SOUTH BEND, IN.- Ioan Florea is a US artist originating from Transylvania in Romania. During his childhood he became fascinated with different materials, which were scarce to say at least – the communist regime of his homeland ruled with an iron fist and controlled all aspects of life, but young Florea found inspiration from nature and its versatile offerings. He frequently wandered in the forests surrounding his home and became fascinated with bones, which he found scattered around the land — the result of the illegal butchering of animals. The structural composition and the potential to turn them into completely different objects such as toys inspired Ioan. The other material to have an impact on Ioan’s future work as an artist was clay, the ability to turn soft and malleable material into a completely solid material when treated with fire was a continuing source of amazement for the young Romanian.

Ioan continued to work with these themes even after emigrating to the US and eventually receiving his new citizenship in 2009. The general theme of immigration has also affected his work – finding a new identity and balancing between the new and the old has been a significant factor in Ioan’s art in recent years. However, even more recently the world of nanotechnology has garnered his attention, which eventually has led to using 3D printing as means to create Ioan’s art. He has developed a custom 3D image fused resin and other materials to bring another dimension to his works – by giving an experience to both the perceiver’s visual and tactile senses.

Sightlines is a collaborative exhibition between South Bend Museum of Art and Century Center featuring large artworks created by selected artists from the region. All artworks in the exhibition are located in or outside of the Century Center, highlighting both the artworks themselves, but also the voluminous space and distant lines of sight that are available inside of the building.

Sightlines provides a unique experience for chance art encounters for the roughly 170,000 annual visitors to the Century Center, engaging them in a moment of artistic appreciation or contemplation -- or even perhaps to challenge their preconception of "what is art?"
The show runs through May 2015