For the third year of Franklinton's Go West Festival Chris Sherman and Nikos Rutkowski have coordinated a show revolving around various concepts of installation art. Each participating artist has been given a room in to explore various concepts and media.
Go West is taking place Saturday, June 11 · 4:00pm - 9:00pm Please visit 937 W Broad St. in Columbus Ohio during this one day only event.
...& by the way, it's free!
The following artists and their projects are:
Sara E. Adrian presents a painting environment exploring the veil between myth, modern primitivism, and urban decay. For more information about the artist please visit http://saraadrian.com/
Tyrome Stewart- an interactive installation involving video and movement.
b.b. Grimm presents a collection of mail art gathered from a global network of poets, vispo, artist, & others inclined to collaborate and exchange art through postal and email. Mail art has come from around the world such as Argentina, Japan, New Zealand, and every corner of the U.S. including Columbus, Ohio's own Visual Poet John M. Bennett For more information about the artist please visit http://www.bbgrimm.com/
Keida Mascaro is showing selected abstraction film pieces. His work mainly focuses on people's triumphs and tribulations, finding charm in the shadows of human existence. For more information about the artist please visit http://KeidaMascaro.com/
Chris Sherman- an instillation focused on the exploration of light.
Victor Nombre (aka Nikos Rutkowski)- an environment involving a sculptural dragon. For more information about the artist please visit http://www.nikosfyodor.com/
Right on new years I got a horrible plague that set me down for a while. Then life got busy, and with the weather as cold as it is I've been feeling a strong desire to go inside and not, well, basically be more selfish with my time. It's necessary, time to start new work, which means telling the world to fuck off. I mean that in the nicest way possible of course. I love my friends and there's a litany of people I want to see more, but if I do that, then I'm not making work. My energy is finite. This is by the way one of the reasons why it's rough dating artists, or anyone with a drive/passion that isn't their primary partner. Sometimes (well, oftentimes) we have to put the work first. If we don't we can't be who we are...
So anyway, last month or so I've been prepping panels. These are pine plywood panels that are about a quarter of an inch thick. They have been treated to prevent insect damage, and primed with a high grade gesso, and then left to hang out for a while. The cracking was unexpected but rather desired. I want the wood to show through, I want the viewer to know the materials they are looking at. When I go to make a painting, I have an idea of course, but it always changes. I will do some sketches, to decide the general composition however I always change it when I lay out the underdrawing. You can see on the right one of those sketches (by the way, click the images to zoom in). I don't use models, what I do is I'll go make reference sketches, take photographs, and look at photographs online of people/things/situations that contain what I want. When the drawing is done I don't use any one person as reference, the people in these drawings don't exist. I may borrow a nose, shape of the eye, or something, but I always change it. I will also use myself as reference also, sometimes (rarely) I may as a friend to help, but with the type of drawing I do and my years of studying human anatomy it's rarely necessary. Most of what I do is observe, internalize, and regurgitate.
So the image on the left is on an 18 x 24 panel (which is what most of my paintings will be for a while, I had a bunch cut to that size). Right now it's winter, and while many complain about the grey Ohio winters, I rather like the clouds, and how they change. So hence the color palate is going to be largely greys, purples, blues, greens, blacks, with highlights of gold with this one. The background's palate will be cooler than the figure in front (from a color standpoint). I'll be painting this largely in acrylic, and may switch to oils later if I am so motivated. What's it about? Well you'll have to decide that for yourself. Of course I have something in mind but in the end it's not what I say but what the viewer gets out of it. I may make a video of the process if I get off my ass and get a tripod. That's something I want to do... When I started my youtube channel it was supposed to be more artwork, but I do like to document, so there's lots of stuff on there from when I go camping, and that's ok. It is time though I show more about my process, especially since now I can edit videos again (that's largely why I haven't made any art related videos of my own work in a while).
So yeah, aside from the work I am planning out my year. Odds are good I'll be going west for a visit that I've been meaning to take for many years. I'm also looking into vending again, which is something that I want to do but kind of intimidates me. I like stability, and vending full time at fairs and festivals would mean quitting my day job. For a time I'd be flying blind, and that makes me nervous. I have already done a lot of research on taxes, I'm on several mailing lists, and I've worked for and assisted with people who have done this for a living... it's a plunge though, and I don't want to mess it up. The idea of traveling during the summer and painting full time is too rich to pass up, and I think my more conventional paintings and prints would do well.
Soooooooooooo anyway. Workworkwork, time to get back to it!
For music we're going back a few. Here's Simply Red, Holding Back the Years.
Nothing very exciting to report right now. I've been working on my stuff, and trying to keep to keep drama down. The thumbnail is a rough draft for a painting I am working on. I think my scanner has been going buggy and is about to die because I should be getting better scans than that. Ah well. Technology joy.
A friend of mine and I went to the Cleveland Museum of Art yesterday. Heard much about it, and it was pretty sweet however it's still under construction so their full collection still isn't out. So yeah that was inspiring for me. Driving around Cleveland, you can tell it's a place that once had money, but half of everything is falling apart. You have this row of gorgeous churches in what was once a decent neighborhood next to a crappy looking McDonalds, and a Dollar General. Also there was much leaning of porches and sagging of roofs. Sign of the times I suppose.
These past couple weeks have been quiet, which is what I really needed after a month of running. I really need periods of quiet, so I can think, research and work. Research what? Whatever, doesn't matter what... it's whatever pops into my head. Could be about creation myths, or how to cook with sherry (I've been given two bottles of it, one for drinking and one for cooking... and I don't drink -that- much), or something related to current news or politics, or whatever. I like indulging myself in curiosities, I learn a lot and hence I have this vast weird pile of random info in my head of which you never know how it will come in useful.
So, it's time to get back to work.
For about a year now I've been working with digital imagery for prints. That got started because I was doing a round of interviews that were related to graphic design, and I needed to update that part of my portfolio. What it lead to was gilcee prints, and combining my drawing with textures and layers. It's interesting, this kind of work for me can be completed fast and gives some level of satisfaction. I'll continue with it, but it's more than time for me to get back into painting again.
I'm not as conceptual as many contemporary artists. I am an image and object maker. I want to make icons that can live in your home as well as in a gallery/temple/whatever. Something made by hand has more resonance and punch than any reproduction (and you have to see it in person, no digital photo of any art can match seeing it with your own eyes). The digital prints are good to work out ideas and get them across, and they can be more affordable to collectors. Nothing however to me can take the place of the one of a kind image.
So these next few weeks and months will be set for me to begin a new series. The painting detail is acrylic on canvas, just a thought really. It's a portrait of a gothy-punk girl, I'll post it in full when I update my website which will be soon. I'm going back to wood, and the size will be closer to 16 x 18 or 18 x 24. What the subject is you'll have to wait and see.
