Mai Wyn Schantz
August 2008

Artist: Mai Wyn Schantz
Artist Statement 2009

I began painting on aluminum ten years ago as a means to capture nature in a contemporary context. The exposed metal areas create a stark contrast to my landscape subject matter, removing nostalgia and adding a sense of time. Despite our fast-paced, industrialized world, we are still innately tied to the land and continually seek to reconnect. Today more than ever, with the realities of global warming and depleted natural resources, the fate of nature seems to lie in the hands of mankind and advances in science and technology. My paintings are about this intertwining of two seeming opposites, about finding a balance between nature and our twenty-first century world.

Mai Wyn

TECHNICAL INFORMATION 2009

I use both aluminum and stainless steel as the support for my landscape paintings. Working all aspects of the metal myself allows me to control how the exposed borders and shapes interact within the piece. The metal is first cut and then secured to a traditional wood support frame. The areas I wish to remain raw metal are masked while the areas to be painted are prepared using industrial primers. This ensures good adhesion between the paint and metal surfaces. I love the look of the metal's natural, reflective surface. For this reason I do not coat it with any sealers or varnishes.

The exposed metal is susceptible to scratching and fingerprints will leave a mark. To preserve the metal's pristine reflective surface, always handle the painting with cotton gloves and clean any fingerprints with a mild degreaser on a soft cotton rag. I recommend Stainless Steel MagiC@

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 2009

Mai Wyn Schantz is a 1999 graduate of Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design in Denver, CO
and has been exhibiting professionally for almost ten years. Her work is included in many private and corporate collections including the Weidner Center for the Arts at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, the Aurora Arts Council in Colorado and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance in Wisconsin. In 2006 she was included in her first museum exhibition Up North: Imaging Northwoods Culture and Mythology at the Museum of Wisconsin Art and in 2008, was featured in a solo exhibition at the Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities in Colorado. She is represented by Edgewood Orchard Galleries and Grace Chosy Gallery in her native Wisconsin, and at Harris Gallery in Houston, TX. She now resides in Denver, CO.

Artist Statement 2007
My paintings are about balance. Using aluminum as the foundation, I attempt to negotiate seemingly opposing forces: endless horizons bound in rigid formats, reflective waters set against industrial sheen. The exposed aluminum edges create both a natural frame and an element of contrast to my landscape subject matter. Painting on aluminum is a process I have been pioneering for the last five years. I get my inspiration from canoeing our north woods waters and contemplating a changing landscape. What once was endless, we now scramble to protect. What once we feared, we now look on with nostalgia.

MAl WYN SCHANTZ

Artist Resume

SOLO & FEATURED ARTIST EXHIBITIONS

August 2009 Grace Chosy Gallery, new paintings Madison, WI
September 2008 Harris Gallery, new oils on aluminum Houston,TX
October 2007 Grace Chosy Gallery, Shape Shifters Madison, WI
September 2007 Edgewood Orchard Glleries, Featured Artist Fish Creek, WI
September 2007 Cedarburg Cultural Center, Mirror Image Cedarburg, WI
August 2005 Edgewood Orchard Galleries, Featured Artist Fish Creek, WI
May 2005 Artpost Gallery, Lines of Commitment Grafton, WI
December 2004 Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Searching for Blue Grand Marais,
MN
May 2004 Grace Chosy Gallery, Oils on Aluminum Madison, WI
September 2003 Edgewood Orchard Galleries, Featured Artist Fish Creek, WI
August 2003 Fresh Art Gallery, Whispered Denver, CO
April2003 Artpost Gallery, Through the Trees Grafton, WI
October 2002 Wisconsin Union Galleries, Constructing Landscapes Madison, WI
July 2001 Zoe Gallery, New work on aluminum Milwaukee, WI
November 1999 Guiry Gallery, Borderlands Denver, CO
August 1999 Z Wick Place, New work & collaborative installation Denver, CO

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

June 2007 Sandra Phillips Gallery, In Focus Denver, CO
August 2006 Philip J. Steele Gallery, Juried RMCAD alumni exhibition Denver, CO
December 2005 JMKAC ArtSpace, One & Only Kohler, WI
December 2005 Katie Gingrass Gallery, All Wrapped Up Milwaukee, WI
October 2005 Artpost, 4th Annual Founders Exhibit Grafton, WI
October 2004 Artpost, 3rd Annual Founders Exhibit Grafton, WI
January 2004 Zoe Gallery Milwaukee, WI
October 2003 Artpost, 2nd Annual Founders Exhibit Grafton, WI
October 2003 Cedarburg Cultural Center, Annual Juried Show Cedarburg, WI
April 2003 Katie Gingrass Gallery Milwaukee, WI
March 2003 Cedarburg Cultural Center Cedarburg, WI
October 2002 Artpost Gallery Grafton, WI
September 2002 Cedarburg Cultural Center, Annual Juried Show Cedarburg, WI
March 2002 Cedarburg Cultural Center Cedarburg, WI
March 2001 Tory Folliard Gallery, Emerging Artists Milwaukee, WI

MUSEUM & ART CENTER EXHIBITIONS
April2009 Foothills Art Center, Colorado Art Open 2009, juried, Golden, CO
September 2008 Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, solo exhibition Paddling
Upstream, Arvada, CO
April2008 Museum of Wisconsin Art, group show
Professional Dimensions Collection, West Bend, WI
August 2006 West Bend Art Museum, group show, West Bend, WI
Up North: Imaging Northwoods Culture & Mythology
March 2005 John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 8 Counties, juried Sheboygan, WI
June 2001 John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 8 Counties, juried Sheboygan, WI
January 2001 Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, RMCAD alumni Denver, CO

PUBLICATIONS

Porcupine Literary Arts Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 1 Cover artist & featured portfolio artist

GALLERY REPRESENTATION

Edgewood Orchard Galleries Fish Creek, WI
Grace Chosy Gallery Madison, WI
Harris Gallery Houston, TX

CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

All Saints Hospital - St. Luke's Health Pavilion Racine, WI
Alverno College - Sacajawea Award Commission Milwaukee, WI
Aurora Arts Council Aurora, CO
KTNV- Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
Lockton Company Denver, CO
Northwestern Mutual Life Franklin, WI
Port Washington State Bank Grafton, WI
Roth Gerber Denver, CO
Quarles & Brady Milwaukee, WI
West Bend Mutual Insurance West Bend, WI
Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, UW-Green Bay Green Bay, WI

EDUCATION

August 1999 Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, BFA painting Denver, CO