Deirdre Colgan Jones

Date: March 2023

Exhibition Record:
1. Installed as a foyer for the Hyde Park Art Center Winter 2023 Bridge Program Showcase (March-May 2023)

2. “Color|Form” an exhIbition curated by Ann Linz, installed in the storefront window of the Graylake Community Collage Art Gallery (June - August 2023)

Materials: Found materials - including cardboard collected from the artist’s personal domestic waste stream, telephone table from a Chicago alley, exterior grade alkyd paint, acrylic paint, archival PVA

Dimensions: Approx. 10’-0” H x 11’-0” W x 4’-0” D

Description/Statement:
The work draws on the idea of the Axis Mundi, a central point believed to connect heaven and earth in many cultures, to create an arch form that transforms mundane materials into a site-specific installation. The materials used, such as cardboard containers collected and amalgamated from household waste that accumulated during the Covid lockdown, reflect an archive of family and domestic life transformed into sculpture. I explore the concept of masking through a kind of reverse collage, mirroring the masking in life I have done to conceal my undiagnosed neurodiversity.

The installation, along with a grid of collage iterations, references the song "Forty Shades of Green" by Johnny Cash, which both celebrates Ireland and fixates it in a time warp of backward stereotypical tropes. As an artist mother and trained architect, I resist misogyny and patriarchy, and embrace outsider status as a means of challenging established structural boundaries. My work seeks to create sacred spaces that transform quotidian objects into something that transcends the ordinary and reveals the beauty in neurodiversity and difference. Ultimately, I hope this installation creates a space for contemplation and connection, blurring the line between art and life.

Year: 2021
Dimensions: 9.5" high x 6.5" wide x 4" deep
Materials: Found, unfolded cardboard containers, archival glue, wire, red watercolor, gouache and flashe paint, with ink

Description: Usually Arches are erected as monuments to glorify conquests or to mark victories. This is a non-monumental Arch. An arch built for connection and communication, made from the ephemera of daily life. This piece celebrates the invisible challenges of daily living, a testament to unseen labor and the work we do to survive

This work was juried into the show: “Spectrum” at the Stay Home Gallery, Tennessee Installation Image

Created as a divider for a superfluous opening in a vintage Chicago apartment, the assembled packaging allows glimpses, but not access from one space to the next. A print version of this image was featured in the group show: “Bounce Back” at Heaven Gallery in Chicago May - June 2021, paired with Angela Lopez’ work. The show was organized and curated by Karen Dana Cohen and Emily Lindskoog

Print Pairing in "Bounce Back"

Overall Exhibition: "Bounce Back"

Year: 2020

Materials: Accumulation of cardboard packaging for snacks and household items were unfolded and primed with black and white gesso, then "quilted" together using archival glue.

Dimensions: 8'-0" high x 4'-0" wide (Size determined by its site - an existing opening in a Chicago apartment)

After collecting packaging material from food, toiletry and other consumer items purchased, the unfolded cardboard was covered in grey gesso. Archival glue was used to connect all the pieces together like a quilt top

Year: 2020

Materials: Accumulation of cardboard packaging for snacks and household items were unfolded and primed with black and white gesso, then connected together along their folds, using archival glue.

Dimensions: 6'-0" high x 2'-0" wide x 18" deep

Description: Supported Screens rely on external structural forces to support them. They are dependent structures which can be attached to an existing space or held by a person.

Year: 2020

Materials: Accumulation of cardboard packaging for snacks and household items were unfolded and primed with black and white gesso, then connected together along their folds, using archival glue.

Dimensions: 6'-0" high x 2'-0" wide x 18" deep

Description: Supported Screens rely on external structural forces to support them. They are dependent structures which can be attached to an existing space or held by a person.

Spring 2022
Collagraph relief print from found packaging remains of collected household waste
Media: Oil based ink on Rives BFK paper
Size: 24”w x 30” h

Late Fall, 2022
Collagraph technique using relief & intaglio printed from found packaging remains of collected household waste
Media: Oil based ink on Rives BFK paper
Size: 24”w x 30” h

Late Fall 2022
Collagraph technique using relief & intaglio printed from found packaging remains of collected household waste

Media: Oil based ink on Rives BFK paper

Size: 24”w x 30” h

Late Fall 2022
Collagraph technique using relief & intaglio printed from found packaging remains of collected household waste
Media: Oil based ink on Rives BFK paper
Size: 24”w x 30” h

Fall 2022
Collagraph technique using relief & intaglio printed from found packaging remains of collected household waste

Media: Oil based ink on Rives BFK paper

Size: 24”w x 30” h

Fall 2022
Collagraph technique using relief & intaglio printed from found packaging remains of collected household waste

Media: Oil based ink on Rives BFK paper

Size: 24”w x 30” h

Fall 2022
Collagraph relief print print with chine collé, from found packaging remains of collected household waste

Media: Oil based ink on Rives BFK with Japanese tissue paper
paper

Size: 7.5”w x 12” h

Co-Prosperity Sphere Gallery, Bridgeport, Chicago, IL
Curated by Ed Marszewski for VersionFest 12

Year: 2012

Materials: Concrete casts, found plastic containers, processed to clean and remove labels, Ikea Expedit shelf, Mylar backing, mirror tiles, lighting

Dimensions: 59” high x 59” wide x 15.5” deep

Arches are usually erected as monuments to glorify conquests, or to mark victories. In contrast, this Arch is non-monumental. A humble structure built from an accumulation of materials that are usually discarded, it stands to encourage connection and communication amongst neighbours. Care and maintenance work goes mostly unnoticed, and many people who do this labor feel invisible. Challenging the idea that this necessary work is unpaid, the “Ephemeral Arch, Large” is a temporary public structure built to recognize, appreciate and make the labor of caring workers everywhere more visible.

Desc: Found paper ephemera from daily life as artist and mother
Materials: Analogue Collage on Bookbinders Board
Size: 12” x 8”

Desc: Found paper ephemera from daily life as artist and mother
Materials: Paper ephemera, found images, watercolor on heavy duty watercolor paper
Size: 10” x 10”

Desc: Found paper ephemera from daily life as artist and mother
Materials: Analogue Collage on Bookbinders Board
Size: 12” x 8”

Desc: Analogue Collage made from Everyday Found Materials
Materials: Found images and drawing on Bristol board
Size: 6” x 12”

Desc: Analogue Collage made from Everyday Found Materials
Materials: Found images and felt on heavy duty watercolor paper
Size: Approx. 8” x 8”

Desc: Analogue Collage made from Everyday Found Materials
Materials: Found images, textiles and leaf on black watercolor paper
Size: 8” x 8”

Desc: Analogue Collage made from Everyday Found Materials
Materials: Found images, textiles and leaf on black watercolor paper
Size: Overall: 9” x 18”

Desc: Analogue Collage made from Everyday Found Materials
Materials: Found images, sponge, and plastic ribbon on Bristol board
Size: 12” x 9”

Desc: Analogue Collage made from Everyday Found Materials
Materials: Found images, and children’s book cover on found box
Size: 6” x 4” x .5” deep

Desc: Analogue Collage made from Everyday Found Materials
Materials: Found images, textiles and leaf on black watercolor paper
Size: 6” x 10”

Dimensions: Approx. 30” Diameter, 36” High

Materials: Found cardboard pieces, from packaging, Gamblin ground gesso, black paper, archival glue & wire

Completed during an artist residency in Mount Washington, Los Angeles, CA during the month of August 2021, this piece is a net to capture the ephemeral bits and pieces that come into our lives as we open the packages for food and other consumer items.

It's evening in a residential neighborhood of Chicago and as dusk falls, the Icons start to glow. On the right side a red milk gallon container, on the left a blue soap dispenser bottle, both items are essential to the smooth running of this household. As night falls they glow from within, the interior lights filling their silhouettes with primary color. Screens created from other found household containers such as snacks and cereals mask the rest of the interior view. These screens are supported by the window frames in the front street-facing living room. The purple tape lining the installation peeks through the irregular edges of the screens.

Purple Window Gallery

Ordinary household containers have taken on special meaning as shopping becomes a rarefied event and essential items are in short supply for the first time in our lifetimes. For my family which has a 7-year old boy, these items are a milk gallon bottle (which we are only allowed to buy one at a time) and hand soap, an item we haven't been able to find lately. The iconic form of these items in the windows echo those of the churches and cathedrals I've seen in Europe where sacred icons are displayed illuminating the darkened streets at night.

Materials: Found cardboard box containers, primed with black gesso and connected with PVA to form "Supported Screens" embedded with transparent gel filters and ink on mylar inserts.

Dimensions: approx. 39" wide x 29" high (customized for home windows)

Location: Lakewood Balmoral district, Andersonville, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 4'-0" high x approx. 14" wide x approx. 12" deep

Materials: Found plastic containers, grey automotive spray paint, industrial adhesive

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 4'-0" high x approx. 14" wide x approx. 12" deep

Materials: Found plastic containers, grey automotive spray paint, industrial adhesive

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 9.5”H x 8.5”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Paper ephemera & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dims: approx. 8” H x 10” W

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Materials: Collage - Paper ephemera, & archival glue on Rives BFK

Dimensions: Approx: 10”H x 8”W. 2020

Year: 2012

Materials: Totem Towers: Found plastic containers, exterior-grade adhesive, automotive gray spray paint; Future Relics: Found and altered plastic containers, pigment, wood podium with light and plexiglass museum case

Dimensions: Totem Towers: Four structures, approx. 30" high x 10-16" wide x 12" deep. Future Relics: 52" high x 16" wide x 12" deep

Installed in the architecture studio of Carol Ross Barney, one of the founding members of Chicago Women in Architecture, Future Relics - Vessels was selected for exhibition as part of the aDOT show organized in 2011 by CWA. There was a public artist talk during the run.

Year: 1998 

Materials: Found window envelopes, archival glue, redwood dowel

Dimensions: 9'-0" high x 4'-0" wide x 30" deep

The summer prior to my MFA graduation, I traveled to Tokyo, Japan where I lived and worked for three months before installing my final thesis show back in San Francisco. My mail and bills were forwarded to me while I was away. Out of context, I was able to view window envelopes as if for the first time. For me they embody “Neglected Space,” objects so familiar that they become invisible. To me they mark time that is linear and relate to the nine-five hours of “Office Time.”

The office where I installed my thesis show was occupied by a graphic designer and his firm. Their location on the fifth floor of a brick building in downtown San Francisco was accessed via a private elevator. There was no threshold in their office. This lack of separation between the office interior and the outside world resulted in constant interruptions to their work. I asked the people who worked there to collect the envelopes from their business correspondence and added them to my own collection. I made a Foyer from the accumulated window envelopes.

The process of making involved sorting, unfolding, tearing and finally seaming the edges together using a bone folder and archival glue; eventually forming a room-size whole. The overall dimensions were defined by the measurements of the elevator and projected into the front of the office space.

There were two skylights in the office and I chose the one illuminating the main space of the office as an intervention site. Taking the dimensions of the skylight as it extended from ceiling through roof, I mirrored this volume downward into the space. Translucent mylar stretched over a one-inch square redwood frame marked the projected volume.

I wanted to emphasize this negative space without making it yet another positive space. Working within the restrictions of nine to five. I was wondering if a space could exist within the office environment to remind us that there are other ways of seeing and thinking that remain hidden from view, veiled behind the screen of “Office Time?”

An unexpected result that the sun spot that normally traveled around the office over the course of the day was trapped within the Skylight Volume.

Owner Michael Rutchik walks by the Skylight Volume as a sun spot marks time by traveling around the mylar structure.

There was enough space to sit under the Skylight Volume, but not to stand.

View looking North, towards the entrance of the office

Original View of Skylight in MudHaus site, prior to intervention and installation

Original View of Skylight in MudHaus site, prior to intervention and installation