Howard Quednau, MA, MFA, Northern Illinois University, BS, University of Wisconsin, Madison has exhibited nationally and internationally. Trained as a printmaker, he has since exhibited mostly paintings, and in recent years. 3-D dioramas. His work is included in various collections, including the Kemper corporation (Chicago), Del Mar College (TX) and Concordia University. Recent exhibitions include the Phipps Center for the Arts, in Hudson Wisconsin, and Metro State University in St. Paul, MN, Silverwood Gallery in St Anthony, MN and Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter, MN. Howard is currently the chair of the Fine Art Department at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. 

Exhibition Statement
A Child's Book of Hours 

These dioramas are inspired by models of theater sets and are built to a scale of 1”=35”. The figures are constructed by modifying commercial model soldiers, using putty, paper and paint, and no two are alike. My background is that of a painter and I think of these as low-relief paintings. Indeed, nearly every surface is covered by a thin veneer of paint. The idea of the miniature theater as a metaphor for painting is new to me. Although I work with narratives and representation, the nature of “realism” still perplexes me.  What does it mean for art to be “realistic”? In this work, I am trying to sidestep the parallel universe such a question implies by physically representing small bits of imagined space in diorama form.