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Writer's pictureLynne Kornecki

1/15/2025 Opening Reception from 4-6 PM for Joanne Aono & Sofia Fernandez Diaz at O'Connor Gallery in Dominican University in River Forest, IL



The strength and fragility of nature portrayed by Joanne Aono.


COMING UP SOON!!

Joanne Aono and Sofía Fernández Díaz

Threads and Granules

Located in LEWIS HALL

January 15–February 15, 2025

Reception: Wednesday, January 15, 4:00-6:00 p.m. Artist Talk at 4:30 p.m.


FROM THE DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY WEBSITE....


About the Artists


Joanne Aono is a visual artist, curator, and holistic farmer. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions including Boundary (Chicago, IL), Illinois State Museum (Chicago, Springfield, and Lockport), and Governors State University (University Park, IL). Upcoming exhibitions include Yale Institute of Sacred Music (New Haven, CT), The Plan (Chicago, IL), and UIS Visual Arts Gallery (Springfield, IL). She has received multiple grants, and her art has been reviewed in publications such as Hyperallergic, Chicago Reader, and Chicago Magazine. Aono directs the alternative art project, Cultivator- Chicago Art Exhibitions & Farm Art Projects, and serves on the exhibition committee of the Riverside Arts Center. She maintains a studio at Bray Grove Farm in north central Illinois. 


Sofía Fernández Díaz came to Chicago after receiving the Joan Livingston scholarship to earn her MFA in Fiber and Material Studies at SAIC. After graduating, she was selected to receive a Spark grant by Chicago Artist Coalition and invited to hold a 2023 Radicle Studio Residency at Hyde Park Art Center.  She previously earned a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and a degree in Art Anthropology from CIESAS in Mexico City. In addition to being exhibited, published, and collected both nationally and internationally, Sofía has spent more than a decade exchanging ideas with artisans across Mexico, sharing her documentation and intimate knowledge of their processes and daily rituals through workshops on natural pigments and dyeing.

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