Jacquelyn Gleisner, “Scroll XI” (2019). Acrylic paint on paper, 48 by 198 inches.

Paper Cuts debuts a new series of works by Jacquelyn Gleisner at Middlesex Community College’s Pegasus Gallery and the Niche Space. The show’s title, defined as a wound caused by a piece of paper, connects to the concept of Gleisner’s current body of work which is centered on the—sometimes cutting—meaning of words. Each work contains one word—shrill, nag, and floozy, for example—that has been drawn or painted in a way that correlates to the artist’s subjective interpretation of the word. “Floozy,” drawn in a loose curlicue script, has scalloped edges and is repeated and pasted into a decorative latticework. From this drawing, numerous layers of colorful laser-cut papers and mat board are glued together, creating an intricate mass where letters and sometimes full words emerge. These works call attention to pejorative or unfavorable applications and undertones of specific words. The words are sometimes hidden, but their appearances—deceptively decorative—begin to engender new connotations.

Alongside this series, one of Gleisner’s Scrolls will also be on view. The scrolls are based on patterns that mimic weavings and other forms of handiwork and represent a harmony of opposites—a union of aesthetic traditions rooted in both craft and fine art contexts with references to tropes in abstract painting, especially from the 1960s and 1970s. Explicitly created on paper—a material structure that is accessible yet fragile—these scrolls are photographed in natural and constructed environments. Inside a parking garage or on a bed of snow, the scrolls become interwoven in a community and a specific setting, presenting alternative narratives about how paintings exist in this world.

Gleisner is a 2010 Fulbright Grant recipient. She studied fine art and art history at Boston University and received her MFA from the painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 2018, she founded Connecticut Art Review, an online writing platform for the visual arts within the state.

See more of her work at jacquelyngleisner.com and connecticutartreview.com.

Blue Universe

Sponsored by Middlesex Community College Foundation’s New Day Fund

 In these workshops students have experienced the magic of making art through the prism of guided meditation and sound healing. The vibrations from both the instruments and spoken word establish a higher, more organic state of receptivity in the minds of the participants allowing for the spontaneous imprinting of psychic energies and emotional states into corporeal art forms.

These art processes represent a total departure from the typical studio art class as the students are not following a prescribed lesson for a given learning outcome. Rather they are directed to follow their intuition through a responsive manipulation of the media based entirely on their own stream of consciousness. In so doing the students are engaged in a process of mindfulness that allows them to trust their intuition and gut instincts.

Art techniques utilized include alcohol inks, Dr Martin’s Dyes, acrylic, watercolor and alcohol inks. Because all of these water-based art techniques are distinguished by their inherent qualities of fluidity and movement, the attendees have been able to observe the impact of subtle paint manipulations on emerging imagery. The sound healing instruments utilized include chakra bowls, chimes, a gong and healing forks.

Through these workshops students have learned to appreciate the benefits of a meditative state of mind for attaining greater academic and personal success.