Gratitude, new installation by Rie Hachiyanagi

MOUNT VERNON — On February 24 through March 23, the Peter Paul Luce Gallery will host a new installation by papermaker, multimedia artist Rie Hachiyanagi titled Gratitude. The exhibition opens with a lecture by the artist, Sunday, February 24th at 2 p.m. in McWethy Hall, room 222 followed by reception for the artist, 3-5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Hachiyanagi is an Associate Professor of Art at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. An evolving installation series “Houses of Being,” was shown at Apex Art in TriBeCa, New York City, in 2000 and at Elga Wimmer PCC in Chelsea, New York City, in 2002. Another work, The Golden River, was shown in Atlanta, New York City and Kyoto, Japan. Her work has been reviewed in Time Out New York, NY Arts, and Wolganmisool, the most established art magazine in Korea. In February 2004 her work was reviewed in Art in America.

Drawing inspiration from Camus, Heidegger, Haiku poets, modern Japanese novelists and ancient Chinese thinkers, Hachiyangi explores the interconnections between textual and visual languages as it examines autobiographical and social issues. In a brief description of her current work Hachiyanagi writes, “Gratitude is an installation that evokes thoughts and questions regarding money (especially its flow) and various human activities. It demonstrates how what is very personal is ultimately universal. It might make one ponder how fortunate one really is.”

Gallery Hours are Monday-Friday: 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday: 2-4 p.m. This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.