Friday, May 3 at 5:00 PM
Athenaeum Abuzz: Bugs from the Collection
For May's First Friday, with spring in full swing, we will be looking at insects and arachnids at the Athenaeum, focusing on images from our historic volumes. We've also invited two local artists--Elayne Bryn & Jen McCleary--who work in the field of digital collage to display some of their pieces featuring insects and spiders, and to take inspiration from our collections in their creation process. We will be showcasing our historic works along with the contemporary work of these talented artists who are activating our collections in new and exciting ways.
(Art credit: Jen McCleary)
Jen McCleary attended Tyler School of Art (BFA Painting and Printmaking), University of the Arts (Continuing Education in Print Design), and University of Pennsylvania (MLA). She works both digitally and in traditional mixed-media collage and views the two seemingly different media as complementary and rooted in the same process of collecting and arranging images. In 2019 she began to learn the craft of wheel-thrown ceramics, which she alters through decoupage and the traditional Japanese art of kintsugi (repairing broken items with gold and lacquer). This process of creation and destruction considers the inevitabilities of damage and healing as part of the beauty of an object. She also works as a freelance graphic designer specializing in book cover and layout design.
Elayne Bryn was born and raised in suburban Philadelphia. She graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art with a BFA in illustration. She is also a graduate of Villanova Law School. She now works in her studio outside of Philadelphia and in Los Angeles. In May, 2023, Elayne won the First Place Award for Digital Art at the Beverly Hills Art Show.
