July 08, 2013
Art grad’s international online exhibit earns honor
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Madeline Steimle, a Murphysboro native who earned her bachelor of fine arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s School of Art and Design in May, placed third in the Glass Art Society’s 2013 International Student Online Exhibition.
The Glass Art Society is a leading professional society for international artists working in the glass arts. The student online contest is open to full-time art student GAS members. Nearly 100 students participated in the prestigious competition, representing 39 art schools in 11 countries. The top artists are included in an online catalog selected by a jury of top art glass professionals.
For her entry, Steimle created a recording made of cast glass. Her online submission was a video featuring the vitreo-tone recording of “You’re All I Want for Christmas.”
“In my work, I explore the differences between analog and digital media, as our society takes steps to digitize most of our culture,” Steimle said in an artist statement. She notes the art she creates is, by its nature, ephemeral. If the glass recording is simply stored, it could last indefinitely. Using it as it is intended, however, forever changes the art.
“Not only does the casting process corrupt the data on the recordings, but each time the grooves are traced by the phonograph needle, the music wears away further. Through the reproduction of media, degradation is inherent in my work.”
Steimle said she fell in love with glass after taking a class as a sophomore at SIU Carbondale. She said she is looking for a city with a strong art community to live in, and to find an art-related job to support her studio art time.
Two other SIU Carbondale students and a recent alumna are also in the online exhibition. Rachael Erickson of Kent, Ohio and Erin Taylor of St. Louis, Mo., both graduate students, and Sarah Vaughn, a 2007 graduate, are also part of the exhibition.
Go to http://issuu.com/glassartsociety/docs/int_l_student_exhibit_catalogue_fin to see the online exhibit.