Mike Dworkin, Rings, on view in the Jean B. Chalmers Art Gallery June 2-10, 2011, opening reception tuesday June 7, 5-7pm, public welcome.

New Film on Mike Dworkin by Dale Schierholt, screening at 5:30, Lincoln Street Theater, free.

The theme of the exhibit is as one might think: rings.  About the show, Dworkin said, "Although my work with the symbol of the ring is a personal exploration into its meaning, at least some of the pieces also reflect in ways upon a wider cultural, emotional/intellectual meaning inherent in the form."  There will also be a premiere showing of well-known Owls Head film maker Dale Schierholt's new short film based on the concepts and processes Dworkin employs in making the rings.

About the Artist: Mike Dworkin, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio,
has no academic degree and is not an instructor at any school. 
Since moving to Maine over six years ago, Dworkin has
attempted to make art consistently, and promote his artwork—
after 20 years of keeping most of his visual art ideas internalized
as self-entertaining thoughts while expressing his artistic impulses
in physical exercise, failed relationships, feeding his children,
cooking, cleaning, and collecting materials such as his daily to-do
lists and different colored swaths of dryer lint.

Dworkin does work that most people find unattractive and difficult
to accept or understand.  He has rarely sold his artwork, although
over the past four years the pace has picked up to about two
pieces per year.
Dworkin’s artwork ranges from conceptual art to simple sketching,
from work that is non-objective to landscape, portraiture, and
figurative, from highly manipulated to merely found.  “I seek
discovery more than the honing of my craft.  Although I sometimes
rely on processes and materials which have proven to be effective
in my past work, I love the challenge of finding ways to make art
using materials and thinking that (to me) are untested, uncomfortable,
or new,” said Dworkin.
In May of 2007, he exhibited in the 5-artist “Feed Your Mind” show
at the Lincoln Street Center in Rockland, for which he also was
co-curator/organizer/promoter.  His work has since been exhibited
at a number of venues throughout central Maine, from the Royall
Gallery in Richmond to the Jonathan Frost Gallery in Rockland. 
In autumn of 2007, Dworkin resurrected the Lincoln Street Center’s
life drawing group, and this spring moved into a studio there.
An example of his found installation work is located in the loft gallery
at the CMCA in Rockport, and was included in “The Gleaners,”
a 2008 summer show there.

Dworkin’s approach to art was the subject of “Perception,” a
documentary by Dale Schierholt, the Owl’s Head, Maine film-maker.