“Perceive Me” opens at Coastline Art Gallery, Newport Beach, CA Sept 6, 2022. On view through Oct 15 with an artist’s reception on Sept 23, from 5 to 7 PM.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, September 6, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In “Perceive Me”, plus-size artist and instigator Kristine Schomaker challenges us to examine our acceptance of differences- especially related to size. She posed for 60 artists to do nude portraits of her larger-than-average form; the results are a celebration of and for anyone who has ever felt less than beautiful. Rather than shaming Schomaker for her size, the artists celebrate it with paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, video and a 3D print. For this exhibition at Coastline College, Schomaker also posed nude for a figure drawing class lead by artist Bradford J. Salaman. A series of 15 works from this class are included in this show.

“Perceive Me” opens at Coastline Art Gallery at Coastline College, 1515 Monrovia Ave. in Newport Beach, CA on September 6, 2022. The show is on view through October 15. An artist’s reception is scheduled at the gallery for Friday, September 23 from 5 to 7 PM.

"Viewers cannot spend time in this remarkable exhibition without having their concepts of female beauty challenged and, hopefully, changed.”
Betty Ann Brown, Art & Cake, January 30, 2020

With “Perceive Me,” Schomaker touches on pervasive cultural standards of the “right” female body- an idea that challenges many and has become a ubiquitous issue with the widespread use of digital filters, photo editing and social media dissemination. She hated having her photo taken because she didn’t mirror what she saw in TV, movies and other media. She developed an eating disorder, but never lost sight of the need to express herself in her art.

Schomaker's premise has been described as courageous, but honest may be a better descriptor for this project. Our perceptions of ourselves and how they intersect, merge, or collide with the perceptions of others are at the heart of this concept. Through this framework, artists and viewers alike can "see" themselves more clearly. Los Angeles artist Sheli Silverio, whose 57-inch-tall watercolor painting is included said “…social standards are in need of critique more often than not. The way "Perceive Me" reflects and shifts the idea of perception of self allows for this criticism.”

Photographer Martin Cox commends Kristine “as she confronts media and societal stereotyping in her choice to expose herself while working through issues of self perception in the 21st century.” Sculptor Susan Kurland adds “There is so much resistance in seeing ourselves, as we are rather than whom society thinks we should be. If society sees us, it’s as a fragment of who we really are.” The included works run the gamut from altered digital video to traditional oil painting to custom printed rolls of gift wrap.

Author and art critic Shana Nys Dambrot describes the show as “A rich trove of art historical citations and moods… they each use her presence as an armature to explore their own process. Some are sparse and forthright, others are scenic and even theatrical, some tell stories and some are mysterious and contemplative, some are spectacular, others quite intimate”, adding “…the materiality and formalism reminds viewers that portraiture can truly be anything it wants to be -- just like people. For all these reasons, the project rather doubles as an exciting snapshot survey of the current moment in Los Angeles art.”

“Perceive Me” premiered in January of 2020 at California State University, Los Angeles; after over a year of pandemic restrictions, the show moved to Studio Channel Islands for a seven-week exhibition in the summer of 2021. The first museum exhibition of "Perceive Me" took place at MOAH: CEDAR in Lancaster, CA in the fall of 2021. Coastline College Gallery, Newport Beach, CA is the 4th and current iteration. The final presentation will be at Mesa Community College Art Gallery, San Diego, With each venue comes a new physical size and shape for the exhibition. The changing juxtapositions of the work generate fresh dialog between exhibited works and among the viewing audiences.

Kristine Schomakeer
Shoebox Arts
shoeboxartsla@gmail.com

Kristine Schomaker Talks About Perceive Me at Studio Channel Islands 2021

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