For Immediate Release January 18, 2006

For More Information Contact: Anita Day, 317-278-9475

Herron Galleries to Feature Video Art

The interactive work of Cynthia Pachikara, a nationally-recognized video installation artist.

INDIANAPOLIS – Visitors to the Herron Galleries at the Herron School of Art and Design will be treated to the interactive work of Cynthia Pachikara, a nationally-recognized video installation artist. The exhibition opens from 5 to 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 20 in the Herron Galleries, 735 W. New York St.

This is the first time Pachikara's work has been exhibited in Indianapolis and the community will have the opportunity to meet the artist during the exhibition opening. Her work will be on display through February 19.

Pachikara employs the technique of using multiple video and slide projections to allow the viewer to enter and alter her works, setting her apart from other video installation artists. Pachikara invites the viewer out of the passive role of observer and into that of participant by casting viewers' shadows as voids, which become filled with video and photographic projections. Her work explores themes that include her family's emigration from India and her occasional return.

David Russick, Herron Galleries' curator/director regards Pachikara as, “The type of artist who is committed to presenting her own vision in a unique and memorable way. Pachikara has a very keen eye and knows exactly how to manipulate her medium (video) to show us what she has already imagined.”

Pachikara is currently an assistant professor jointly appointed at the School of Art and Design and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

The Herron Galleries are open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and until 7 p.m. on Thursdays during exhibitions. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Parking is available in the IUPUI garage west of Herron.

The Pachikara exhibition is sponsored in part by WFYI/TV 20 FM 90.1 with the support from the Indiana Arts Commission, Café Patachou, Arts Council of Indianapolis and City of Indianapolis. For additional information, call (317) 278-9419.

Note to reporters, editors, producers, photographers: Cynthia Pachikara will be in Indianapolis and available for personal interviews with the media Jan. 14 through Jan. 21. To schedule an interview, call (317) 278-9475. ###