Mr. Forager has just completed a course on Women’s Studies, in preparation to pursue a Master’s Degree, so we’ve had some interesting discussions around the dinner table of late. There’s been talk of women’s rights, gender equality, etc. It seems as women, we still struggle against the fairy tales we grow up with versus the reality of living as a contemporary female. In her New Realm series, Louisiana artist Amy Guidry weaves a new kind of story, as surreal as any myth yet grounded in modern strength.
Release, acrylic on canvas, 36×48
The heroine of Guidry’s tale embraces her situation. Instead of being helpless and afraid, she is empowered to embrace the opportunity for transformation. Knit throughout the series are symbols of growth and change, such as the butterfly and snail, as well as signs of freedom such as a bird in flight.
Awakening, acrylic on canvas, 48×24Renewal, acrylic on canvas, 48×24
This heroine is not wallowing in her plight or withering away in a cage. She is in control of her own story, her own destiny.
Was It a Dream, acrylic on canvas, 40×30
To see more of Amy Guidry’s work, please visit her website. Be sure to check out the video for the New Realm series here!
Since Mr. Forager & I made our trek West from Florida over a year and a half ago, I hadn’t been back to my hometown. So we took advantage of finally being semi-close to a major airport, counted up our credit card reward points, and bought me a ticket home. For a month. Which turned out to be such a long time to be separated! My main focus while in Jacksonville was to see my family, so artsy stuff was put on the back burner. But I did see a few fantastic shows and enjoyed long chats with some of my favorite artsy folk. Thought you might enjoy the highlights from my trip!
Ke Francis show, Biloxi to Babylon at Florida Mining Gallery
Biloxi to Babylon, the Ke Francis show that was up at Florida Mining last month was incredible. I wasn’t terribly familiar with Ke’s work but am now a fan. Amazing dream-like imagery and delicious texture produce stunning and provocative paintings. The gallery space at FM was just a gorgeous as in the photos I’d seen and gallery owner/artist Steve Willliams and Gallery Manager Aaron Levi Garvey were kind enough to share exciting upcoming shows and some of the incredible work hangin’ out in the backroom.. hello Mapplethorpes!
Cap Tossing Over the Wall of Space by Steve Williams
Steve & I were able to get away from the gallery for a bit of an artsy chat over lunch. He filled me in on what’s happening in the art scene in Jacksonville and he asked that question dreaded by all aspiring artists.. “So have you been painting lately?” Ugh. Punch in the gut. But we commiserated over the plight of just not knowing how to start and where to go with what we begin.
After much back and forth and rescheduling, artist Christina Foard & I were finally able to get a chat and studio visit in. Sorry, no photos from C’s studio, currently set up in her home. Christina, as a person and artist, is often someone I just want to chat with. Her work is incredible and I’m one of her biggest fans, but on this particular day, talking without focusing on taking photos for the blog just seemed right. Seeing her work again in person just reiterated to me how powerful it is. She’s working on a new project that will be unlike anything she’s done before.. I got goosebumps just hearing her talk about it!
My time at both museums left me filled with nostalgia. The 80s show at MoCAwas incredibly memorable, not just for the star power of the artwork show ( Warhol, Fischl, Basquiat, Sherman, Freud, and Close, just to name a few ) but seeing some of the work, especially pieces from the museum’s permanent collection transported me right back to my college days, when the museum was in a much smaller, more intimate setting and I was first able to see work of that magnitude up close & personal.
Then Came a Dog and Bit the Cat by Frank Stella, from Re:Focus Art of the 1980s at MOCA JacksonvilleElizabeth Gilbert and Lois Mailou Jones at The Cummer Museum of Art
My time at the Cummer filled me with a similar wistfulness, especially when left there to wander on my own while waiting for my sister-in-law to arrive with my nieces. It was there I truly fell in love with art history, where the paintings came alive and spoke to me as I sketched them as a young college student.
But soon, the true purpose for my trip home arrived. The rest of our evening at the Cummer was spent with my nieces Kendall and Samantha, playing with art in the Cummer’s Art Connectionsarea.
Playing with art at the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville
I miss being able to be an artistic influence on my nieces, hard to do from 2000 miles away. Hopefully, the memories will remain vibrant in their young minds and they will become flourishing artsies themselves.
Steve Williams and Christina Foard images via the artists’ websites. Frank Stella image via Jacksonville.com. All other images by Artsy Forager.
So much of our communication these days is in a non-face-to-face fashion. We text, email, Facebook, and Twitter each other, but the subtleties of expression and eye contact is lost, making these a poor substitute for a live chat over coffee. Perhaps too, that may be why we find ourselves drawn to work like that of Polish artist Anna Bocek. We long to see another face gazing back at us.
Summer Wind II, painting, 100×100 cm
Bocek chooses to isolate her subjects against a usually colorful, vibrant background, yet it is the person we focus on. She captures each figure in the midst of movement, their motions as fluid as a dancer’s.
Jetty, painting, 100×100 cmEl Circo III, painting, 100×100 cmSwimming Pool, painting, 100×130 cm
The flesh of her figures is painted with a vibrancy and warmth, making them come alive as if the canvas was taking in breath.
Cafe Rose Series, painting, 100×110 cm
If you enjoyed Anna Bocek’s work, be sure to visit her website to see more!
In the creative world, there is a great deal of pressure placed on creatives to produce works of great meaning. After all, art has to be about something, doesn’t it? If the artist has nothing to say, then what is the point? A great many artists struggle against the urge just to paint, sculpt, do vs. what the result of their creativity has to say. Sometimes artists just want to play. Create for the sake of creating, the way California artist Thomas Campbell does.
Big Flower, acrylic, gouache, spray paint, money, thread, pencil on paper, 14×13.5
According to his Artist Statement, when pressed, Campbell will concede that his work is “affirmational in a self-referential sense”. If his work must be about something, perhaps it is about the journey he takes each time he begins anew.
Give a, acrylic, gouache, spray paint, money, thread, pencil on paper, 15.5×16Umm to the Infinite, acrylic, gouache, spray paint, money, thread, pencil on paper, 14.5×12
For surely within each creative path an artist embarks upon, there are new and wondrous lessons to be learned. There is always deeper meaning to be found, if we look for it or read such things into the work.
YAR Exhibition InstallationInside the artist’s studio
But perhaps in many cases, it is merely a matter of an artist caught in the act of creating. Which is is what makes one an artist in the first place.
If you would like to see more work from this painter, sculptor, photographer, film maker, stuff maker, please visit his website.
I am completely in love with the graphic illustrative quality of Seonna Hong’s work. Which is why she’s being featured in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today! Check it out here!
When I was taking painting courses in college, we were required to stretch our own canvases. At first, I was pretty horrible at canvas stretching.. as in there were about a gazillion staples in each side of the canvas! But eventually, I got my hands on a decent staple gun and came to appreciate the act of stretching a canvas as part of the creative process. The stretching of textile collages over deep, geometric-shaped frames transforms stitched fabric and threads into strong and delicate sculptures for Colorado artist Jen Pack.
I am a Cube!, chiffon, thread, and wood, 58.5×58.5×3.5
Some of Pack’s work, such as I am a Cube! ( above ) have a seemingly hard-edged sleekness to them, yet upon closer inspection, we see soft lines and gradations in the colored fabrics, giving the work a painterly feel.
Domesticated Thread, thread, chiffon, and wood, 59.5×35.5×3.5Scrap 1, chiffon, thread, and wood, 31.25x10x3.5
Then in other pieces, Pack’s purpose seems to be one of deconstruction, as in Domesticated Thread ( above ) and Purple, Yellow, and Green Toadstools ( below ). Here, what we are met with seems to be an unraveling of the more “finished” and “structured” pieces. It’s almost as if someone pulled a loose thread, which caused the slow unraveling of each piece.
Purple, Green, and Yellow Toadstools, thread, moshi fabric, cardboard tubes or pvc pipe, dimensions vary
To see more of Jen Pack’s work, please visit her website. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you can see her solo show, UnQuiet Chroma at Taylor De Cordoba Gallery until December 15th! Oh how I wish I was going to be able to get myself to L.A. this weekend!
To me, the best stories are those that are carefully layered and woven together with a touch of mystery. Artist Sarah Awad’s work intertwines seemingly disparate elements to create wonderfully complex and cryptic visual narratives.
Power of Aphrodisia, oil on canvas, 67×60
In some of Awad’s work, we seem to be looking into a classical museum, filled with artifacts and precious antiquities. These pieces have a eerieness to them that give us a sense of happening upon an unfolding story.
Tender Recurrence ( On Visitation ), oil on canvas,72×60The Visit, oil on canvas, 24×20Gemutlichkeit, oil on canvas, 72×54
In each piece, we wonder what just happened here or what is about to happen? There is an anticipatory feeling and a slight unease to each work.
Untitled ( Temple ), oil on canvas, 24×20
To see more of Sarah Awad’s work, please visit her website. If you happen to be in the Seattle area, you can see Sarah’s work in person at James Harris Gallery.
For some Artsies, the holidays can be a bit of decorative overload. I’m talkin’ about those clean line, simple shape loving Modernists who crave the sleek and spare. For this week’s Artsy Holiday installment, here are a few ideas for the Artsy Modernist on your list!
Kaleidoscope Trays by Clara zon Zweigbergk for Hay
Maybe I’m a closet Modernist because I am loving all these bold colors and geometrics! See more Artsy Modernist ideas on the Artsy Forager Pinterest boards!
For the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting at my brother’s home in Florida, rooming with an extremely energetic seven year old, my niece Kendall. My dad gave Kendall the nickname of Firecracker— a nod not only to her fiery red hair but also to the tiny bundle of explosive energy that she is. The frenetic energy in the work of Australian artist Todd Hunter is definitely Firecracker level.
Who’s That Riding, oil on canvasHiding Today, oil on canvas
Hunter’s work is filled with the types of gestural strokes, saturated color, and wild movement that makes my heart skip a beat.
Pretty Strangers 4, oil on paper
This is work that grabs you, draws you in, and leaves you breathless. While the visual intensity of each work may be what captures our gaze initially, the moments of quiet within the composition end up being what keeps us coming back for more.
Barrenjoy Lighthouse, oil on canvasBronte to Bondi, oil on canvas
To see more of Todd Hunter’s work, please visit his website. Which types of work are you most drawn to? Peaceful and quiet or full of crazy good energy?
When this Southern girl was first transplanted to the Northwest, it came as a bit of a shock to me that certain parts of the Northwest were not that much different from the South. I’d naively assumed that all of the PacNW would be open minded, artsy, liberal places like Seattle and Portland. Philadelphia artist Kim Alsbrooks perhaps had a similar experience while living in the South, translating her perplexity at the social structures and prejudices still prevailing in the region into her My White Trash Family series.
Lincoln, graphite and oil on found aluminum can
From the artist’s website: “The White Trash Series was developed while living in the South out of frustration with some of the prevailing ideologies, in particular, class distinction. This ideology seems to be based on a combination of myth, biased history and a bizarre sentimentality about old wars and social structures. With the juxtaposition of the portraits from museums, once painted on ivory, now on flattened trash like beer cans and fast food containers, the artist sets out to even the playing field, challenging the perception of the social elite in today’s society.”
Girl with Hand on Her Shoulder, graphite and oil on found aluminum canEleanor Parke Custis Lewis, graphite and oil on found aluminum can
Of course, the issue of class hierarchies is not limited to the Southern United States. It is an issue still widespread throughout the world. In her juxtaposition of these portraits of high societies’ past against the discards of the lower class, Alsbrooks speaks to the irony of the continuation of such antiquated beliefs.
Ameriga Vespucci, graphite and oil on found aluminum can
To see more of Kim Alsbrooks’ work, please visit her website. Her work will be featured as part of the Parlor Gallery Group Show at SCOPE Art Fair in Miami December 4th-9th!
