College of Fine Arts and Design

Feb. 21, 2011

Sarah Hearn, a visual artist and Oklahoma native, will present a public lecture hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma's Department of Art at 7:15 p.m., Feb. 24 in the UCO Education Building, Room 115.           

Hearn will discuss the research and inspiration surrounding her most recent body of work, "Defining Life: An Unnatural History." She will address the importance of historical and contemporary influences on the project and will share with the audience the evolution of the work-both the successes and failures she experienced while creating it.   

"In its final form, ‘An Unnatural History' is an installation that inhabits the space between the continuously shifting realms of science, pseudoscience and science fiction," said Hearn.

"An Unnatural History" documents the fictional discovery of a taxonomy of marine life containing and cooperating with the Periodic Table of Elements. Using multiple modes of representation, Hearn draws attention to the real and the imagined, while exploring what it means to visualize biological life and phenomena that are often invisible at first glance.

As part of her visit to Central, Hearn will also be conducting a two-day workshop for art students on exploring the artistic applications of bookbinding.

Hearn is a recent graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology's prestigious Master of Fine Arts program.  Her work, including the pieces to be discussed at the lecture, was chosen to represent Oklahoma, the only designated "District of Creativity" in the United States, as a part of the Biennale art exhibit for the World Creativity Forum, held in Oklahoma City in November 2010.  Her work has also been exhibited throughout Oklahoma and select venues in Santa Fe, N.M. and Rochester, N.Y.

The lecture is free to attend; however, the workshop is only open to Central art students.

For more information, contact Central's Department of Art at (405) 974-5201.

For a complete schedule of College of Fine Arts and Design performances and events, visit www.uco/edu/cfad/events.