Biography

Gardiner C. Funo O'Kain lives and works in Chicago. She is a native Chicagoan but was raised in Toronto and has benefited from extended stays in Morocco, The Netherlands, Spain and Greece. Eventually O'Kain settled in San Francisco and later Austin before returning to Chicago.

In 2004, O'Kain left a career in feature film making and television to pursue an education in the fine arts. She graduated from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago (BFA, Emphasis in Interdisciplinary Studio and Art Education) where she was a 4-year merit scholar. She currently attends the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she is earning her Masters of Applied Arts in Interdisciplinary Visual and Media Arts.

O'Kain currently teaches in The Art Institute of Chicago's Student and Family Programs, in the Film and Video Department at Columbia College Chicago, and at New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois. She maintains an interdisciplinary studio practice in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood. She is the founder and director of the newly formed I.A.W.A. INTERNATIONAL ART WORKERS' ALLIANCE, CHICAGO LOCAL A-1, and THE A-1 DRAWING CLUB.
"Making Art Work"



Artist's Statement

My studio practice incorporates printmaking, ceramics, animation, 3D construction, and interactive performance-based installation. Common themes include idioms, language, pedagogy, failure, and optimism. My work is also informed by duality in racial identity and by the experience of living in bilingual countries (Morocco and Canada). Multiples and audience interaction are significant components in my work. I design installations to be distributable; to tangibly connect the viewers to the art; and to connect viewers, tangentially to each other.

Principal influences include the work of the filmmakers Yasujiro Ozu and Agnes Varda; writers Kenzaburo Oe, Susan Stewart, Gaston Bachelard, and Matthew Collings, and visual artists Isamu Noguchi, Agnes Martin, Irwin Wurm, Lee Ufan, and the Mono-ha Movement.


Exhibitions

2011
Upon Occasion
MAA First-Year Exhibition
Emily Carr University of Art+Design
Vancouver, BC, Canada


2011
Co-curator, with Kristina Fiedrich
New Directions in Drawing Symposium
http://newdirectionsindrawing.com/
Hosted by Emily Carr University of Art+Design
Vancouver, BC, Canada

2010
Nests/Sets
Group Show
Anne Brierly Gallery
New Trier Township High School
Winnetka, IL

2009
Temporary Allegiance
Gallery 400
University of Chicago

2008
BareWalls 08
School of The Art Institute of Chicago
(group, juried)

2007
SOHO20 CHELSEA GALLERY
(july/august, group, juried)
511 West 25th Street, 6th floor
New York, NY


2007
Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet
Chicago, IL
(june/september, group, juried)

2007
BFA Senior Exhibition
School of The Art Institute
Of Chicago
Chicago, IL

2006
Chicago Art Open
Chicago, IL

2003
Austin Fine Arts Center
Austin, TX
(group, juried)



Honors and Awards

Summer 2009
Artist in Residence
Ragdale Foundation
Lake Forest, IL

Winter 2006/2007
Artist in Residence
Ragdale Foundation
Lake Forest, IL

2006
Co-Author (with Irina Zadov), A Record of Cabrini Green
National Art Educators Association Conference
New York, NY


2003-2006
Four-Year Merit Scholar
The School of The Art Institute
Of Chicago

1995
Actor in Residence
International Filmmakers’
Workshop at Rockport
Rockport, ME


Education

School of The Art Institute of Chicago
BFA, Interdisciplinary Studio with an Emphasis in Art Education
2007

Emily Carr University of Art+Design
MAA, Visual Art
In progress










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