Free & open to the public.

On Creative Practice brings together two artists in conversation to discuss studio practices, materiality and creation, and what it means to be a working artist today. Join us for this intimate conversation with Raeleen Kao, current Elevate artist at 21c Chicago, and Aimée Beaubien, whose work is currently on view at Hyde Park Art Center.

ABOUT RAELEEN KAO

Raeleen Kao is an over-caffeinated drawer, printmaker, and paper sculptor residing in Chicago with an endless mission to hug every cat and braid every pie crust.  She is a recipient of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellowship in Visual Art, the Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant, and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Individual Artist Program (IAP) Grant.  Her work is represented by Bert Green Fine Art in Chicago and is in the permanent collections of the Kohler Art Museum, the Smith College Museum of Art, the University of Richmond Rare Books & Special Collections, and the North Carolina State University Libraries Special Collections. 

ABOUT AIMÉE BEAUBIEN

Aimée Beaubien reshapes the photographic encounter through immersive installation, collage, sculpture and artist books. Exploring the interaction of time, space, and place, she tests the relationship between the real and ideal through intricate layers of plants, photographed plants, interlaced vines, and woven topographies, enhancing the nuanced experience of interpreting photographs and connecting with nature. Her work has been included in national and international exhibitions including Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL), Newport Art Museum (Newport, RI), Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, IL), UCR Museum of Photography (Riverside, CA), ABC No Rio (New York, NY), Demo Projects (Springfield, IL), Gallery UNO Projektraum (Berlin, Germany), Houston Center for Photography (Houston, TX), Laney Contemporary Fine Art (Savannah, GA), Lubeznik Center for the Arts (Michigan City, IN), Marvelli Gallery (New York, NY), Monaco (St. Louis, MO), oqbo galerie (Berlin, Germany), The Pitch Project (Milwaukee, WI), Randolph Street Gallery (Chicago, IL), SF Camerawork (San Francisco, CA), Temple Contemporary (Philadelphia, PA), TWIN KITTENS (Atlanta, GA), Virus Art Gallery (Rome, Italy). Beaubien is an Associate Professor of Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she has taught since 1997.

Image:

Aimée Beaubien  

Matter in the Hothouse, 2022

photographs, lighting, paracord, gold leaf, bioplastic, plant matter

dimensions variable

detail of installation at SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA