statement

Partly due to my experience with science, and partly due to unusual life circumstances, I am inspired by the intersection of dualities: the unity of opposites and the ways in which they can be integrated or interchanged. This conundrum propels my work and informs my approach to materials and equipment. Whether it involves randomly spilled ink, a homemade pinhole camera, or a double-walled ceramic vessel, my process usually begins with simple materials and some unlikely combination of chance and exactitude.

Although my professional involvement in science was temporary, it caused a personal transformation that continues to manifest itself in my artwork. During my pursuit of chemistry, moments and events gradually acquired names, and the world turned into a language of formulas. But once something could be named, ostensibly explained and broken down, it no longer contained its sublime, powerful anonymity. As a result, and despite my continued love of chemistry, I experienced anguish and a desire to explore the enigmas of life in ways that were not quantifiable.

Instead of serving as a means of self-expression or communication, art began to fulfill the same role chemistry briefly did: it became an avenue of inquisition and discovery. Unlike chemistry however, art's primary goal seems to lie in revealing questions rather than seeking answers. Prescribed methods and firm ideologies have become meaningless to me; questioning or just experiencing is now more valuable.

bio

born:1976, Chicago, Illinois

education:

The Ohio State University, MFA, 2005
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, BFA, 2003
Loyola University Chicago, BA and BS, 2000

selected awards/honors

First Prize, Works on Paper: A Juried Show, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, IL, 2009
Curator's Choice Artist, 10th Annual Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL, 2007
CAAP Grant, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council, 2007
Drench Award, Illustration, Best of Category Winning Entry, Area of Design, 2006

selected publications

Dehlia Hannah, "Hybrids," Art:21 Blog, art21.org, September 11, 2009
Phil Plait, "Pareidolia Inside of Us," Discover Magazine Blogs, August 23, 2009
Claudine Ise, "Review: Vesna Jovanovic," Newcity, p. 11, August 20, 2009
Vesna Jovanovic, "The Rorschach Paintings," Seed Magazine, seedmagazine.com, August 18, 2009

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, Peoria, IL, 2010
Pareidolia, Freeark Gallery, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, IL, 2010
Pareidolia,  The International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL, 2009
Science in Art, University of Chicago Gordon Center for Integrative Science, Chicago, IL, 2009

selected group shows