Department Photography & Imaging Chair Deb Willis' work is featured in the exhibition Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy at Illinois State University galleries running now through December 18, 2016.
The exhibit focuses on the work of contemporary female artists inspired by and in reference to female writers. With a title derived from a sentence Sylvia Plath famously underlined in her personal copy of The Waves, by Virginia Woolf, the exhibit focuses on the female perspective, demonstrating the interpretation of literature through the works of generations of female artists.
In tribute to Woolf's essay "A Room of One's Own," the 34 featured works examine the status of fifteen literary icons, interpreting their legacies and intellectual pursuits, and examining feminism in the political and creative realms. The exhibit inclused works from 21 artists inspired by Octavia Butler, Emily Dickinson, Gabriela Mistral, Alejandra Pizarnik, Getrude Stein, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf and many more.
Willis is also a contributing artist for the coming catalogue featuring texts from six other art historians, curators, and poets, to be published in 2017.