Tree of Knowledge Aflame, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper
Fractured, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper, 42 x 42”
Roots of Existence, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper, 30 x 48”.
Changing Winds and a Nest, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper, 30 x 40”
Illusions of Eden, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper,, 48” x 36”
Free the Songbird, Acrylic, Italian Metal Leaf, Archival Imported Handmade Paper, 34 x 42”
All that Glitters, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper, 42 x 42
Intertwined, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper, 30 x 48”
Consequences of Silence, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper, 42 x 36”
Order and Chaos, Acrylic, Italian metal leaf, archival imported handmade paper, 30 x 48
STATEMENT
Castonguay has spent a lifetime observing, researching, and making artwork about her passions: human diversity and the preservation of Mother Nature. Something as small as a fruit fly, a human head, or a magnificent winter landscape seen from the train as she travels between her studios in Pittsburgh and NYC can inspire a large painting. She finds joy in learning that the tiny eyelashes on some birds are modified feathers, the fruit fly has many body parts like our own, the bird’s nest in her yard holds fast in winds though porch furniture is in flight, and the shape of the human nose provides climate control and has adapted over generations.
For the past fourteen years, Castonguay has created paintings that unite her passions. During this time, the number of endangered species has risen from 40,000 to over one million. The paintings often depict humanity monochromatically with the endangered species in full color because they are critically important to the fine balance of nature. The paintings are at times divided into sections because all living beings are complex, varied, and sentient as scientists continue to discover. Colors are frequently placed next to their complement to show the strength of opposites while colorful grids represent images of DNA common to all life forms. Mother Nature is also used as a metaphor for women since many find themselves in situations of endangerment globally. The artist says, “With the planet suffering from climate change, deforestation, overfishing, pollution, poaching, and war, we must remedy what we have created through global partnership and individual commitment. I hope the viewer will internalize, reflect, and see the world that we have created. Within the work there is urgency but also an element of hope because we can all engage in the stewardship of Mother Nature while also respecting others of our own species.”
Elizabeth Myers Castonguay, MFA
CreationArtStudio.com
Instagram: e.m.castonguay
Education:
| MFA American University, Washington, D.C. | |
| BFA University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (Professors Rackstraw Downes & Neil Welliver, NYC artists) | |
| BA Gettysburg College (Professor Ingolf Qually, MFA and BFA from le) | |
| Art Institute of Ridgewood (former Ridgewood Art Barn, Art Students League Instructors) |
Teaching:
| Art Institute of Pittsburgh (Life Drawing, Graphic Design, 2012-2015) | |
| Carnegie Mellon University / School of Drama (Adjunct Professor, Drawing, ‘09,’10) | |
| Carnegie Mellon University /Pre-College Program (Painting & Drawing, 2003-2013) | |
| Carnegie Museum of Art (Adult Figure Painting and Drawing, 1998-2013) | |
| International Workshops |
Associations by jury:
| Salmagundi Art Club (NYC) | |
| Ceres Gallery (NYC) | |
| Associated Artists of Pittsburgh |
Selected exhibitions:
| 2024 | Art Complex Museum, ‘Where do we come from? What are we: Where are we going?’, Duxbury, MA, April 28 – September 1, 2024 Scollay Square Gallery, The Galleries at Boston City Hall, Boston Muse: Womxn’s Art, Boston, MA, NAWAMA), March 4- April14, 2024 Arc Gallery, Group Exhibition, Chicago, May 2-25, 2024 Ceres Gallery, 40th Anniversary Group Exhibit, Chelsea, NYC, January 2024 |
| 2023 | Jack Tomayko Foundation, Permanent Collection Opening, Pittsburgh, PA December 2023 Rockport Art Association & Museum, National Juried Exhibition, Juror: John C. Traynor, Rockport, Massachusetts, Sept 30-Nov 3, 2023 Crary Museum Art Gallery, Solo Invitational Exhibit, Curator: Thomas Paquette, Warren, PA, Oct.2 -Nov. 5, 2023 Salmagundi Art Club, Members Exhibit, NYC, August 2023 Cotuit Center for the Arts, Group Juried Exhibit (NAWAMA), Cotuit, MA, May-June 2023 Mark Rengers Gallery, Solo Invitational Exhibit, Sewickley, PA, Spring, 2023 Curator: Melanie Vera, MFA Museum Studies Johns Hopkins |
| 2022 | Spinning Plate Gallery, Group A, Curator: Nicole Capozzi of Boxheart Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA Dec.2022 One Art Space, National Assoc. of Women Artists, Tribeca, Bobbi Mastrangelo Environmental Art Award, NYC, Oct.2022 Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition, Wide Open 12, Award, Juror: Sadaf Padder, NYC, June / July 2022 Salmagundi Art Club, Juried Biannual Members Auction Exhibit, NYC, March / April 2022 Ceres Gallery, Solo Exhibit, ‘Tapestry of Nature II (Endangered)’, Chelsea, NYC, Mar.31- April 23, 2022 Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, 26th Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror: Thomas Paquette, Ligonier, PA, Ned J. Nakles Memorial Award, Nov.2021 thru Jan. 2022 |
| 2021 | Spinning Plate Gallery,Group A, Juror: Prof. Patricia Bellan-Gillen,Carnegie Mellon Univ.,Pittsburgh,June 2021 Ceres, Artsy, Pachamama (Mother Earth) Artsy Exhibit, NYC, May 2021 Salmagundi Art Club,Juried Annual Members Exhibit, D.Wu&Elsie Ject-Key Memorial Award, NYC, May, ‘21 ArtHouse, Curator: Marcene Glover, Johnstown, PA, May 2021 Salmagundi Art Club, Juried, ‘Black & White’ Exhibit, NYC, March, 2021 Salmagundi Art Club, Juried ‘Figuratively Speaking’ Exhibit, NYC, Feb.2021 |
| 2018 | Salmagundi Art Club, Annual Members Exhibition, Henry Nordhausen Memorial Award, NYC |
| 2018 | Ceres National Open Competition, Juror: Sara Softness,Asst.Curator, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Award, Chelsea, NYC |
| 2018 | Salmagundi Art Club, Juried 100th Anniversary Exhibit & the Annual Juried Group Exhibits, NYC |
| 2017 | Thompson Gallery, Curator:Todd Bartel,Gallery Director,Cambridge School of Weston,MA, ‘Seeing Complementaries’ will also be used advertising |
| 2017 | Denise Bibro Gallery, Boros V Exhibit, Curator: Denise Bibro, Chelsea, NYC |
| 2017 | Sylvia Wald / Po Kim Gallery, ‘The Vision’, Medal of Honor for Painting & Elizabeth Stanton Blake Memorial Award National Association of Women Artist Annual Exhibit, NYC |
| 2017 | Salmagundi, Juried Group Nautical Exhibit, NYC |
| 2017 | Ceres Gallery, Group Exhibition, Chelsea, NYC |
| 2016 | the Mansion at Strathmore, Juried Group Exhibit ‘Rise Up’, Honorable Mention, Bethesda, MD |
| 2016 | Salmagundi Art Club, Juried Group Exhibit, ‘Urban’, NYC |
| 2016 | Carnegie Museum of History, (Discoverers Group), Artist’s Talk and Presentation of ‘Endangered’ work, Curator: Dr. Richard Moriarty, Pittsburgh, PA. |
| 2015 | Salmagundi Art Club, Winter / Spring Exhibitions, NYC |
| 2015 | Borelli Edwards Gallery, Gallery Solo Exhibition, ‘Endangered / Between the Lines’, Pittsburgh, PA |
| 2014 | Morris Museum of Art, Juried Group Exhibit (NAWA), Morristown, NJ |
| 2014 | Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA Juror: Barbara Jones-Westmoreland Museum of American Art |
| 2014 | Sylvia Wald/Po Kim Gallery, NYC |
| 2014 | Point Park University, Juried Group Exhibit (NAWA), Pittsburgh, PA Juror: Sarah Hall, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Frick Museum of Art |
| 2014 | Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Instructors Exhibition, PA |
| 2014 | Salmagundi Art Club, Juried Group Exhibit, Noble Nocturnes, NYC |
| 2013 | Viridian Gallery, Juried International Competition, First Place International Award, NYC Juror: Dr. Elisabeth Sussman, Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art, First Place International Award |
| 2013 | Borelli Edwards Gallery, Solo Exhibit, ‘ENDANGERED’, Lawrenceville, PA |
| 2013 | Williamsburg Art and History Center, Curator: Yuko Nii, Annual Exhibition, Brooklyn, NYC |
| 2013 | Viridian Gallery, International Photography Director’s Choice Exhibit, Chelsea, NYC |
| 2012 | Westmoreland Museum of Art, Juried Group Biennial and Artist’s Talk, Greensburg, PA |
| 2011 | Amarillo Museum of Art, National Juried Figure Drawing Competition, First Place National Award, TX Juror: Martha Mayer Erlbacher, MFA Department Head / New York Academy of Art & Professor of Anatomy |
| 2011 | St. Vincent’s University Museum Gallery, Invitational “20 x 2 Notable Regional Artists”, PA |
| 2011 | Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Gallery, NAWA, Audrey Hope Shirk Award (2011), SOHO, NYC |
| 2011 | Village Studio, Delray Beach, Honorable Mention, Florida |
| 2011 | Carnegie Museum of Art, 2-Minute Film Competition, Pittsburgh, PA |
| 2010 | Carnegie Museum of Art, Annual Juried Group Exhibit (AAP), Pittsburgh, PA Jurors: Al Miner (Curatorial Asst. Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., and Donald Miller, Art Critic |
| 2010 | Salmagundi Art Club, Artist’s Talk with Digial Presentation of Work, NYC |
| 2010 | Point Park University, “Four Artists”, Curated, Pittsburgh, PA |
| 2010 | University Exhibits, Traveling, (AAP), Juror’s Award, PA |
| 2010 | World of Artists, ‘International Women’s Exhibit’, Beacon, NY |
| 2010 | Cultural Trust, AAP Presidents Choice Exhibition, Invitational, Pittsburgh, PA |
| 2010 | Art Institute of Pittsburgh, 100th Anniversary AAP Group Exhibit, PA |
| 2010 | National Arts Club Gallery, NAWA Annual, Jeffrey Childs Willis Memorial Award, NYC |
| 2009 | State Museum of Pennsylvania, ‘Art of the State Juried Exhibit’, Harrisburg, PA |
| 2008 | Fein Gallery, Generation to Generation, AAP Juried Group, Pittsburgh, PA |
| 2007 | Frank Melega Art Museum, Solo Exhibit, Brownsville, PA |
| 2007 | American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Juried Group Exhibit, Washington, D.C. |
| 2007 | Mendelson Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA., Solo Exhibit, ‘US’ Regina A Quick Center for the Arts Museum, St. Bonaventure University, Solo Exhibit, St. Bonaventure, NY |
| 2006 | State Museum of Pennsylvania, Juried Group Exhibit, Harrisburg, PA Juror: Susan Fisher Sterling, Chief Curator, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington,D.C. |
| 2006 | Dimensions 2006, National Juried Exhibit, First Place National Award, Winston-Salem, NC Juror: Brooke Davis Anderson, Director and Curator of the American Folk Art Museum, NYC |
| 2006 | Westmoreland Museum of Art, Biennial AAP Exhibition, Greensburg, PA Juror: Virginia Mecklenburg, Curator, Smithsonian American Art Museum |
| 2006 | Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Juried Group Exhibition, First Place Award, Ligonier, PA |
| 2005 | Carnegie Museum of Art, AAP Group Juried Exhibit, Pittsburgh, PAC Juror: Douglas Fogle, Curator, Carnegie Museum of Art |
| 2005 | Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, Juried Group Exhibit, New Castle, PA |
| 2004 | Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Solo Exhibit, Pittsburgh, PA Juror: Liz Thomas, Assistant Curator, Carnegie Museum of Art |
| 2004 | Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, Group Juried Exhibit, New Castle, PA Juror: Kurt Shaw, Art Critic, Pittsburgh Tribune Review |
| 2003 | Ceres Gallery, Invitational from 2002 National Exhibition Artists, NYC |
| 2002 | Ceres Gallery, National Juried Art Exhibition, NYC Juror: Charlotta Kotik, Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Chairperson/Dept. Painting & Sculpture |
Selected awards:
| 2022 | • One Art Space, National Assoc. of Women Artists, Tribeca, Bobbi Mastrangelo Environmental Art Award, NYC, October, 2022. • Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition, Wide Open 12, Award, Juror: Sadaf Padder, NYC, June /July 2022 • Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art (Ligonier),Juror:Thomas Paquette, Award,Nov.2021- 2022 |
| 2021-2 | Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art (Ligonier),Juror:Thomas Paquette, Award,Nov.2021-‘2 |
| 2021 | Salmagundi Art Club, Annual Juried Exhibition, D.Wu&Elsie Ject-Key Memorial Award, NYC, May, 2021 |
| 2018 | Salmagundi Art Club, Annual Exhibition, Henry Nordhausen Memorial Award, NYC |
| 2018 | Ceres National Art Competition, Award for “Finished?(Endangered body of work)”, Juror: Sara Softness, Assistant Curator, Brooklyn Museum of Art |
| 2017 | Sylvia Ward / Po Kim Gallery, Medal of Honor for Painting & Elizabeth Stanton Blake Memorial National Association of Women Artists,128th Annual Members Exhibit Jurors: Susana Torruella Leval, former VP and President Elect of the Association of Art Museum Directors and former board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Monica D.Church, Associate Director of the James W. Palmer ’90 Gallery, Vassar College. Linda Weinstraub former Director of Bard College Museum and author of several books on contemporary art. |
| 2016 | Strathmore Mansion, Honorable Mention, Bethesda, Md. |
| 2014 | Salmagundi Art Club, Auction Exhibit, Patrons Award |
| 2013 | Viridian Gallery, Juried International Competition, NYC Juror: Dr. Elisabeth Sussman, Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art, First Place International Award |
| 2011 | Amarillo Museum of Art, National Juried Figure Competition, First Place National Award, Texas Juror: Martha Mayer Erlbacher, MFA Department Head / New York Academy of Art, Professor Anatomy |
| 2011 | Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Gallery, NAWA Annual Exhibition, Audrey Hope Shirk Award, NYC |
| 2010 | National Arts Club Gallery, NAWA Annual Group Juried Exhibition, Jeffrey Child’s Willis Award, NYC |
| 2010 | Pennsylvania Traveling University Exhibit, AAP, Juror’s Award |
| 2010 | Village Studio, Group Juried Exhibit, Honorable Mention, Delray Beach, Florida |
| 2006 | Dimensions 2006, National Juried Exhibit, First Place National Award, Winston-Salem, NC Juror: Brooke Davis Anderson, Director and Curator of the American Folk Art Museum, NYC |
| 2005 | Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Juried Group Exhibition, First Place Award, PA |
| 2005 | Artistic Merit and Community Activism: Congress of the United States of America Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania State Senate |