Clarke Professor’s Sculpture Selected for Art on the River

A sculpture by Jessica Teckemeyer, Clarke University assistant professor of art, has been selected for the 2013 Art on the River Exhibition in Dubuque.

The city of Dubuque recently announced the selection of 10 works of outdoor sculpture for the 2013 exhibition. In its eighth year, the temporary public art exhibit drew 79 entries from 47 artists from 18 states and one foreign country (Vienna, Austria).

Teckemeyer’s sculpture is titled “The Human Shadow.” It is a bronze cast sculpture representing a newborn whitetail deer in the shadow of a wolf.

“The head (of the deer) is visually distorted as if a slow motion blur has permanently morphed the physicality,” Teckemeyer said. “This frozen action attempts to convey confusion. The fawn has human-like eyes and smooth skin, rather than fur, to clue the viewer to the introspective nature.

“Ernest Hemingway stated, ‘all things truly wicked start from innocence.’ The statement implicates the murky depths of our unconscious mind. Over the last three and a half years, my research has focused on the dark and light side of personality. I am interested in the conflicted complexity of human behavior. Human behavior is driven by both innate instinctual reactions and culturally learned responses. Each person naturally develops a shadow beginning in childhood composed of repressed personality traits. Those traits were found to be unattractive by others and/or yourself. According to Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, great potential waits to be retrieved in the shadow. Through translating a human experience into the form of an animal, we look at ourselves from another viewpoint. “

The works will be installed in front of the Grand River Center and along the Mississippi Riverwalk at the Port of Dubuque in July 2013, with an opening event set for Thursday, July 11, at 5 p.m. at the Grand River Center. The event is free and open to the public.

A panel of three credentialed jurors reviewed the artist applications and made a recommendation to the commission and the city council on the selection of artwork in a blind judging process.

Art on the River is part of the Dubuque City Council’s Arts and Culture initiative. The city has identified highly visible locations at the Port of Dubuque to display selected artwork.

Teckemeyer, a native of Frazee, Minn., maintains an active studio practice in Dubuque. She earned her master of fine arts degree from the University of Minnesota in May 2010. She earned her bachelor of fine arts degree at Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2004. Her work has been exhibited in 38 group exhibitions and featured in six solo shows.

For more information, contact the Clarke University Marketing and Communication Office at (563)588-6318.