| Sojourner | ||||||||
Highlights and selected images from past exhibitsOne World -Anatomically Correct Gallery at Bailiwick Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois"Susan McMillen steals the show with her funky studies of odd sights that transcend place; in Behind the Restaurant, shot in Mali, a severed goats head hangs from a noose in the alley. McMillen's most stunning image shows a row of statues of saints caught from behind on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, standing like sentinels against a luscious muted purple, blue and pink evening sky." Michael Weinstein, New City photography critic in his review of One World group show at Bailiwick Arts Center, Anatomically Correct Gallery-one of "5 shows to see" that week.
Grounded Journeys-Chicago Community Trust Gallery, Chicago, IllinoisRead ReviewTip of the week New City
National Exposure, National Photography Competition, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IllinoisJuror-Colin Westerbeck, Associate Photography Curator, Art Institute of Chicago. "On the evidence of the pictures seen in this exhibition, at any rate, photographers are recovering their interest in the astute and quirky observation and in what used to be called 'photographic seeing' - in the pleasures of catching and fixing those moments that only the camera can reveal."
Photo Finish - Gallery 1633, Chicago, IllinoisFire, It Leaves us All to Burn Series"Mixing black and white photographs of Chicago ghetto scenes with street shots of Capetown, South Africa (searing color photos of blazing arson fires in South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park), Susan McMillen delivers the message that repression ignites resistance. Her series begins with “In the Line of Fire,” where we see a black man leaning back against the barrel of a cannon; this is followed up by a gutted-out playground in Cabrini Green that looks like a bombed wasteland. Purified by the flames, viewers end the tour gazing into the eyes of a Capetown woman in a black veil, staring out with determined intensity; she is McMillen's alter ego, encapsulating her passion for social justice seasoned with hard-won realism." Michael Weinstein, New City photography critic, choosing the exhibit at Gallery 1633 as the number one "tip of the week."
A Journey Through the Collective Unconscious Solo Show - Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, Indiana and regional group show at Artlink Gallery, Ft.Wayne, Indiana
Excerpts from reviews"Her work is interesting the way she combines different cultures", says John Cain, executive director of Northern Indiana Arts Association. "Her photographs have very nice composition. Also, technically, they are nicely done." In David Telisman's review in the Times. "What makes a Turkish mother content? Surely the usual health and happiness of her family. But to be happy, must her sons own 3,000-square foot houses and drive SUVs? We can ponder these questions, but the photos answer for us." Shelley Sepiol, Post-Tribune.Text included in the exhibit."Archetypes are living psychic forces that demand to be taken seriously, and they have a strange way of making sure of their effect." Dr. Carl Jung"The effect of the unconscious images has something fateful about it. Perhaps-who knows-these eternal images are what men mean by fate." Dr. Carl Jung "It is a great mistake to treat an archetype as if it were a mere name, word or concept. It is far more than that: it is a piece of life, an image connected with the living individual by the bridge of emotion." "It is only possible to live the fullest life when we are in harmony with these symbols; wisdom is a return to them." Dr. Carl Jung |
