processing methods, material up-cycling, and those relationships relative to their history and environmental impact.”

Bagley received a BFA in Visual Communications from the University of Oklahoma.

PAU L B AG L E Y.CO M

EYAKEM GULILAT • NORMAN Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship

Gulilat’s photographs address how identity forms in the junctures of cross-cultural encounter. He focuses on communities that are underrepresented and his own memories of new cultures and physical landscapes.

“I treat my camera as a tool that captures one moment of a larger dialogue that occurs between me and my subjects,” said Gulilat. “Photographing the space in-between, along with both my perspective and my subject’s perspective, results in a collapse between boundaries.”

Gulilat received an MFA in Media Art/Photography from the University of Oklahoma and a BAS in Photojournalism and Art from Abilene Christian University.

E YA K E M .CO M 

LINDSAY LARREMORE • TULSA Student Award of Excellence

Larremore recently received her BFA in Studio Art from Oklahoma State University. Through her painting series, she explores issues of privacy in public and personal settings. The perspective of her oil paintings brings the viewer into the role of voyeur, capturing moments in the life of a young woman.

L I N D SAY L A R R E M O R E .CO M

THE OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS COALITION HELPS ARTISTS THRIVE IN OKLAHOMA. OVAC SERVES OVER 4,500 ARTISTS

ANNUALLY THROUGH THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, FUNDING, EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS.

THE OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS FELLOWSHIPS AND STUDENT AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE RECOGNIZE OKLAHOMA

ARTISTS WITH OUTSTANDING VISION, REWARDING THEM FOR THEIR PAST ACHIEVEMENT AND FUTURE PROMISE. A

GUEST CURATOR SELECTS THE AWARDS THROUGH AN OPEN CALL PROCESS.

VIEW VIDEO INTERVIEWS WITH THE FELLOWSHIP AWARD WINNERS AT YOUTUBE.COM/OKVISUALARTS

MARK ZIMMERMAN • EDMOND Student Award of Excellence

Zimmerman recently received his MFA with an emphasis in Photography from the University of Oklahoma. His current body of work, invites viewers to contemplate their existence and the continuation of time. Using precarious photographic processes, he explores impermanence as a reminder that people, places and things decline, decay and die.

M A R K W Z I M M E R M A N .CO M

Paul Bagley, Symbiosis, 2010, Wood, steel, incandescent lights, fasteners, fabric, 9’ x 11’ x 18’

Lindsay Larremore, 4:22 PM, 2010, Oil on panel, 6.5” in diameter

Mark Zimmerman, A Fragile Existence Plate 6, 2011, Collodion photography on mirror, 6.5” x 8.5”

Eyakem Gulilat, Memories of my Father, 2010, Archival inkjet print, 16” x 20”

Sophie and Eyakem Gulilat, Archival Ink Jet Print, 24” x 50”