a series of handmade dolls by Northern Kentucky-based Venezuelan-born artist

YBETTE INOJOSA

Self-portrait doll by Ybette Inojosa

YBETTE INOJOSA is a multi-talented artist who enjoys making paintings, sculpture, videography, ceramics, and stained glass. In the 1990s, a friend of Ybette’s asked her to make a doll that looked like her, so she could then give it to her boyfriend. Since then, she became fascinated with making dolls just for fun, and giving them names and personalities, deriving inspiration from the unusual and sometimes creepy dolls of Venezuelan artist Armando Reverón that she remembered having seen in high school art classes in the 1980s.  At the time, she didn’t want to admit liking his dolls for fear that people would think her strange. Ybette now fully embraces her strangeness, and has created a series of her own weird dolls using a variety of materials and methods, mixing sewing techniques with found objects.  Each doll comes ‘alive’ once its face has been created, which then allows Ybette to develop its personality, adding accessories or props that can help to suggest a story.  Occasionally Ybette will take the dolls a step further, performing with them before a small audience of friends, acting on the lives of her own alter egos.

Ybette was born in Caracas, Venezuela, where she received a degree in Graphic Design, and developed her skills in various advertising art and production techniques while working as a junior Art Director, providing work for national and international clients.  In 1995, Ybette moved to the United States, and later attended Northern Kentucky University, where she pursued a double major in French, and Communications/Radio & Television.  She now holds dual citizenship and says, “I have become familiar with a totally different culture, a way of life different from my own.  Although the experience can be sometimes uneasy, it has given me the most wonderful experiences I ever imagined.”

*ON DISPLAY THRU AUGUST 4, 2013

a series of collagraph prints by

JAN THOMAS
2012 Artist-in-Residence at Tiger Lily Press

JAN THOMAS was born in New York in 1945, and has resided in the Cincinnati area since 1969. She studied at The State University of Buffalo, New York and The College of Great Falls, in Great Falls, Montana, before receiving her BFA in Art Education at the University of Cincinnati in 1975. She continued her graduate studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Xavier University in Cincinnati. She has also been a Rhode Island School of Design Honors Educator, and participated in The Savannah College of Art and Design Summer Seminars for distinguished Educators.

Jan retired in 1999 from a long and rewarding career as an art educator at Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, where her students consistently received local, regional, and national recognition and scholarships for their art. Jan has been an exhibiting artist in the Tri-State area since 1975, where her artwork has been included in shows at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Contemporary Arts Center, College of Mount Saint Joseph, the Arts Consortium, University of Cincinnati DAAP Gallery, Xavier University Gallery, Cintas Center, Miami University Heistand Gallery, Artworks, Warsaw Projects Space, the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, The Kennedy Heights Art Center, and more.

*ON DISPLAY THRU JUNE 23, 2013

Local delivery is available for an additional charge.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A COPY OF THE CALENDAR AND HAVE IT MAILED TO YOU, OR TO A FRIEND AS A GIFT!

THIS WAS A PARTICIPATING EXHIBIT IN FOTOFOCUS CINCINNATI.  See the event page here: http://www.fotofocuscincinnati.org/node/172

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

NVISION teamed up with photographer Jeanine Mullen Steele to capture images of local women modeling vintage clothing in public & private settings around Cincinnati. Styled as a cross between vintage pin-up photography and high fashion magazine ads*, the featured images marry vintage and contemporary looks to create a modern style; it’s not what you wear but how you wear it, how you put a look together and wear it with confidence that is at the heart of fashion versus following the trend of the moment. The exhibit title of Femmes Fatales suggests that a confident woman, comfortable in her clothes and skin, is a woman to behold.

* Styled by Emily Buddendeck, featured clothing & accessories provided by NVISION

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER

JEANINE MULLEN STEELE graduated with a BFA from the College of Mount St. Joseph, and her artwork has shown in solo and group shows throughout the region. An accomplished painter and sculptor, Steele worked as an art director, production manager, and graphic designer for corporations and ad agencies before working as a freelance photographer shooting weddings, portraits, products, political figures, and corporate and fundraising events.

More information & images of Jeanine’s work can be seen at jeaninemullensteele.com.

These and other screenprint designs are available in a limited variety of sizes and fabrics.

Click on individual photos for a larger expanded view.