1. Joni Younkins-Herzog, Delirium

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“Currently living in Sarasota, Florida, I received my MFA from Indiana University and my BFA from the University of Georgia. My work is featured in exhibitions across the country, including New York, Miami, San Francisco, and the Art Prize in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as internationally in Cortona, Italy; Pabianice, Poland; Cajabamba, Peru; and Sang Arts Village, Ghana. My residency in Ghana left me with an interesting synesthesia of feelings, sounds, and sights. This work, Delirium, is an attempt to share my experience, including several feverish nights, the effects of malaria pills, loud, 5 am Islamic calls to prayer, textiles, my thatched-roof mud hut, open-air markets, and the chaos of so many people in motion.

My search for beauty and purpose manifests into forms that abstract femininity and vitality. My sculptures combine beauty with absurdity, often blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Utilizing many mediums, I lure the viewer in with colors, sound, and materials, to contemplate the content in close proximity. Within my work, the human body is displaced, retaining ranges of recognizable features, but what remains is an interest in the dispersal and fertilization of the feminine mystique.”  Joni Younkins-Herzog, Sarasota, Florida