Guest Judge

Christine LoFaso

As an artist and educator, I am continually interested in human experience, what defines us as “human”, and how this experience is conveyed. My work addresses the notion of place and engenders aspects of memory, time, loss, transformation, and renewal. Initial travels outside of my home country have had a strong influence on my work over the course of many years and began when I was a high school exchange student living in Chile. Though it took years to understand and digest the content of this experience, it was during these formative years that social and political themes found roots in my work. This experience extended through research trips to India, Japan and Latin America. My work is research based and examines aspects of personal and cultural identity, often through subjects of displacement, exploitation and power.

Christine LoFaso lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is Professor Emerita of Art, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her awards and honors include: National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Individual Artist Fellowship, NEA New England Regional Fellowship, NEA US-Japan Cultural Fellowship, Bemis Foundation Artist Residency, Omaha, NE, CRETA Rome Artist Residency, Rome, Italy, and Individual Artist grants from the Illinois State Arts Council and the Rhode Island State Arts Council. Her work has been shown internationally in numerous exhibitions including venues throughout the United States, and in Korea, Portugal, Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, Costa Rica, and the United Kingdom.