For Immediate Release

Princeton Theological Seminary’s Erdman Art Gallery to Open Inlet—An Exhibit of Works in Mixed Media

Princeton, NJ, October 17, 2005– On November 1, Princeton Theological Seminary’s Erdman Art Gallery will open Inlet, an exhibit by artist Elaine Chong featuring abstract works of layered surfaces that explore “contained energy.” Her work will be on display through December 9. 

Made by layering and embedding materials like handmade paper, silk tissue, oil, and encaustic wax on a wood surface, Chong creates what she calls environments of visual exchange. “Submerging and revealing are two metaphors that I explore in my pieces,” Chong says. “Materials are layered and embedded onto the surface over time. Each layer is exposed through the decoding of the viewer’s experience. These visual residues are moments that have no beginning or end. . . .” Chong’s work encourages the viewer to experience time as a moment-by-moment “practice of mending,” of exploring and connecting the places where words break down.   Chong says, “It is my interest to explore the unspoken, to seek what cannot be heard or seen, and to create a place for this energy to unleash itself.”

Chong earned her M.F.A. in mixed media from Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, and her B.A. in studio art at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. She is the gallery and exhibit coordinator of the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center and assistant to the director of the Art Access Program sponsored by the Matheny School and Hospital, both in Peapack, New Jersey. She was a commissioned artist for the New York City Big Apple Fest and has exhibited her work in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

The Seminary’s Erdman Art Gallery will host an artist’s reception with Chong on Tuesday, November 10 from 4:30 until 5:45 p.m.

The Erdman Art Gallery is located in Erdman Hall, 20 Library Place, at the Center of Continuing Education at Princeton Theological Seminary. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 2:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public.

For more information, please call 609-497-7990.