Artist Statement
My current body of work was created in collaboration with Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek, whose work in color perception inspired the art, Professor Nathan Newman, Professor Dan Marshall, and the rest of the *Arizona State University SciHub team, and realized with their device, the Hylighter, that has ten programmable monochromatic lights. The work invites viewers to consider that there is no single authority for an image. Rather, meaning resides in the oscillation between light, object and viewer—and in the recognition that color is not unique, never fixed, never complete, nor shared.
Under the HyLighter’s ten monochromatic beams, vision becomes an event: contingent, relational, and inherently plural. Color appears not as a stable category but as a fleeting alignment between the luminous and the observer—neither entirely “out there” nor solely “in here,” but at most the unstable interplay of illumination and perception.
The paintings explore how every creature lives in a world shaped by what it perceives. A tiger whose orange melts seamlessly into the grassland; the near-invisible shimmer of a tuna slipping through water; deep-sea reds that glows only for their kind and not to others; the riotous sensorium of a mantis shrimp with its spectroscopic vision; the nearly monochrome realm of whales and dolphins; the unlike floral beacons of hummingbirds and bees. Everywhere, for all species, light, perception, and uncertainty are inseparable.
Yet the work is less about animals, optics, or technique than about appearance itself. It stages a philosophical humility: an acknowledgment that our world is not the measure of the real but merely one aperture among many. The paintings meditate on the limits of human access and on the abundance that flourishes beyond our perceptual sovereignty.
Formally, the series aligns with traditions of experimental painting, optical instability, and phenomenological art. Conceptually, it presses into deeper terrain: the ethics of perception and the subtle arrogance of each one’s perception. Situated within contemporary conversations about multisensory art, expanded painting, and reshaping visual experiences, the project remains intimate at its core. Each piece is a quiet encounter with the limits of vision—and an invitation to imagine the world in a different light.
*We are deeply appreciative tor the use of HyLighter light sources developed by the SciHub team, directed by by ASU Professors Frank Wilczek; Nathan Newman, and Dan Marshall and the SciHub team members; Thien Phu Nguyen, Joshua Weekes, Dominic Bonelli, Justin Pye, Krish Bharat Majethia and Abbi Gobel.
Bio
Penny Cagney was born, raised and educated in greater Chicago, earning a BFA, magna cum laude, from Loyola University; a MA in arts management from Columbia College; and in 2021, a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited her work at California State University, Fresno; the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA; the Monterey Museum of Art; and the Los Angeles Artist Association. Making art has always been her greatest passion, but Cagney believes that she helped people through her work in management and fundraising for many nonprofits, including art centers, museums, and performing arts organizations (i.e., Joffrey Ballet of Chicago; National Cultural Center of Egypt; Music Academy of the West; ASU Art Museum; Scottsdale Arts Center; and the Musical Instrument Museum). Cagney also wrote/edited five books on management topics, taught at the graduate level (the School of the Art Institute and Columbia College in Chicago; Distinguished Visiting Professor at the American University, Cairo, Egypt), and has presented regularly around the world. She served on the board of directors at The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago, and on auxiliary boards at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago Academy for the Arts, and the Phoenix Art Museum. Today she devotes herself entirely to her art practice.
Education
2021 M.F.A., School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1988 M.A., Arts Entertainment & Media Management, Columbia College, Chicago
1978 B.F.A., magna cum laude, Loyola University, Chicago
Academic Experience
2012-14 Adjunct Professor, Arizona State University Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation
1999 Distinguished Visiting Professor, Arts Management, American University, Cairo, Egypt
1993-97 Adjunct Professor, Graduate Arts, Entertainment and Media Management Program, Columbia College, Chicago
1995-96 Adjunct Professor, Graduate Arts Administration Program, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Residencies
2023 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
Publications
2025 Los Angeles Artist Association 100th Anniversary book, Volume 7 catalog
2024 Art in the Time of Corona, Dabster Arts, Inc., Vol. 3
2023 Perfect Imperfection: Faces and Figures, Women United Art Magazine, Vol. 2, Winter
2022 Curators Pick, Women United Art Magazine, Vol. I, October
2021 Studio Visit Magazine, Vol. 47 p 28, April
Select Board Memberships
2010-11, 2013-14 Arizona Costume Institute, Phoenix Art Museum
1990-91 Chicago Academy for the Arts, Creative Council
1987-88 The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago
1986-87 New Group Board Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
