Storytellers
STORYTELLERS by Jeff Rau
Featuring artwork by Adonna Khare Patty Wickman Laura Lasworth Nathan Huff Siri Kaur Duncan Simcoe
The Earl & Virginia Green Art Gallery BIOLA UNIVERSITY 2014
Cover background image and page textures: Courtesy of Lost & Taken (lostandtaken.com) Images of works by Siri Kaur and Nathan Huff provided by the artists; images of works by Laura Lasworth provided by Lora Schlesinger Gallery; used by permission. All other documentation photographs by Jeff Rau, from exhibition in the Earl & Virginia Green Art Gallery.
Storytellers (exhibition catalog), by Jeff Rau Copyright Š 2014 Earl & Virginia Green Art Gallery All rights reserved. First Edition. Book design by Katelyn Seitz. Published through Issuu.com Earl & Virginia Green Art Gallery Biola University Art Department 13800 Biola Ave., La Mirada, CA 90639 562.903.4807 • www.bit.ly/TheGreenGallery No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
PREFACE
Stories play a critical role in our experience and understanding of the world. We share stories about where we’ve been that help us understand the past, and we shape our futures by creating aspirational stories about who we hope to be. We use stories to connect us to communities of others, and we tell stories that differentiate us from others and define an individual identity. At times these stories are rooted in fact, sometimes they are complete fictions, but perhaps most often we find them to be a strange amalgam of the two. Our fictions are shaped by real experience, built upon the foundations of truth, and our revered histories remain incomplete and colored by the specific experience of the author. Despite these inherent difficulties, story remains our most potent tool for making sense of the world. Though varied in their materials, practices, and subjects; all of the artists here share an affinity for visual storytelling. Some offer visual parables that are rich in references and metaphors intended to motivate us to respond. Others tell deeply personal stories, mining their own experience for tales of struggle and success, violence and beauty. And still others challenge our tacit acceptance of cultural narratives by recontextualizing familiar stories and exposing our subconscious assumptions. Though each of these stories is deeply rooted in the personal experience of its author, it is likely that in these pages you will also find familiar echoes of your own story. - Jeff Rau, 2014
ADONNA KHARE
Adonna Khare’s large-scale pencil drawings feature animal protagonists in whimsical scenes that first call to mind common fables and morality tales; but her references are in fact much more personal. Facing an impending storm and often bearing the scars of previous struggles, the anthropomorphic figures gather as members of a supportive tight-knit community, seeming to both celebrate together while comforting one another. In fact, many of the figures represent friends and family of the artist, and this very personal visual journal chronicles the dynamic cycles of life in all its struggles and its triumphs.
Screaming Bear, 2013
ADONNA KHARE
untitled, 2013-14
Grizzly Bears, 2013
ADONNA KHARE Polar Bears, 2013
PATTY WICKMAN
In a recurring Lenten practice, Patty Wickman alludes to the symbolic 40 day period of time in the Judeo-Christian tradition that is customarily a time of trial and testing but also of cleansing and rebirth. Purposefully exploring an alternative to the heroic scale and detailed planning of her usual studio practice, she is here constrained to examining the ordinary and often unremarkable experiences of daily life in quick paintings that must be completed within a day. Within such constraint, the paintings of 40 Days open up these fleeting moments and recast the ordinary as rich with beauty and imbued with a deep sense of spiritual significance.
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PATTY WICKMAN
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40 Days (Installation view)
1) 13 February: Face Print 2) 14 February: Palm Ashes 3) 15 February: Facing NE 28° (The City Below; Looking Out) 4) 16 February: Facing SE 244° (Retreat; Looking In) 5) 17 February: Bitter Sweet 6) 18 February: Journey (Past/Future) 7) 19 February: Disneyland, Rain, 10pm 8) 20 February: Opportunist 9) 21 February: News of Arthur McIrwin’s Birth
10) 22 February: Hit and Run 11) 23 February: Placeholder 12) 25 February: Under Cover 13) 26 February: Legion 14) 27 February: Profusion of Bees 15) 28 February: Farewell 16) 1 March: Patty’s Palette, Clare’s Egg 17) 4 March: Grey 18) 5 March: Fallen 19) 6 March: Clare’s Kitchen 20) 7 March: David’s Nametag
PATTY WICKMAN
21) 8 March: Ooze 22) 9 March: Document of a Run 23) 10 March: Daylight Savings 24) 11 March: St. Joseph Table 25) 12 March: Black Smoke 26) 13 March: White Smoke 27) 14 March: Leah’s Hospitality 28) 15 March: Oak Pollen 29) 16 March: Play 30) 18 March: Francis 31) 19 March: Be Opened! 32) 20 March: As Sparks
Through Stubble 33) 21 March: Tim’s Cup 34) 22 March: Poverty of Spirit 35) 23 March: Question 36) 24 March: Clare’s Palette, Drew’s Sugar Egg 37) 25 March: Fading Peach Blossoms 38) 26 March: All the Insects Seen While Painting Yesterday 39) 27 March: Asleep 40) 28 March: Passion Play Portrait 41) 29 March: Dump
LAURA LASWORTH
Laura Lasworth’s paintings refer alternately to concrete locations, personal journeys, and a variety of visual, literary, and biblical sources. These works are mostly from a series of paintings entitled The Western Wall. Each scene is set in a consistently sparse landscape/seascape inspired by a view of Puget Sound from the artist’s former Seattle apartment. While functioning independently as brief allegorical tales, the works also serve collectively as a kind of self-portrait of the artist attaching her oeuvre to a specific lineage of spatial and narrative influences.
Natural and Grafted Branches, 2001
Corporal Acts 1, 2009 (Left) Looking at the Over Looked: A Portrait of George Tooker, 2009 (Right)
LAURA LASWORTH
Two Shaker Chairs, 2004 (Below)
NATHAN HUFF
The characters in Nathan Huff ’s Tension/Intention paintings invariably find themselves pushed to the brink. Undoubtedly their impending failure or success is intended to serve as a moral lesson for us all, but the outcome is not precisely clear. In a concerted effort to reach unprecedented new heights, these figures have exhibited remarkable creative ingenuity and a fair dose of reckless ambition. Their work has lead them to a point of no return and the house of cards appears to be held together by sheer force of will. The paintings might easily be despairing, but instead we root for their continued success.
This is how it is, 2011
NATHAN HUFF Bluster #2, #3, #9, #13, 2013
Installation view
Wisdom Council on Work #1, 2014
Wisdom Council on Work #1, 2014
NATHAN HUFF
Wisdom Council on Work #2, 2014
Wisdom Council on Work #1 & #2, 2014 Installation view
NATHAN HUFF
SIRI KAUR
The images of Know Me for the First Time by Siri Kaur have a strange familiarity to them. The memory is vague yet unmistakable and this mysterious and intimate allure draws us in. But there is something amiss. Borrowing tropes and archetypes from a variety of sources throughout our common visual history - from classical painting to contemporary film - Kaur effectively highlights the subconscious manner in which every new experience is colored by our projections of prior narratives. The echoes of our own past continue to haunt the present.
SIRI KAUR
Jamie, 2011 (left) Destroyed Room, 2011 (right)
Crow’s Field, 2011
Hawk, 2011 (left) Angela, 2011 (right)
SIRI KAUR
DUNCAN SIMCOE
Caught 2 and Book Boys are part of a larger series of Black Paintings by Duncan Simcoe. These works appear to reference the continuing epic struggle between the Israeli and Palestinian people for control of disputed lands. On the surface we may see this as a contemporary struggle between two youths that we know to have vastly differing histories and conflicting worldviews, but the paintings also continually refer us back to the common origin of their stories in the Genesis narrative of Abraham’s two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and God’s promise to make both sons into great nations.
Book Boys, 2006
DUNCAN SIMCOE Caught 2, 2005
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
Adonna Khare
Laura Lasworth
Pencil and carbon pencil on paper 92” x 36” Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
Oil on wood panel 11” x 16.5” Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
Screaming Bear, 2013
Two Shaker Chairs, 2004
Adonna Khare
Laura Lasworth
Carbon pencil on paper 93” x 36” Courtesy of the artist
Oil on wood panel 12” x 12” Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
untitled, 2013-14
Adonna Khare
Grizzly Bears, 2013
Carbon pencil on paper 93” x 72” Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
Adonna Khare Polar Bears, 2013
Carbon pencil on paper 93” x 72” Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
Patty Wickman 40 days, 2013
Oil, pencil, and watercolor on canvas 41 paintings at 6”x8” or 8”x6” each Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
Natural and Grafted Branches, 2001
Laura Lasworth
Corporal Acts 1, 2009
Oil on wood panel 12” x 12” Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
Laura Lasworth
Looking at the Over Looked: A Portrait of George Tooker, 2009 Oil on wood panel 12” x 12” Courtesy of the artist and Lora Schlesinger Gallery
Nathan Huff
This is how it is, 2011
Gouache and gesso on paper 98” x 48” Courtesy of the artist
Nathan Huff
Siri Kaur
Gouache on paper 16” x 12” each Courtesy of the artist
Pigment print 20” x 30” Courtesy of the artist
Bluster #2, #3, #9, #13, 2013
Destroyed Room, 2011
Siri Kaur
Nathan Huff
Wisdom Council on Work 1, 2014
Hawk, 2011
Nathan Huff
Siri Kaur
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Wood and hammer 8” x 24” x 24” Courtesy of the artist
Pigment print 20” x 16” Courtesy of the artist
Wisdom Council on Work 2, 2014
Jamie, 2011
Wood and hammer 8” x 24” x 24” Courtesy of the artist
Pigment print 38” x 30” Courtesy of the artist
Siri Kaur
Duncan Simcoe
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Angela, 2011
Book Boys, 2006
Pigment print 38” x 30” Courtesy of the artist
Alkyd on tar paper 40” x 32” Courtesy of the artist
Siri Kaur
Duncan Simcoe
Crow’s Field, 2011 Pigment print 40” x 40” Courtesy of the artist
Caught 2, 2005
Alkyd on tar paper 40” x 63” Courtesy of the artist
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
University Curator Jeff Rau wishes to thank the faculty and staff of the Biola University Art Department and Biola’s Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts (CCCA), for their substantial support in organizing this exhibition and for inspiring the Storytellers concept through their collective theme of “Spirit & Story” throughout the 2013-2014 academic year. Further thanks to all the participating artists and to Lora Schlesinger Gallery whose generosity made this exhibition possible. We are especially grateful to artists Laura Lasworth and Patty Wickman for contributing their time and insights to campus discussions at the CCCA Razor’s Edge Arts Conference, and to artist Adonna Khare for her participation in a series of gallery talks and studio visits on campus. We also sincerely appreciate the work of graphic designer Katelyn Seitz who has helped to translate this project into its present book form so that the stories can be shared long after the exhibition closes its doors.
The Earl & Virginia Green Art Gallery 13800 Biola Ave, La Mirada, CA 90639