Sent(a)Mental Studios
love, dylan
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ABOUT THE FOUNDER/WITNESS:

Dylan Scholinski was born Daphne Scholinski. As a young girl growing up in the Chicago suburbs, she played first base in Little League and preferred drawing to playing with dolls. When she was 15 years old she was locked up in a mental hospital, diagnosed as "an inappropriate female", and spent the rest of her high school years undergoing extreme femininity training. At 18, her insurance ran out and she was discharged.

Now 48 years old, Dylan resides in DENVER CO  and is a distinguished artist, author, and public speaker . Dylan has appeared on 20/20, Dateline and Today to discuss his experiences and has been featured in a variety of newspapers and magazines. Recently his award winning book (The Last Time I Wore a Dress: A Memoir - Penguin/Putnam) was listed in the Top 10 Must Reads in Out Magazines first Transgender Issue. His work not only portrays the anguish of his hospital years but also his ultimate triumph.

Dylan is the founder/witness for the Sent(a)Mental Project : A Memorial to Suicide. He spends much of his time working in his studio, public speaking, creating zines - such as Freedom of Depression, Please Forgive Me For Judging You, Sent(a)Mental - and frequently opens his studio to a variety of at-risk youth to provide safe space to explore and discover ways of expressing and empowering themselves without bringing harm to themselves or others.



DYLAN SCHOLINSKI - CV

EDUCATION
1992  M.F.A. Painting and Printmaking, Pratt Institute, NY
1990  B.F.A. Drawing and Printmaking, St. Cloud State University, MN

AUTHOR
           “The Last Time I Wore a Dress” with Jane Meredith Adams (Putnam Penguin 1997)

SELECTED AWARDS  
2001   Ma Vie Rose Award - Starlight Project, LGBT Center of San Francisco
          Certificate of Recognition, City of San Francisco
2000   Uncommon Legacy Award
          Books For a Better Life Award
1998   Lambda Literary Award
          Justice Award, National Center for Lesbian Rights:
1992   Graduate Institutional Award, Pratt Institute

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS  
2008   2nd Annual Sent(a)Mental Project, The Other Side Arts, Denver, CO
2007   Mental (St)ealth, The Other Side Arts, Denver, CO
          Sent(a)Mental Project, The Other Side Arts, Denver, CO
          Freedom of Depression, Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI
          Dylan Scholinski, Isadore Gallery, Denver, CO
2005   sent(2)mental, Nevin Kelly Gallery, Washington, DC
2004   Be My Neighbor, Adams National Bank, Washington, DC
2003   Current Paintings, LSP - Whitman Walker, Washington, DC
2002   Crazy Eights, Bedrock Billiards, Washington, DC
          The Last Time I Wore a Dress, Source Theatre, Washington, DC   
2001   Out of (dis) Order, Lexington Club, San Francisco, CA
           Journal Series – Paintings, SF Public Library: Harvey Milk, San Francisco, CA
2000   What's all the LOCO motion, Galleria Artista, Portland, OR
          Mr. Sister, Foothill College, San Francisco, CA
          Daphne Scholinski - New Works, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
1999   Freedom of Depression, Quotidian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998   The Last Time I Wore a Dress, Lawrence L. Hultburg Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997   SENT (a) MENTAL, Lawrence L. Hultburg Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1996   Unauthorized Autobiography, Lawrence L. Hultburg Gallery, San Francisco,
          Home Less, Josie’s Cabaret Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995   Out the Institution, Red Dora's Bearded Lady, San Francisco, CA
          MonuMental Manhattan, Josie's Cabaret Gallery, San Francisco, CA  
1994   Strange Familiar, B.B. Gallery, New York, NY
1993   Nothing Personal-II, The Brecht Forum, New York, NY   
1992   Nothing Personal- A Painting Installation, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
1990   Recent Painting and Drawings, Kiehle Visual Arts Center, St. Cloud, MN
1989   Mixed Media Drawings, Kiehle Visual Arts Center, St. Cloud, MN

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2007   Guest Check, The Other Side Arts, Denver, CO
          Voices, The Other Side Arts, Denver, CO
          Tranny Road Show 2007, International traveling tour in multiple cities
          The Potato Show 2007, The Other Side Arts, Denver, CO
2006   Tranny Road Show 2006, International traveling tour in multiple cities
          Showing Pride, GLBT Center, Washington, DC
          Strong Work Hot Topics, PG County Community College, PG County, MD
2005   The Human Abstract, Wohlfarth  Galleries, Washington, DC
          Wear Me Out, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, CA
2004   Artomatic: 2004, Artomatic, Washington, DC
          On The Line : Machines, Maps, and Memory, MAP, Baltimore, MD
          Pride 2004, Velvet Nation, Washington, DC (including  painting live on stage)
          E1: Contemplating Process, Transformer Gallery, Washington, DC
2003   Valet Parking Garage, Adams Morgan, Washington, DC
          New Arrivals, DCCD, Washington, DC
2001   Art Explosion, Art Explosion Gallery, SF, CA
2000   Open Studios, Art Explosionj Gallery, SF, CA
1999   Trans-Pride, Castro Theatre and Gallery deLaraza, SF, CA
1997   Made in the USA, Lawrence L. Hultburg Gallery, SF, CA
          Mind, Body & Soul, The Women’s Building, SF, CA
1996   Out Loud & Proud 1996, The Bridge Gallery, SF, CA
          Criminal Minded, 848 Community Space, SF, CA
          WHISPERS: 1, Gallery on the Rim, SF, CA
          WHISPERS: 2, Soundscape Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA
1995   UNCENSORED, SOMAR Gallery, SF, CA
          (Art) Word (Art), Trojanowski Gallery, SF, CA
          Pride Freedom and Responsibility, Fetterly Playhouse for the Arts, Vallejo, CA
1993   Points of Dark, Puck Gallery, NY, NY    
1992   Women on Earth, Granary Books Gallery, NY, NY    
1990   24th Annual Juried Art Show, Kiehle Visual Arts Center, St. Cloud, MN
1990   The Other Foot in the Door Show, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN

SELECTED FEATURE ARTICLES
San Jose Mercury News, Village Voice, Elle Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Utne Reader, Chicago Reader, London Times, Out Magazine, The Advocate, Time Out New York, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Enquirer, People Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Spin, USA Today, Sacramento Bee, Off Our Backs, Curve, Washington Post, Girlfriends Magazine, Westword, The Onion, The Washington City Paper, The Progressive, GayWired

SELECTED TELEVISION
20/20 : ABC  – Dateline : NBC – TODAY : NBC - Good Morning America : ABC – World News Tonight : ABC - In the Life : PBS TV – The Leeza Show : NBC - Northwest Afternoon : Seattle – WB20 : San Jose – First Cut : NBC – Sex TV : Canada

SELECTED PUBLIC SPEAKING
NGO Forum at the Fourth World Conference on Women: Beijing , China
50th Anniversary of the United Nations: New York, New York
Georgetown University - UC Santa Barbara - USC - Michigan State University -
UC Santa Cruz - American University - San Francisco State University - Hope College - UC Berkeley - Bates College - George Washington University - St. Olaf College - Chatham College - Hamline University - University of Pittsburgh - Washington State University - University of Massachusetts - Mankato State University of Colorado - University of North Carolina - University of Oregon - UC Berkeley


no more barbies c.2006                              by dylan scholinski


DYLAN SCHOLINSKI - ARTIST STATEMENT

I paint for my survival and myself. Time and again, I have realized that without my art, I would likely be dead.

At the age of 15, primarily because I lacked signs of being a 'heterosexual female,' I was labeled 'mentally ill' and confined to a psychiatric ward. I lost over three years of my youth. I consider all of my art to be autobiographical. I tell stories about my life: what I am thinking, feeling, experiencing; creating a sort of map of living and breathing emotions. I rarely hold my breath in a painting. Unlike in real life, where the simple process of breathe, the literal proof of my own existence, poses a daily challenge. The content of my paintings deals with the experiences I had leading up to and during my years in the hospital and continues on to reflect the struggles I face being transgender, gay, human, as well as an ex-mental patient.

My purpose in my work is to encourage the sympathetic indulgence of emotions, which most are ashamed to give way to in their own lives; to try to get people to feel things and to help to reacquaint them with themselves. As much as it is personal, my art is also a social commentary: as a society, we view the emotional world as an oversimplified dichotomy, seeing emotions as either "good" or "bad." We all spend outrageous amounts of time and energy trying to rid ourselves of the "bad," and I believe that in doing this we can never truly experience the "good" and that it is only once we learn to embrace the full spectrum of emotions that we will fully experience our lives, ourselves, and each other. We often find it hard to tolerate those with full emotion because it reminds us of all we don’t feel ourselves. It holds up a mirror that we see as ugly, self-indulgent, and pitiful. What we rarely admit is that it is ourselves that we see, a side that many of us have fought very hard to leave behind. In my work I am attempting to be this mirror by showing myself. It is my hope that once you get in touch with these emotions in yourself that then you may identify them in others and as a result we will have better understanding, compassion, and tolerance of each other and all of our differences.

I don't think in terms of gay/straight, male/female; who is more over this way or that way. I believe that if we just came to terms that we are all both, it wouldn't matter, and we would begin to see ourselves in everyone. I have painted most of my life, but it is only in the last 10 years that I have realized my place as an artist. I have been to school, read books, looked at art; and just like when I was 13 looking for myself in magazines, I have found it hard to see myself here. Where is the individual's passion, life, and emotion? Where is the truth in painting today? If it is true that art saves lives, as it has mine, then the truth must be shown; and my individual goal is to be as honest as I can be.



uninsured c.2006                                by dylan scholinski


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