Artist Laura Matzen uses Maine East student as models

Four collections of Maine East High School Fine Arts teacher Laura Matzen's work are on display through October at the Des Plaines Public Library.

The library counts two of Matzen's publications among its holdings and invited her to display her work in honor of National Artist Month.

At a recent presentation at the library, called “56 in Harmony: The Artist and the Method,["] Matzen explained how she brainstorms, researches and goes about tying meaning to her pieces.

Matzen, in her 11th year at Maine East, teaches Digital Imaging 1 and 2, three Photo 1 classes and one Photo 3rd year and 4th year class.

One collection on display – “56 in Harmony["] – has its roots entirely in the rich diversity of Maine East's student population. During the 2004-05 school year, when her work was produced, East students were born in 56 different countries.

“I asked for 56 volunteers, one from each country,["] she explained, “and I projected a slide of their country's flag on each student's face, in the dark, and recorded the way the flag's colors and symbols fell across their faces.

“The images to me, they're just beautiful. I love them,["] Matzen said. “It doesn't matter who the kid was; they loved the experience. The country represented might not be that student's heritage; it really is just about the fact that they started their life in this country.["]

So much did she like the results she decided to share them in a publication, “56 in Harmony,["] adding to the photos demographic facts about each nation represented.

Also on display at the Des Plaines Public Library are works from Matzen's “Urban Sprawl,["] “Unlocked Destiny["] and “Against the Sky["] collections.

Matzen, who earned her bachelor's degree from Purdue and master's degree from Governors State University, produced “Urban Sprawl["] as part of an interpretive group project with other art teachers.

“The whole theme was interpreting time,["] she said, “and my take on it was the way our landscape is changing from organic to geometric as urban sprawl happens.["]

The results are images that depict, for example, leaves giving way to the geometric lines of skyscrapers.

Matzen describes “Unlocked Destiny["] as exploring the path that we all take through fate and destiny. The work consists of photographs of doors combined with digital images of human figures, often shown in nearly transparent form.

“The way that I tied it all together was that the doorways represented actually getting to your destiny,["] Matzen said. “The transparent appearance is based on the fact that people are always kind of moving from one destiny to the next, never staying in one place.["]

“Against the Sky["] consists of a series of images, on various media, showing birds on a wire.

“This, for me, was more about technique,["] Matzen said, “having fun with paint again.["]

More of her work may be seen at her website, matzenart.com.