Jerri Zbiral in front of the window of Gallery 901 Credit: Alan Teller
An exhibit of 15 assemblage shadowboxes is on view at Gallery 901, Open Studio Project, 901 Sherman Ave. The artist, Jerri Zbiral, is an Evanston resident of 33 years, a former documentary photographer and a curator of photography and works on paper.
The show, titled “Bakke Kakke/Baking Cake & Other Things in Life,” is personal, dealing with family, generational and personal trauma, memory, depression, conflict, forgiveness — and the story of a life lived as a refugee, a three-time immigrant, an outsider.
Zbiral was born Jaroslava Zbiral in Czechoslovakia after World War II. She grew up with stories of the total destruction of her mother’s village and the mass murder and enslavement of its inhabitants. Fleeing to a German refugee camp when her mother refused to join the Communist Party after the war, the family emigrated from there to Norway where they spent a few idyllic years before moving on to Montreal, Canada.
Jerri Zbiral talks about one of her works. Credit: Larry Lundy
An artwork by Jerri Zbiral referencing a childhood incident Credit: Alan Teller
There, trauma once again emerged, she says. Family survival became crucial. As a child, she had feelings of otherness and trauma that were ignored. Now in her later years, Zbiral says she feels fortunate to be an artist, to be able to open herself up and expose herself, that others might understand how one person deals with trauma.
Zbiral has a graduate degree in photography although her undergraduate work was in the field of psychology. From 1992 to 2000, she and her photographer husband, Alan Teller, worked on a stunning documentary, In the Shadow of Memory, about the trauma of wartime for residents of her mother’s village. (A group wishing to screen the film can contact Zbiral at jerrizbiral@yahoo.com).
In this exhibit, some of that subject is revisited, but others, more personal, are included and have become the focus. She half-jokingly credits her husband with “giving her permission” to do this self-revelatory exhibit of assemblage. Teller had an exhibit at the same venue in the spring of 2024. Their daughter Emma Zbiral-Teller works there as an art therapist.
Bakke kakke is Norwegian for baking cake. “The title came about when I was putting this exhibit together,” Zbiral said. “I didn’t know what to show or what my ‘theme’ should be. My thoughts were jumbled. In conversations with OSP [Open Studio] staff, I was asked what I liked to do. I immediately thought of myself as a little girl in Norway, playing in the sand: ‘Bakke kakke,’ I said, baking cake. From there, the show started to take form.”
She has always collected “stuff,” the artist says — her house is full of it. Every item — every bead, every stone — in her artwork is placed with deep intention, every item has meaning, she says. Sometimes she will keep an image in mind for years before she brings it to fruition. “I like to make things. Anything … out of fabric, wood, clay … blending things together like a cake — adding different ingredients to make the finished product. A metaphor for life, I think.”
Jerri Zbiral speaking of her artwork at Gallery 901. Credit: Larry Lundy
Zbiral topped off her recent artist’s walk-through with a large, delicious, almond layer cake she baked for her visitors and guests. The filling was chocolate whipped cream.
Gallery 901 at Open Studio Project features community organizations and artists whose work reflects the OSP vision that art is a path to well-being. Exhibitions are designed to foster dialogue, reflection and connection. “Bakke Kakke,” the current exhibit at 901 Sherman Ave., closes Jan. 30. 847-475-0390. Street parking and city lot at 727 Main St.
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