Sick by Tonja Torgerson

XYandZ Presents Sick by Tonja Torgerson
Opening reception Jan. 22nd 2010 7-11p
XYandZ is proud to present Sick, an exhibition of new works by Minneapolis based artist Tonja Torgerson. Torgerson's work uses self portraits to deal with the reality of illness while balancing a thin line between expression and discretion. Please join us to celebrate the opening of Sick on January 22nd, 2010 at XYandZ.

Notions of privacy and disclosure are at the core of Torgerson's work. Torgerson's paintings analyze the altering identity of a young woman learning to live with a permanent illness. Torgerson's use of self portraits in Sick present the personal side of what is becoming an ever-increasingly political issue through a girlish lens of soft aesthetic and sad whimsy.

Sick includes five life-sized self-portraits on paper. These paintings focus on the revision of self that accompanies illness. In addition, the exhibition consists of several smaller screen prints and works of mixed media. These smaller works concentrate on the anxieties of sickness, while the larger paintings portray its more intangible effects. Torgerson's Sick creates an engaging fusion of feminism, craft, printmaking and street-art.

photos by Ted Salzman