For Immediate Release Contact: Carol O’Sullivan

Feb. 28, 2010 412-681-5449

Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Announce

My Deviant Muse by Heather Joy Puskarich

(Pittsburgh, PA) – Filmmakers Galleries presents My Deviant Muse: Photographic Imagery in Glass by Pittsburgh-based artist Heather Joy Puskarich, on view from March 12 through April 18, 2010. Running concurrently is a group show by local media artists, Equipment Office and Friends. A reception will be held on Friday, March 19 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. It is free and open to the public.

While My Deviant Muse is personal and introspective, it also explores form and function. It features six works using glass manipulation techniques such as “kilnforming,” “slumping,” and “fusing” combined with photographic images of women, some self-portraits.

“Kilnforming refers to glass processes using the heat of a kiln, at temperatures between 1100 and 1700 degrees Fahrenheit,” Puskarich says.  Fusing is one such process. Glass softens when heat is applied to it, and with more heat separate pieces can fuse together. 

“The bending and shaping of glass can take many forms, but the most common is slumping, where a mold is used causing already fused glass to take on the shape of a bowl, a plate, or similar object,” she explains. “Other items may be placed under that glass to give it organic or exaggerated shapes during the slumping process.” This is the technique Puskarich uses in one of her pieces called Avalon.

“It takes a lot to make glass harsh,” says Puskarich. “It inherently looks smooth and seemingly flawless.” She feels this show reveals the two sides of her personality. “I'm bearing my soul on this one, not just with the images but with the mediums I am using,” she say.

Puskarich, who is originally from Dallas, Texas, received her BA from the University of Pittsburgh and took classes at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. She is on staff and an instructor at the Pittsburgh Glass Center.

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Also in the galleries is Equipment Office and Friends presented by local media artists, some of whom are on staff at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Included in this show are:

Gretchen Neidert - photographs

Laura Jean Kahl - photographs

Anna Hawkins - video installation

Julie Gonzalez & Emmett Frisbee - photography/video installation

Joseph E. Morrison - photography installation

Matthew R. Day & Marina Pfenning - installation

Christopher Smalley - video installation

Tess Allard - photography installation

Sam Boese - videos

Mike Bonello - videos

Christopher Smalley - videos

Anna Hawkins - videos

Matthew R. Day - videos

Tess Allard - videos

Marina Pfennning – videos

Filmmakers Galleries, located at 477 Melwood Avenue in North Oakland, is open Monday –Thursday 12:00 – 7:00pm; Friday 12:00 – 6:00pm; and when films are shown in the Melwood Screening Room.

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