Micki LeMieux: Exercising the Demons
Paula Temple: Distacco Di Retina
Concurrent exhibitions of cast epoxy sculptures by Micki LeMieux and watercolor paintings with pencil and ink by Paula
Temple will be on display at the International Museum of Surgical Science
in Chicago from November 7, 2003 – January 23, 2004. A reception
for the artists that is open and free to the public will take place on
Friday, November 7, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. These two contemporary artists
produce thought-provoking works examining the artists’ need to adapt
when medical misfortune impairs their ability to work.
In her exhibition titled “Exercising the Demons,” Micki LeMieux presents a series of cast epoxy faces with a diabolical aesthetic stemming from her battle with carpal tunnel syndrome. “After losing mobility in both my hands for over a year,” LeMieux states, “I was faced with the dreadful thought of changing my chosen path and career… I just needed to re-teach my hands. I then was able to allow the forms to become what they wanted to by letting go of my need for detailed and polished work.” LeMieux is a Chicago area artist who has exhibited across the U.S. She received a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and has produced props, puppets, and prosthetics for several local theater companies including Steppenwolf, Red Moon, and Briar Street.
Paula Temple’s series of watercolors, “Distacco Di Retina,” realistically depicts the world as she saw it while suffering from a detached retina. It is the artist’s intent that these works be utilized in the future diagnosis of detached retina because, as she says, “when a verbal description of something visual is all that you have to understand the problem, it can often be misleading.” Temple has received an M.F.A. from the University of Tennessee and a B.F.A. from the University of Memphis. She has done contract work for the Peace Corps in Grenada and the West Indies, and has exhibited in the U.S., Italy, Canada, and the Caribbean.