"Susan Byrnes: The Viscosity Series" is on view from December 11, 2021, through January 26, 2022, in the Massillon Museum's Studio M. "The Viscosity Series" includes vividly colored artworks inspired by landscapes that are made from transparent and opaque polyurethane cast into a shallow mold, a process of the artist’s own invention. Although the artwork is presented as wall-mounted, two-dimensional works, they have depth, weight, and density because they are made by pouring pigmented layers of viscous liquid into a shallow, flat mold.

Amy Swartelé: Supernormal is on view in the Massillon Museum’s Studio M from October 16 through December 1, 2021. 

Amy Swartelé lived in five countries before the age of 18, a nomadic experience that evolved into her love of travel and the strange. She learned early that what was considered normal or valuable in one place, was strange or devalued in another.

Swartelé envisions a group of characters—imaginary friends and alter egos—as carnival sideshow performers. “Where people break out of the little boxes of what is considered normal, is where I find people being most human and genuine, and that is more fabulous and interesting than the polite masks we so often wear to fit what we perceive to be society's expectations. I think we are all ‘other,' I think we are all supernormal, and I think we should embrace and celebrate that fact,” Swartelé says. The carnival, she explains, was a place where all members of society, no matter how different from each other, could mingle and interact, and traditional norms and expectations were put aside for a time.

Finding connections and dialogue and emphasizing the value of difference and discourse seems paramount to the artist. Her paintings playfully merge a range of styles and media because that process, for her, reflects the range of human possibilities. She sees how very different things can fit together without taboos. This family of sideshow characters melds species, genders, the animate, and inanimate.

Learn all about "Hoard Couture: Where Art Meets Fashion", on display in the Massillon Museum's Studio M until October 6.  Judi Krew's ongoing wearable art series uses clothing design to creatively display a collection of items, explore contemporary social issues, and works with unconventional materials as textiles.  

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of speaking with Carlos Jones from Carlos Jones & The PLUS Band for a new episode of our podcast, MassMusings! We had such a wonderful conversation, and are excited to share it with you.

This episode of MassMusings features a conversation with internationally acclaimed artist John Chang.  Born and raised in Shanghai, China, the artist is currently based in Southern California. His solo exhibition in MassMu’s Studio M runs through August 11, 2021. 
In Ink—Transformation of Calligraphy  accentuates the visual and human aspects of the characters, the mark, and the gesture, transcending the text and the medium, extracting from language meaning beyond its surface value. 

Join us for MassMusings Podcast Episode #3, our in-depth conversation with CAN Triennial Exhibition prize winner and current Studio M artist Rebecca Cross.  Cross exhibits her artwork nationally and internationally, including in New York City, Sweden, Paris, Budapest, and Nagoya, Japan.  Cross is fascinated by mining the ephemeral potential of transformed materials, where line is made by shadows and delicate forms hold the memory of solid objects.  Her exhibition is on view in Studio M through June 16, 2021.

Join us for a conversation with our current Studio M artist Andrea Palagiano!  Palagiano's exhibition "Self-Conscious" is on view in Studio M through April 25, 2021.  Her exhibition reflects the relationship between introversion and projected self. Palagiano’s references to mythology dovetail with MassMu’s 2021 NEA Big Read, which is based on "Circe" by Madeline Miller, a book that reimagines the life of a sorceress in Greek mythology.

Studio M Coordinator Emily Vigil and Administrative Assistant Anna Young from the Massillon Museum interview photographer and current Studio M artist Alana Cartwright. Cartwright speaks about her new exhibition, Clothed in Resilience, on view from March 6 through March 28, 2021. Please note this episode contains discussions of sexual violence.