ON THE RECORD ... with Agnes Ma
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DeKALB – Agnes Ma didn’t always want to be an artist. During her senior year of her undergraduate studies, while majoring in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ma took a few art classes. She learned more about contemporary art and decided to become an artist herself. She describes her work as combining “traditional craft and modern methods of fabrication to examine the relationship between humans and their surrounding environment.” Ma is one of nine visual artists and five poets whose work will be on display for the “Arts in Action” exhibit at the Ellwood House Museum, 420 Linden Place in DeKalb. Her abstract sculpture, titled “The Ellfield Addition,” is made from bioplastic and paper. The opening reception for the exhibit will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 21, in the Patience Ellwood Towle Visitor Center. The exhibit will run through July 2. “Arts in Action” is a project developed by the DeKalb County History Center and Ellwood House Museum to investigate the history of race rela-
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Agnes Ma is one of nine visual artists and five poets whose work will be on display in the “Arts in Action” exhibit at the Ellwood House Museum in DeKalb. The opening reception is May 21. tions in DeKalb County through historical research and a collaboration with contemporary artists. The artists’ work has themes of fear, exclusion, community and hope. Community
members have participated by telling their stories or by assisting with research. For more information about the “Arts in Action” exhibit, visit www. ellwoodhouse.org/exhibits or www. dchcexhibits.org/arts-in-action. Ma now lives in Colorado and is an assistant professor and 3-D studios coordinator at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. In addition to receiving a bachelor’s degree from U of I, Ma earned a Masters in Fine Art in metalwork, jewelry design and digital fabrication as well as a graduate certificate in museum studies from Northern Illinois University. Ma was the artist in residence for metalwork and glass at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago in 2015 and 2016, and she also took part in a four-week artist residency at Yellowstone National Park during summer 2018. Her artwork has exhibited nationally, including at the Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Her museum and curatorial endeavors have extended as far as Sicily, Italy. For more information about Agnes Ma and her artwork, visit www. agnesma.com.
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Milton: Have you always been interested in being an artist? Ma: I have not, actually. I was always interested in crafts, but I never really thought of art as a career path until the end of undergrad. My senior year, I took art classes, and I really enjoyed it. I’m traditionally trained in metalwork, jewelry design and digital fabrication. I dabble in anything from jewelry to large-scale installations. I work in a variety of mediums. Milton: What do you like best about art? Ma: I think it allows for a different kind of problem-solving. I didn’t know anything about contemporary or modern art at all. Through studying, I’ve learned that it is a mode of communication that extends how people normally think about things or communicate. You can relay a lot of concepts that are much more layered and are understood in a different way that writing, speaking or verbal language. Milton: Do you normally use a lot of color? Ma: I don’t usually use color. I tend to be drawn to monochromatics. I did use color in this display because I
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MIDWEEK The MidWeek / MidWeeknews.com • Wednesday, May 18, 2022
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