Meredith Dytch is a Chicago artist
living and working in Lincoln Square. She has been painting and drawing
since childhood, but only in the past 3 years, after retiring
from a career as an architect, has she become serious about being
an artist. Since then, she has studied with landscape painter Ann
Christensen in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and local artists Didier
Nolet, Robert Brasher, Bill Bartelt and Ann Ponce.
Ms.
Dytch has been in numerous group shows, and is a member of The Chicago
Artist's Coalition and The Senior Artists Network. In the summer of
2009 she was juried in as one of the first 20 member artists in The
Chicago Artists' Coalition's new Coalition Gallery. She recently won a
prize for "Artistic Excellence" from the 2010 SAN show "Later
Impressions." Her work is in several private collections
Artist's Statement:
"I am interested in how our built
environment co-exists, often uneasily, with the natural world. In my
art, I often explore the way in which we seem embedded within our
structures, leading our lives surrounded by looming steel and concrete.
Other times I often focus on how, with the passage of time, man-made
structures start to become congruent with the nature around them. I
like to explore themes of impermanence, loneliness and mystery as
expressed by the forgotten and crumbling structures around us.
"For
me, the creative process begins with a photograph, and continues
through a series of steps that conclude on the easel. I'll take many
photos of places or scenes that strike my interest, then download them
onto my computer for a closer look, sometimes zeroing in on a small
area of a shot. I am strongly drawn to contrasts between light and
shadow, and reflections in puddles and on wet pavement. The resulting
painting may be quite different than the real-life scene, as I
interpret what the photo shows, based on my own impressions and
reactions, or even memories.
"My background in architecture has
influenced my art in ways that I didn't anticipate when I began
painting in earnest. As an adolescent I was drawn to wild scenes in
nature - the Hudson River school painters were favorites - but my
current work can sometimes have a certain formalism that I attribute to
my architectural training. I attended the Illinois Institute of
Technology, where the Bauhaus tradition took root, and students of
architecture spent their first year learning how to draw a line, how to
divide a rectangular piece of paper, and how to arrange shapes. Today,
I can see the way in which these exercises still influence how I
compose a painting.
"I am currently working on a series of
Chicago cityscapes done in limited palettes, either burnt sienna and
pthalo blue, or ultramarine blue, Venetian red and yellow ochre. I
believe that these limited palettes perfectly capture the moods and
colors of the City."
Education:
Illinois Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Architecture, 1976. Licensed as an Architect in the State of Illinois, 1980 Independent art studies, 2006 to present
Selected Exhibitions: (names in boldface were juried shows)
2011Watercolor Works, Bill Bartelt Studio, Chicago, Illinois September 16, 17 and 18.
Explorations - New Work by New Artists, The Art Center Highland Park, Illinois Currently, through September 24th
15th Annual "No Dead Artists", Jonathan Ferrara Gallery New Orleans, Louisiana Currently, through September 24th
RavensHood 2011, Images Gallery Chicago, Illinois
"Libations", Group show at Cafe 28 Chicago, Illinois
"Metal in Motion", Simply Chicago Art Evanston, IL
2010 Art Loop Open Group show at Merchandise Mart
"Later Impressions," Group show, Rennaisance Court, Chicago Cultural Center
Senior Artists
Network prize for "Artistic Excellence."
"Irish
Impressions II - and More," Group Show, Irish American Heritage Center Chicago, Illinois
"Urban Eyes," Two-person Show, Coalition Gallery Chicago Illinois
"Curator's Choice, Part 1," Group Show, Coalition Gallery Chicago Illinois
"Interiors," Group Show, Ann Ponce Studio Chicago, Illinois
2009 "22 in a Million," Group Show, River East Art Center Chicago, Illinois
"22 in a Million," Coalition Gallery Chicago, Illinois
Group Show, Coalition Gallery Chicago, Illinois
"CAC Around Town" Orange Restaurant (on Clark St.) Chicago, Illinois
Wilmette Library Group Art Show Wilmette, Illinois
2008 "Explorations - New Work by New Artists" The Art Center Highland Park, Illinois
