Art Gallery
Show Run: Monday, Oct 7 - Friday, Nov 29
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday: 10 am - 6 pm
Artist Name: Rachel Coyne
Show Title: Missing & Disappeared
Rachel Coyne - "Missing & Disappeared" Artist Talk : Wed, November 6, 1pm in the gallery
Exhibit Description:
“Missing & Disappeared” is Rachel Coyne’s latest body of work, addressing the crisis of missing and disappeared women in the United States. The pieces are created from resin panels, with collages of paper materials from vintage clothing patterns suspended within. When illuminated, female silhouettes appear, emerging from the shadows to tell their story.
There around 14,000 unidentified decedents in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and all too many of them are women who went missing or were disappeared. Unidentified decedents are usually described by the clothes they are wearing, and sometimes named after them. For example, a Sarasota County "Jane Doe" is described as "wearing a multi-colored cotton pullover shirt with an Italian label.” Since many of the unidentified decedents are from the 60's, 70's, and 80's, the vintage pattern envelopes used in Coyne’s work are contemporary to their lives.
The strong backlighting of the pieces reflect the hope of new DNA technologies. The images of women in this display are drawn from the DNA Doe Website. All of these women were former Jane Does, whose name was returned to them through DNA technologies, such as
GEDmatch. GEDmatch allows any person who has participated in popular ancestry genetic testing programs to upload their DNA file into a database used by volunteers to identify Jane Does. https://www.gedmatch.com/join-the-genetic-witness-program/
Rachel Coyne is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The James Wegner Art Gallery provides an educational experience to students and the community by featuring exhibitions from regional, national, and international artists working in a variety of media.
The gallery is located in the Austin East building just to the left of the Frank W. Bridges Theatre lobby. Gallery hours vary each semester. Please call 507-433-0600 for current information.
