art@ IIT

Chicago, IL — September 28, 2006 —

With water as her canvas, Chicago artist and IIT alumni, Amy Lee Segami uses modern fluid engineering techniques to revive and transform a 2,000 year-old art practiced by Shinto priests. By reviving such an ancient art, Segami has broken historical boundaries of art to bring it to current times and with her professional understanding of fluid dynamics, has expanded technological boundaries by expanding its expression.

"Amy Lee Segami - Suminagashi, Painting On Water: the Probability of Certainty" is in the Kemper Room Art Gallery, Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology, 35 West 33rd Street, Chicago, and runs through November 4th. Hours are Monday - Thursday: 12 - 6 pm; Friday: 12 - 5 pm; Saturday: 8:30 am - 5 pm; and Sunday: 2 - 6 pm. This exhibition is part of Chicago Artists' Month. It is free of charge and open to the public.

An artist reception will be held on Thursday, October 5, 4:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Nearly 30 years ago, the renowned Aerodynamics Expert, Dr. Andrew Fejer (1913-2006) published an article in the art journal Leonardo, proposed artists considering flows patterns as sources of their works. It inspired Segami to use the scientific images to create artistic expression. Fifteen years after that article was published, IIT hosted the first show of Painting on Water by Segami on campus in 1989. Since then, Segami's works are in museums and many private collections worldwide. This current show will feature the development of the artist's work for the pass seventeen years, from the traditional style to the contemporary three-dimensional effect. It is also the first show of the series for the entire academic year: woman artists using technology to create art.

Segami writes of her work: "My paintings suggest the perplexity between probability and certainty, with a range of interpretations. You are invited to be an active participant, both in looking at my art and in your own life. Spend time with each painting and ask yourself what you see and how you relate to the image. Stretch your imagination and share your insight with others. Your reward comes when you experience the different depth: discovering what you did not see before and seeing the impossible possible. Just as in solving the problems of life, there is no right or wrong answer. It all depends on your perspective, your ability to recognize the facts and pattern, and then process your interpretation. That is the certainty of probability."

The unique and distinctive style art work has won numerous awards and inclusion in many juried competitions. Her works have appeared in magazines, on CD covers and corporate brochures. They are in the permanent collection of the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution in New York. Her paintings were exhibited from the Harvard campus to the galleries in Sedona, Arizona, with private collections worldwide.

Born in China, she received an American education. Graduating with Pi Tau Sigma honors, Segami earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Aerospace Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology with scholarships she received from NASA and IIT. She was nominated to Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society.

In April 2006, Segami received the Immigrant Achievement Award from the American Immigration Law Foundation for remarkable and outstanding accomplishments as an American immigrant with her innovative work of combining science and art.

This exhibit is curated by Robert J. Krawczyk, art @ IIT Gallery Director, Associate Professor in the College of Architecture.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 6,700 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment.