Monica Rezman is a multi-media artist who explores intimacy within abstraction through the use of traditional media and everyday found materials. She studied painting and textile design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979. While at SAIC, she spent a study-abroad year at the Instituto Allende in Mexico. In 1993, she studied classical drawing and painting at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy. In 1999 and 2002 consecutively, Rezman was awarded an Art-in-Residence in Gujurat, India, one of the world’s most revered craft communities in textiles. For the last forty years, she has exhibited nationally and internationally including exhibitions at The Riverside Art Center, 2019; Governors State University Gallery, 2019; Merida English Library, Mexico, 2019; the Chicago Cultural
Center, 2017; The Contemporary Art Gallery, India, 1999; and the South Bend Regional Museum of Art, 1998. In 2017-18 she was the Artist-In-Residence at the Chicago Artist Coalition’s Field/Work program. She is a 2020 recipient of an Individual Illinois Arts Council Grant. Her work has been reviewed by Hyperallergic, Alan Artner (Chicago Tribune), and New City. She is currently exhibiting at 65Grand in Chicago.
"The physical and literal motion of pulling something apart to then reconstruct into a new configuration from the different parts collected, has become the driving force of my practice along with the act of cutting, tearing, shredding, sewing, and gluing. Taking things apart to understand how things work, to then go through the process of putting it back together has always fascinated me since childhood. In the process of carving, painting and stitching woven cloth around polygonal forms that are made out of reclaimed cardboard and fabric, this recent body of painting and sculptural works is an attempt to push the boundaries between painting, textile, and sculpture."
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in the arts.
I'm an artist currently working and living in Chicago but this year will be a big change for me. My daughter is going away to college and I'm in the process of building a studio in Merida, Mexico where I will split my time. I studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Instituto Allende in San Miguel. I returned to school to study classical portraiture in Florence, Italy and did a series of Artist in Residence in Ahmedabad, India.
What kind of work are you currently making?
I have a full-time studio practice where I'm currently working on a series of sculptures and paintings.
What is a day like in the studio for you?
I spend a large portion of the day cutting, sewing, cladding, and stacking volumes on top of each other. When the pandemic began I started painting small works on paper on my dining room table. I felt like I needed to work on something colorful and intimate. I've continued to straddle these two mediums.
What are you looking at right now and/or reading?
I am currently reading "The Anthropology of Turquiose" Meditations on Landscape, Art, and Spirit by Ellen Meloy.
Where can we find more of your work?
You can find me on Instagram: @monicarezman and my website:http://monicarezman.com/
