Gillian Furniss

ARTIST BIO

Gillian J. Furniss

www.gillianfurniss.com

Gillian J. Furniss (b. 1966) was born and raised in New York City. She attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She studied graphic design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and was a freelance graphic designer for several years in Boston and New York. She taught art to children including those with disabilities. She earned her Doctorate of Education in Art and Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She studied printmaking with Michael Pellettieri at Teachers College and Art Students League of New York. She has been a printmaker since 2003, mostly screen printing but also etching, lithography, collagraphy, and woodcut. She taught Introduction to Silkscreen Printmaking for the INSTEP Program at Teachers College. Her screen print Lotus Flowers, No. 4 is in the Permanent Collection of Art Students League of New York. Currently, she is Assistant Professor of Art Education at Mississippi University For Women in Columbus, Mississippi.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Gillian J. Furniss

As an artist, I explore my personal life in terms of my feelings, thoughts, and experiences in the larger context of our global community. My extended family instilled in me the desire to celebrate life though the arts and the natural sciences. I gained skills to further develop my art practice mostly in collaborate settings where informal learning is encouraged. I studied art history, graphic design, fine art and art education.

I have been a printmaker since 2003, mostly screen printing but also some etching, lithography, collagraphy, and woodcut. I consider travel a site of inspiration for my artwork. My art process is inspired by physical elements of nature I experienced first-hand during outdoor exploration. Often I had an immediate emotional response to life events I later decided to investigate in the art studio. My artistic themes include the inevitability of change of the universe and the interconnectedness of all things. My subject matter includes thistles blowing in the wind, birds singing, moonlight reflecting on water, lotus flowers blooming, and fish swimming.

Originally trained as a graphic designer, I combine the aesthetics of fine art with the visual communication skills of commercial art. I illustrate my visual narratives by depicting objects in a flat stylized manner. I work a complex composition through to find a more minimalist approach to determine a simple quality. Rather than having a preconceived idea of composition, I begin the printing process open to the opportunity of being inspired and so take risks of the moment, solving problems by altering and transforming composition to find deeper meaning in a more fluid, playful manner. The result is the revelation of the inner essence of a visual concept.

I am Assistant Professor of Art Education at Mississippi University For Women. My artwork is in the Permanent Collection of The Art Students League of New York. I show my artwork in group and solo exhibitions. I am a graduate of Mount Holyoke College; Massachusetts College of Art and Design; and Teachers College, Columbia University.