Satellite Events

Unforeseen Matter explores the idea of coming to a crossroads, a place of transition, change or potential new directions. This split point can lead you down a path of infinite possibilities, altering your trajectory of life. This exhibition features artists, Donna Backues and Judith Jacobson who both create expansive imagery in their work which ventures into the prospect of the unknown, defying the boundaries of their given medium. Donna’s work portrays a construction of overlapping lines that resembles the reference of mapping and geography which helps to create a gorgeous yet complex intersection in her illustrations. Judith Jacobson creates a distinguished map of memories of her life through varying facial expressions and intricate knots of entangled details that gives a glimpse of many intimate moments.

Donna Backues -

Bio

Donna Backues holds a BA in Studio Art and Graphic Design, an MFA, and an MA in Urban Studies & Community Arts. After working as a graphic designer, she moved to Indonesia in 1989, where she lived for 18 years. There, she worked as a visual artist and grassroots development worker, founding community health and arts programs, supporting local artisans, and designing batik textiles. She also contributed to relief efforts following the 2004 Asian Tsunami.

After returning to the US and completing her MFA, Donna taught at various institutions and received multiple artist residencies. She has earned several awards, including first place in the American Batik Design Competition and the Art & Change Grant from the Leeway Foundation. In 2017, she received the NewCourtland Fellowship.

Currently, Donna works as the Coordinator of Community & Family Wellness at SEAMAAC, serving immigrant and refugee populations in South Philadelphia. She also continues to create art, teach, and exhibit her work. Her paintings are part of the Philadelphia Convention Center's permanent collection, and her public murals can be found in Philadelphia, Camden, New Jersey, and Leeds, England. Donna’s artwork has been exhibited internationally in the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

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Artist Statement

In this body of work, I explore landscapes that reflect both the beauty and the inherent danger of nature, drawing from my years living in Southeast Asia. My pieces reference maps, aerial views, volcanic craters, bodies of water, and landforms—each element inspired by the lived experiences of people whose lives unfold in the shadow of unseen spirits that inhabit the volcanoes, forests, rivers, and oceans.

Through my work, I aim to capture the atmosphere of these environments, highlighting the vulnerability of living symbiotically with the volatile beauty of the landscape. In these places, life-giving oceans can transform into destructive waves, volcanoes can erupt without warning, and the fertile earth can suddenly tremble with earthquakes. My pieces reflect this delicate balance, evoking both the awe and the fragility of existence in such a place.

Some of my works depict imaginary islands, symbolic inner landscapes of memory viewed from above, while others respond emotionally to specific events or historical moments. Yet, in all of them, landscapes are at the core of my exploration—landscapes that speak not only of the physical world but of the spirits and stories that define the spaces in which we live.

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Judith Jacobson

Artist Bio

Judith Jacobson received her BFA in Painting, with a minor in Philosophy and a Provisional Teaching Degree, from The Tyler School of Art in 1969.  She received her MFA in Painting from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1997.  She is the recipient of The Leeway Foundation Edna Andrade Grant in Painting, "awarded for work that exhibits exceptional promise and talent."  Judith's work was purchased by the founder of The Leeway Foundation and is part of the permanent and prominent collection.  Judith was invited to participate in panel discussions with other Leeway Grant recipients at The Philadelphia Art Alliance.

She has received numerous awards in Painting and Drawing.  Her achievements have been extensive and positively reviewed  by the media.

Judith has been a Visiting Artist at local colleges, giving presentations of her art and process, and then making studio visits to critique the work of the students. She has also shared her ideas and work in many "Meet the Artist" discussions.  Judith continuously donates her art to charitable organizations, to include, but not limited to yearly MANNA live auctions at The Moore College of Art and Design. Judith has exhibited substantially.  Her work is included in collections in the United States, Canada and Europe.

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Statement

I hear paintings.

I see sounds.

I listen without ears and…

I see with sightless eyes.

I paint.  I draw.  Separate and connected. 

Layers of oils and layers of charcoal 

and layers of time and flesh…  I build

faces, throats, organic form.  Form!

Intimate fragments

slanted, tilted, silent and withdrawn.

Oversized, magnified, disembodied parts.

Portions of self; pieces of humanity;

the guts, the soul, the spirit and yes-  the flesh.

Gradual decay-  inevitable deterioration

I observe with curious fascination.  I’d like to say detached.

Glimpses of vulnerability:  crevices, hollows, pouches, sags,

inside   to out   to in.

Penetration:  reality, illusion,

outside   to inside   to inside….

I scrutinize, scan and probe.

Outward trails of inward travels

Journeys marked with blemishes and scars

of where we’ve been and how long we’ve tarried.

I stare and glare and dissect.

I layer:  on off on   paint wipe add

Darkened surfaces with transparent echoes

of time and space.

Memories linger vivid!  then fade

and return with altered sounds and visions.

I layer-  and feel the ghosts

of translucent darkness emerge, dissolve

in and out and in   back and forth.

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Remembered flesh, supple and toned

Youthful belief in forever

Mortality looms

invisible, stealthy

the flesh it consumes 

and…  Where is Forever?

Fragments of beings implode, explode!

Parts become wholes.  Fragments become lifetimes

that wither and wrinkle and crease and crack

like too many layers of paint.

And when did I become 

like too many layers of paint?

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