PAI NT I N G 2014
MARYLAN D I N STI ITUTE COLLE G E OF ART
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T H I S P U B L I C AT I O N WA S MADE POSSIBLE WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM
K EVI N K EAR N EY ‘74
COVER IMAGE CREDIT CELESTE TAYLOR
“Creative persons differ from one another in a variety of ways, but in one respect they are unanimous. They all love what they do. It is not hope of achieving fame or making money that drives them: rather, it is the opportunity to do the work that they enjoy doing.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi As the pages of this catalogue will affirm, these members of the graduating class of 2014 –as painters, as artists– take great pleasure in what they do: they are creative. This is no small accomplishment in any year, but it is perhaps an especially extraordinary achievement at this moment – that is, a time when the sacrifices required to be an artist have never been so great, when crafting a meaningful education has never been so challenging, and when building culturally sustainable communities has never been so important. While the dictionary defines painting as “the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface,” for these undeniably imaginative, persistently innovative, inexhaustibly inquisitive artists, to quote Marcel Duchamp, “the tube of paint is a mere springboard” for marrying and transfiguring personal experiences, cultural conventions, emotions, styles, genres, and traditions. The works herein have come into being through fervent investigation, concentrated reflection, rigorous research, and, perhaps most importantly, immersion in a dynamic community of similarly engaged creators. To be a painter today is, I believe, one of the most optimistic and life-affirming acts one can make in the world, because, ultimately,
the reason to make is for the love of doing so. As the pieces in the pages demonstrate so eloquently, seductively, and provocatively, it is through a passion for making that we come to know ourselves, discover our world, and construct our culture. The works in this inspiring and gratifying booklet represent not just the accomplishments of the past year, but, more importantly, the shape of the future frameworks for making, for communing, and for being.
Bob Salazar ASSOCIATE CHAIR, PAINTING DEPARTMENT
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When we gathered in Falvey Hall on the first Monday of our weekly Senior Thesis meetings in late August of 2013, graduation seemed really far away. Subsequently, after being assigned a studio in the Studio Center and meeting your core peer group, you ventured on a creative journey that led up to your fantastic commencement exhibition. “Visiting Artist at Noon” – our Monday Lecture Series in Falvey Hall - included Rocio Arando-Alvarado, Margaret Bowland, Nyame Brown, Orly Cogan, Chie Fueki, Josephine Halvorson, Oliver Herring, Frank Hyder, Paul Jeanes, Gary Kachadorian, Sarah McEneaney, Michael Jones McKean, Jim Peters, Laurie Riccadonna, Dana Schutz, Jim Woodside and Michael Zelehosky. Margaret Bowland and Chie Fueki were in residence for the year, serving as the Genevieve McMillan/Reba Stewart Endowed Painting Co-Chairs. “Kalter Evenings,” our 6:00 informal gatherings, allowed you the opportunity to mingle informally and up close with our visiting speakers. Your final “Thesis Defense” and first semester “Review Board” provided intense, focused discussions of your artwork by a three-person faculty jury. You created professional quality artist statements, resumes, narrative biographies and business cards, and you attended numerous professional workshops. Some of you applied to graduate schools, internships, residencies, grants, galleries as you prepared for a life beyond MICA. Many of you participated in exhibitions on campus and in the greater community.
Mainly you spent hours in your studio developing your art. This year’s Senior Thesis Core Faculty included Ellen Burchenal, Marian Glebes, Geoff Owen Miller, Margaret Murphy, Christine Neill, Barry Nemett, Robert Salazar, Christopher Stackhouse and Howie Lee Weiss. Andrew Tanner, a MICA graduate student, was our Program Teaching Assistant. Various artists also visited your core groups at the invitation of your faculty, enabling you to meet and discuss your artwork with professionals in the field. What a year!!! I wish all seniors the best of luck for a rich and fulfilling artistic life.
Howie Lee Weiss HEAD OF SENIOR THESIS, DRAWING, GENERAL FINE ARTS AND PAINTING DEPTARTMENTS
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M I C A Founded in 1826, Maryland Institute College of Art is the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation. The College enrolls more than 2,000 undergraduates, graduates, and continuing studies students from 46 states and 53 countries in fine arts, design, electronic media, art education, liberal arts and professional studies degree and non-credit programs. Redefining art and design education, MICA is pioneering interdisciplinary approaches to innovation, research, and community and social engagement. Alumni and programming reach around the globe, even as MICA remains a cultural cornerstone in the Baltimore/ Washington region, hosting hinders of exhibitions and events annually by students, faculty and other established artists.
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PA I N T I N G D E PA R T M E N T 1300 Mount Royal Avenue Baltimore, Maryland 21217 4102252260
JAKE ADAMS
PAU LI N E J. K I M
COLIN ALEXANDER
STEPH YO JUNG KIM
PEPPER AMES
REBEKAH KIRKMAN
ANGELA ARRIGO
ADAM LAFON
E M I LY R I TA B A C H
MARISA LAGUARDIA
R E N Z B A L A G TA S
LINDSEY MACK
E R I C K ANTO N I O B E N ITE Z
JAMESON MAGROGAN
ANTO I N E C. B LANTO N
SCARLETT MCCALMAN
ALLISON C BOGARD
MARIA MYLNIKOV
DAHLIA BUSHWICK
AB I GAI L M. PAR R I S H
FALLO N C HAS E
LY D I A P E T T I T
SI CHEN
JANE PHILIPS
COLLEEN O. COLLINS
EMMA POPP
E M I LY C U C A L O N
DAVID RAMOS
RALPH DELIA
JESSICA RUSH
ALE XAN D RA D E STE FAN O
CHRISSIE SCHOENHARD
LO R R AY N E S AG E D E V E R
REBECCA SHMULUVITZ
K AT I E E M M I T T
MARGAUX SIEGEL
AMAN DA F LOW E R S
K AT R I N A S L AV I K
CHRIS FORTNEY
A A R O N S TA R K E Y
ANGE GOROKHOVA
CONOR STRAIT
MEGAN HECKMANN
LI N DY SWAN
ASHLEY HENDRIX
MIKE THOMAS
DANA H O LG E R S O N
MARK WEHBERG
YUNJOO HYUN
M O L LY Z I M M E R
MINDI INGALS JESS JAHNLE AURELIA J. JAVIER K AT H E K AC Z M A R Z Y K DASOL KIM KANGHEE KIM
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J A K E A D A M S A R T. C O M
JAKE ADAM S
3,*,~,! >,@,?! ,#,[},X, G,N,Q,R,S,F,T,U MIXED MEDIA 52” X 26” X 18”
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Maintaining a constant state of self-affirmation poses interesting problems. Self-affirmation is integral to our will and survival. It’s deep, unassuming, and stuck in the orifice of our cognizance. All one has to do is ambush the disaffirming entities (memories, ideas, feelings) found in our emotions and counter that energy. That is what I do on a regular basis. I categorize all these entities by creating a drawn emotional map and map key using three formal categories of aesthetic and symmetrical descriptions: Shape, Surface Texture, and Color. The map separates each diverse feeling, based on energy and emotion attributed by one or more combinations of the three categories. This process produces a synthesis manifested as a hybrid painting that embodies a portrait of consciousness interwoven with my own reactive emotional and conceptual forces. From which a dual-harmony is born. SEVEN DAYS OF STEVE ARENIUS & HIS CONSCIOUSNESS MIXED MEDIA 52” X 47” X 4”
1,2,5,15,?! ,% ,=,*, >,~,#,@,X,O,H,P,D MIXED MEDIA 48 X 48 X 4”
W W W. C O L I N A L E X A N D E R . I N F O
COLI N ALEXAN DE R
HAPPY BABY POSE ON HOME YOGA DVD ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 34” X 38”
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The work I make responds to the sensation of “being in the world” as a sort of method actor, playing the role of trusting it while also trusting it. In that dialogue, I follow patterns of an increasingly necessary escapism in the contemporary world. From more direct neglection of responsibility (hiding behind a bush) to more abstract notions (finding spiritual release in your living room via home yoga DVD), it is important to recognize these vices and understand that we are very small beings. It is very ok to be emotional, it is very ok to make a joke. Painting is an escape, too!
BUSH FOR LOOKING THROUGH ACRYLIC LATEX ON FOAM, STEEL WIRE, WOOD 37” X 70” X 16”
PEPPERAMES.COM
PEPPER AMES
HASTILY SUMMARIZED TRANSFORMATION VIDEO STILL
1BADDREAM4EVER (2) VIDEO STILL
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The body of work I am currently developing is based in video. I layer and animate images that I collect from various sources, both original and found. Generally, what I attempt to explore is the idea of failure. In thinking of my work as scenes existing somewhere between nightmares and fables, I am able to address fear, desire, and the uncanny in short and overwhelming excursions.
1BADDREAM4EVER (1) VIDEO STILL
CAR G O C O LLE CTIVE.C O M /AN G E LAAR R I G O
ANGELA ARRIGO
My paintings are intuitive and improvisational interactions created by gestural marks. I work primarily with oil paint, acrylic paint, and colored pencil on canvas or paper. My most recent series of paintings derive from found images that I collaged into different compositions, which are translated into paintings. The painting undergoes a wavering conflict in which the structure and gesture are constantly challenging abstractions of color and gesture fighting for attention.
BOTTOM HEAVY OIL ON CANVAS, 26 X 48�
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UNTITLED ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 26 X 48”
UNTITLED ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 26” X 48”
E M I LY R I T A B A C H
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W W W. R E N Z B . C O M
R E N Z B A L A G TA S
NIGHTTIME URGES OIL ON PAPER 35 X 30”
Every day we encounter meaningful symbols that, in one way or another, represent a message unique to our own explanations for reality. The ephemeral impact of these images throughout our lifetime may stick in our unconscious memories far longer and more discreetly than we can ever control. My work focuses on the questions behind the mysterious frontier of our unconscious and its influence on the way we interpret the symbols we collect. Much of my work is inspired by images that relate to real life events that have left an intense impression on my psyche. When dealing with the mysteries involved with unconscious symbolism, the questions we ask become just as important as the answers we create and by connecting through this, we can relate our own symbols with the symbols of humanity as a whole collective unconscious.
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VISITORS OIL ON PAPER 12 X 18
STREETS OIL ON MOUNTED PAPER 12 X 12�
E R ICK ANTON IO B E N ITE Z
My thesis work is a series of paintings referencing Latin American gangs through a romanticized perspective. The imagery of my work deals with the relation and parallels of culture relative to the contexts of tattoos, behavior, and power. Adopting different formal painting methods and appropriation, my work express a dialogue of barbaric beauty that exist with in these communities. In my series I have created abstract spaces with rough textures, vibrant colors, and patterns to amplify the symbolism and mood of each gang member.
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LA MARA OIL AND SAND ON WOOD 17” 2014
CHOLO NO.1 OIL AND SAND ON WOOD 17” 2014
GANGSTER PARADISE 17” OIL AND SAND ON WOOD 2014
A N TO I N E C B L A N TO N . C O M
ANTOI N E C. B LANTON
GIVE ME A MINUTE? OIL ON CANVAS OVER WOOD PANEL 12 X 24” 2013
NEAR WAXTER MASON OIL AND PENCIL ON CANVAS OVER WOOD PANEL 20” X 24” 2013
Often I find myself revisiting memories that are deeply associated with specific architectural sites, primarily the façades of residential and multiuse commercial buildings. Responding to these structures, recalling why they are significant to me, through memory of time and place I make emotional and psychological connections that anthropomorphize the buildings, their character influenced by their environments and my recollections those places. The weathered conditions, the natural patina of material decay of these building sites ferments in memory. Working from cell phone photographs and sketches, the eventual finished painting, of say, a house, begins in a dream-like state removed to some extent from reality.
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ANTOINE C. BLANTON TO THE END OIL AND PENCIL ON CANVAS OVER WOOD PANEL 12 X 24� 2013
ALLISONBOGARD.COM
ALLI SON C BOGAR D
BRIDGE IN A SNOWSTORM OIL ON CANVAS, 24X30 INCHES, 2014.
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Worlds Of Their Own My work is about capturing dreamscapes, worlds created to relate and yet remain separate. Subtle connections with lines and shapes, compartments that make up planetary thoughts. Some are islands or clouds, some are bridges or imagined solar systems. Others are tired, maybe a little sad. They want to sleep, and I let them. I am connecting found objects to these painted images using thread to interweave and bind these manifested worlds together. People are Old World Earths in their own minds, the centers of the universes they create. Impersonal yet personal, I am mapping minds and worlds like constellations on the wall.
IN A DREAM ONCE, MAYBE MIXED MEDIA INSTALLATION, 31X20 INCHES, 2013.
DAH LIA B US HWICK
BOWL WRAP BLOWN GLASS 8X8X4.5”
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The simultaneous flexibility and rigidness of glass is fascinating. Without heat, glass becomes immovable, and with too much heat, uncontrollable. I am attracted to the challenge the material presents: to both stretch the boundaries of what glass is capable of doing while restraining the material so that it is still under my control. Two years ago, I began working with glass as an intern at a studio in Baltimore. While my initial physical interaction with glass was limited, as time went by my study of the medium increased in both the time spent with it and the ways I manipulated it. Now, my attention has shifted to my progression of work in glass. Through a display of the material from my initial works to the present, the path of my learning is evident, while the future of my work with glass begins to reveal itself.
PICK ME CAST GLASS 3.5 X 2.25 X 2� (3)
LEAVING FALL BLOWN GLASS 9 X 5 X 2.25�
FA L LO N C H AS E . C O M
FA L LO N C H A S E
ASPHALT EARTH 72 X 94 IN, OIL ON CANVAS
These paintings emerge from my fascination with the patterns and delicate interworkings connecting and extending throughout the natural world. As I work, there is a constant interplay between the order and chaos that envelops nature. Pattern seems, at first, a source of order, but in its numerous, subtle variations it becomes a wild, organic network. Attempts at order only result in further unraveling 足 a giving over to growing, tangling chaos. Pulled off the paintings as I work, the limp, slightly transparent sheets composed of oil and latex are a byproduct of my painting process. Slowly disintegrating, these ghost足paintings become a synthetic nature, with a birth and death of their own.
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MIDNIGHT, STREETSTICKS 72 X 100 IN, OIL ON CANVAS
STUDIO SHOT PAINTINGS AND PEELINGS
SI CHEN
MIDORI FOR BSO EXHIBITION, MIXED MEDIA 40 X 60 “
Painting is my way of retaining a sense of myself; because I believe every painting I create is my self-portrait even if it is of someone else or an abstract. My paintings are about connections — the connection between human figures, objects, compositions, materials, brush strokes, colors, and ultimately our humanity. Sometimes, I deliberately push colors, and spend my life capturing the spontaneous feelings and passions my subjects express through their facial 31 features and body language. My painting series “Midori” for the MICA/BSO exhibition uses traditional oil painting technique and line drawing to capture the movement, energy and emotion in Midori’s performances. I combine traditional painting／ materials like Mylar, paperboard and glass to create my work. I really enjoy working with several materials together at the same time in a piece.
WEDDING DRESS MIXED MEDIA 45 X 75 “
COLLE E N O. COLLI N S
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My work is a reflection of my ability to employ meditative processes to address personal affliction. By immersing myself in repetitive motions that form dynamically with deliberate rules and conceptions, I allow myself time to contemplate and relax. Though a product is created through this repetitive and compulsive patterning, the actual process of creation is much more important than its physical manifestation. Color, pattern and geometric forms are prominent components utilized in my exploration of materials and chronic patterning. I create objects from paint, line and recycled goods, pushing the boundaries between seen and interpretation. My work is vital because I can express myself using found materials and objects, transforming them through paint and pattern, allowing redefinition of their original meaning. Learning and discovering new concepts through this process not only justifies my work, but also inspires me to create my own definition of art.
W W W . E M I LY C U C A L O N . C O M
E M I LY C U C A L O N
GOLD DOME 3.75 X 5.5” CUT PAPER POSTCARD 2013
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MODULATION 104 X 44� MIXED MEDIA ON PAPER AND PANEL
My work questions the legitimacy and accuracy of thoughts as they are written, sent and shared. I paint with oil on canvas and wood, and use various printmaking processes, including screen printing and collagraph. With my small pieces, I construct gridded modular forms that allow me to move, remove, and reinterpret my work in multiple iterations. Using postcards as a mode of transportation of thought; I physically alter the used cards through cut outs and collage, reclaiming their past lives. I find the dichotomy of their intimacy and functionality intriguing, and I question the connections forged through them. These found cards are the basis for my paintings and prints, both of which sustain a dialogue with the printed form of postcards.
RALPHDELIA.COM
RALPH DE LIA
UNTITLED 30”X24” OIL ON CANVAS
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A painting is a series of moves, an object of contemplation that is defined by defining. For the one in the driver’s seat, the question is, “how does one reclaim intention?” On the other side of presence, there’s direction -- a path to orienting one’s sight to a painting that is always in contest. A struggle that never ends, but is never long-winded. Ultimately, I would say painting is about exploring what doesn’t make sense to me.
UNTITLED 24”X32” OIL ON CANVAS
THE SOCCER GAME OIL ON CANVAS 59” X 49”
A L E X A N D R A D E ST E FA N O . C O M
A L E X A N D R A D E S T E FA N O
My work is about the ephemeral nature of the world, life and self through the metaphor of flowers. Working with themes of experiential recordings, memory, transience and an increasingly discordant relationship with nature, I create large-scale paintings of collected flora arranged in relevant compositions with varying contextual information. Like nature, the degeneration, alteration and resurfacing of memories exist within the paintings. Varying states of being are reflected in the oscillation between the clarity and ambiguity of forms and place. The spaces are shallow, becoming a conscious shade of reality rather than a representation of real space. The titles embody the highly personal quality of the work while challenging associations.
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LAST NIGHT IN ITALY/FIRST NIGHT ON THE FIRE ESCAPE IN BALTIMORE OIL ON CANVAS 57 X 39”
WILL YOU TAKE A WALK WITH ME? OIL ON CANVAS 60” X 36”
CARG OCOLLECTIVE.COM /SAG E DEVE R
L O R R AY N E S A G E D E V E R
UNTITLED OIL AND SPRAY PAINT ON PANEL, 18 X 24”
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CAKE OIL PAINT, SPRAY PAINT, AND GOLD LEAF ON CANVAS 20 X 24”
LOOP OIL PAINT ON PANEL, 5 X 7”
. K AT I E E M M I T T. C O M
K AT I E E M M I T T
WHAT’S LEFT REMNANT TWO POWDERED GRAPHITE ON PAPER 66” DIAMETER FALL 2012
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Katie Emmitt’s work crosses mediums – from performance art and fiber work to drawing and bookmaking – expressing ideas surrounding nature, spirituality, psychology, and Sacred Geometry. Emmitt’s recent work includes a series of charcoal body-drawings entitled Remnants of Flow where she explores creating artwork in a state of mindfulness. Born in Guam, 1992, Emmitt grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. She received her BFA in Painting from the MICA in 2014 and is currently based in Baltimore, Maryland.
REMNANTS OF FLOW (PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE FIRST EXPERIMENT) DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPH SPRING 2014
AMAN DA F LOW E R S
CA R G O C O L L E CT I V E . C O M /A M A N DA F LOW E R S
This body of work is a family portrait of individuals that I hadn’t seen in a while. In an exploration of working from memory, these portraits became about qualities of their face that I remembered most. They evolved into masks, which show the most important parts of their face rather than covering or masking those parts. I used white charcoal on toned blue/gray paper to emphasize the hazy, ghost like quality that memories have.
JUDAH WHITE CHARCOAL ON TONED PAPER 8 X 9.5”
LUKE WHITE CHARCOAL ON TONED PAPER 8 X 9.5”
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HADASSAH WHITE CHARCOAL ON TONED PAPER 8 X 9.5”
W W W. C H R I S F O R T N E Y. C O M
CHRIS FORTNEY
OLD MONARCH, MAJESTIC LIKE WILD CAT OIL ON WOOD PANEL. 22.5” X 30”.
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But I Could Not Name It Flimsy colored lights all strung up in a third story window, that flashing Saint Nick’s at it again. A happy Christmas kid his skateboard wheels roll and carve asphalt echoes in the bowl of the apartment complex parking lot. And I can’t open the back door all the way snow piling up behind it. The neighbor’s dog bow wowing in fits of three. Get the hell in here she says he makes circles to see me off dog’s shadow departed. Lawn chairs cast on the picket fence, my chest pressed against the railing give me my air to breathe.
TRI COUNTY REGIONAL AWARD GOES TO RITE AID, BRIGHT AS LAST EVENING’S MOON OIL ON WOOD PANEL. 48 X 72”
AG O R O K H OVA.C O M
ANG E GOROK HOVA
MADMEN 14X16 PERMANENT MARKER, ACRYLIC PAINT
My work deals with capturing the essence of American bars and the way men and women behave inside a space designed to stimulate emotion and action through the consumption of alcoholic beverages. I paint bar scenes from the bartender’s point of view. My paintings resemble a panoramic view out into a bar. I use simple figures to show relationships that manifest inside a space designed to encourage adult play. Each figure has a role in the space; they are looking at someone from across the room , overhearing a conversation, or talking a little bit too loud with their mouths stretched open. I exaggerate one of the five senses in each figure causing a chain reaction for the viewer to follow. Each piece is a still image of a situation of figures that are otherwise in a hectic and active area.
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HTTP://MEGANHECKMANN.COM
MEGAN HECKMANN
My love is in the materials and the process of making. My work comes out of work; I never begin with an image or drawing, and only sometimes do I have an idea. If I were to think in terms of metaphor, meaning, or finished product before I started a painting, I would never start that painting. What concerns me is the way a mark comes out of another mark; the unexpected results that come out of this process surprises and excites me. These paintings and more sculptural works are created with numerous steps such as applying, pouring and sanding of various materials such as enamel paint, oil paint, beeswax, and caulk. Beeswax is an example of a material that I can connect with; watching it solidify or melt is a meditating and breathtaking act for me. I am a process-based artist, my imagery is revealed through my process, and my process is ahead of what I’m thinking.
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COATED OIL,BEESWAX, AND CAULK 10X10”
POURED CAULK AND BEESWAX 6X8”
AS H LEY H E N DR IX
ANTOINETTE OIL ON CANVAS 42”X41”
The purpose of my work is to function as evidence of my life. Following the tradition of genre painting, the subject matter within my work is not profound, nor controversial. It is, however significant, because these visual observations, or view-paintings, record my world, my environment, and the people in it. I elevate the banal, often overlooked content of my surroundings through the curiosity with which I choose to paint these examinations. In order to fully record my experiences, I often collage the atmosphere of the environment by compiling a multilateral space. The fissures and disconnections within my paintings and drawings help me to unpack the doubts I have regarding the psychology of my own work. I infuse the subject matter with my own aesthetic and emotional sensibility to develop a complexity from the otherwise simplistic.
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DELI GLACÉ OIL ON CANVAS 46 X 72”
JEREMY OIL ON PAPER 41 1/2”X58
DA N A H O LG E R S O N . C O M
DANA HOLG E R SON
IMPLODE 27 X 31” ACRYLIC ON SEWN FABRIC, STRETCHED
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My artwork is motivated by the inconsistency of memory. Personal memories are encoded, stored, and later retrieved: a complex cerebral system where a number of factors can go awry. This defragmentation of sensory information and experience brings to my mind an abstracted swirl of chaos and emotion. My work is a careful documentation of this fleeting visual information as it fragments and regroups.
THREADS 40 X 44” ACRYLIC, GLITTER ENAMEL ON CANVAS
CLIFF 48 X 48” ACRYLIC, OIL, GRAPHITE, POLYURETHANE ON CANVAS
YU NJOO HYU N
YHYU N@M ICA.E DU
Mapping the External Landscape of My Internal Feelings There are so many layers to who I am. I believe multiple layers of identity are me. Where I live or what I experience are things that layer me. My artwork deals with the relationship between place and me. I’m currently living in the place that I’ve never been before. The places I live are a significant tool that explains my identity. I was born in Korea, educated in Korea, raised in a Korean family, but now I am living in the United States. Old and new places define who you are and create the layers of identity. My years in the United States magnify my Korean identity more than the time I was in Korea. My paintings are layered with different landscape drawings from memory, culture, and life. In this body of work, the elements of external landscape become a new language that speaks about my internal feelings of new places and old places I have been before.
INK AND ACRYLIC ON PAPER/36*24
DIGITAL PRINT ON CANVAS/8*8
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DIGITAL PRINT ON CANVAS AND PAPER COLLAGE/12*12
MINDIMINDIMINDI.COM
M I N DI I NGALS
UNTITLED 2013 ULTRAMARINE GOUACHE ON ARCHIVAL PAPER. 22” X 30”
Time is my material. Repetitive marking enables me to reach a state of flow in time – where a few hours feels like mere minutes, years like days. It is similar to becoming engrossed in a movie or a book and losing track of time. By forcing the “me” out of the equation, I am able to think only about what it is I am making in the moment, no matter how long that moment may last. I think of time as linear with a clear beginning and end. My intention is to make an orderly, structured, and logical piece, but ultimately my own involvement (the human element) forces the making of mistakes. Thus, time is beautifully riddled with error.
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IDLE HANDS 2013 GRAPHITE ON ARCHIVAL PAPER. 22” X 30”
ULTRAMARINE2 2013 ULTRAMARINE GOUACHEON ARCHIVAL PAPER. 22” X 30”
W W W. J E S S J A H N L E . C O M
J E SS JAH N LE
TRAFFIC SILKSCREENED PAPER SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATION
I was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia but have always been drawn to the chaotic nature of cites, specifically their building structures and disorderly streets. Living and studying in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Florence, Italy has heavily influenced my creative process. My work begins with direct, on-location ink drawings and paintings of urban landscapes where I capture the overwhelming feeling of cities as I am experiencing it. From these panoramic sketches, I create cut paper, cardboard, and ink installations to transform a space into my personal hectic city, enabling the viewer to understand my emotional reactions and feelings while experiencing the city landscape.
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CITY BUILDINGS PAPER AND INK/ SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATION
CITY BUILDINGS PAPER AND INK/ SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATION
W W W. A U R E L I A J A V I E R . C O M
AU R E LIA J. JAVI E R
LAYERS OF A HUMAN BEING ACRYLIC AND CHARCOAL ON CANVAS; 40” X 48”
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A few years ago I found out I had inherited Alpha Thalassemia Trait, a genetic blood disorder in which hemoglobin production is reduced resulting in the weakening and destruction of red blood cells. Through research in cytopathology (cell disease) and human anatomy, I derived my interest in visualizing pathological genetic inheritance. Images of red blood cells interwoven with my self portrait, introduced a way to combine abstraction with realistic figural forms. The resulting pictures represent my identity, family, body, and personhood. I draw, paint, and sculpt to produce work that explores the human form in the universe and the universe in human bodies.
DIFFERENT SIDES OF ME ACRYLIC AND EMBRIODERY ON CANVAS; 36” X 42”
ABSTR ACTIONS CHARCOAL AND GRAPHITE POWDER ON DURLAR; 8’ X 3’
K AT H E K A C Z M A R Z Y K
Fruitful études, lofty labor, toothy gaps, forms coagulate, static denouement, deletions of indcision, untold tribulations, disproportionate ensembles. The unfamiliar familiarity of the places that once were, the places that seem to be becoming. being a part yet unpart of the world, lost. embracing every physical detail of the objects that speak to us. Interactivity and spontaneity. Embrace acuity to the mundane, the everyday ephemeral information. It’s all (with)in this.
BUT EVENTUALLY THE SUN STARTS TO SET AND IT’S TIME TO GO HOME. WAVE MOTION, RIDING THE BREEZE” 48” X 62” LATEX, ACRYLIC, MUSLIN, ORGANZA
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STANDING WITH WANDERING WADERS, AN ENDLESS SEA OF ROUGH, CARESSED AND POSSESSED BY THE VAST (NEST) 40 X 48 IN ORGANZA, MUSLIN, OIL, ACRYLIC
I THOUGHT ABOUT HOW, I THOUGHT. ABOUT. THE. ABOUTHOWEVERYTHING IS, HAPPENING 17X20” LATEX, COTTON STRING, ORGANZA
CARG OCOLLECTIVE.COM / DASOLKI M”
DASOL KI M
THERE’S BEEN NO BOUNDARY OIL ON CANVAS, 36”X36” 2013
My paintings represent the duality of reality vs. unreality, visibility vs. invisibility, and inside & outside views. My works are very personal and each one of them tells a story. Lights, time, memory, space, and moments are the theme of my works currently. By trying to make the real paintings, I recollect and gather all my memories and create the inside/outside spaces with abstract backgrounds and realistic objects on canvases. Color brings out the memory I have in the past, and also it brings out a hope for the future. I have used the pleasing and joyful colors for viewers to think beyond of what they see visually and feel the ambient atmosphere that I created.
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ETERNAL SUNSHINE OIL ON CANVAS 24”X36” 2013
A NOSTALGIC VISION OIL ON CANVAS 36”X36” 2013
KANGHEE KIM
UNTITLED 24 X 24 (INSTALLATION)
W W W. K A N G H E E K I M . N E T
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BLACK LAVA 20X20’’ ICY 20X20’’
PA U L I N E J . K I M
UNTITLED2 8.5X14” ACRYLIC
The overarching narrative throughout my current body of work, tells a story of the search for Hope. Although the paintings are a landscape of sorts, they are of places that have yet to be found in this world. Due to the fact that these paintings are not of concrete destinations, the paintings themselves seem to perpetually float around with only a few short landings on grounds that are always slightly out of focus. The paintings are a combination of flat abstract forms, as well as the application of traditional methods to depict space. The use of long sheets of paper as the canvas for some of the pieces emphasizes the narrative aspect of these abstracted landscapes.
UNTITLED 8.5X14� ACRYLIC
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STE PH KI M.COM
STE P H YO J U NG K I M
MEE-UM IS NOIR (INSTALLATION), 2013 VARIOUS- OIL PAINT, HEMP STRINGS ON CANVAS, ACRYLIC ON DRAFTING TAPE, OIL
PAINT ON DRAFTING TAPE THEN ON A GLASS PHOTO FRAME, FULL OF PAINTED DRAFTING TAPES IN A PLASTIC TRASH CAN
When you squeeze a balloon firmly, it will eventually pop. As an artist, I am interested in this moment of explosion—bountiful energy and keen noise. This power of energy can interpret into many dialogues. As for myself, I try to interpret the energy exchanged between deconstruction and reconstruction. The moment of creation also becomes a moment of destruction. Then, my paintings subconsciously represent the traumatic distress I’ve experienced from the car accident from few years ago. Since that time, I find my painting process mimics my slow and circuitous “recovery” from that trauma. The prolific repetition of readjusting the surface with: liquid paint, expressive mark, violent layers, collage and intuitive color I build up a succulent and viscous paint texture. The use of drafting tapes, strings and other malleable objects replaces my direct working-hand is reference to the metal plates that held my bones together.
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ALIZARIN ORANGE SENSATION 2013 84 IN X 72 IN, OIL PAINT, HOUSE PAINT, ACRYLIC, DRAFTING TAPE, WAX, AND ACRYLIC SILLY STRINGS ON A CANVAS
FELIX THE CAT 2013 58 IN X 65 IN, OIL PAINT, HOUSE PAINT, ACRYLIC, AND DRAFTING TAPE ON CANVAS
HTTP://CARG OCOLLECTIVE.COM / R E B E KAH
REBEKAH KIRKMAN
FROM HERE 34 X 36” OIL ON CANVAS
In my recent painting, I investigate the way color sticks in memory, and the way shapes, objects, and spaces get confused and blend together. I decide what to paint and what colors to use by remembering specific moments, and exaggerating and abstracting what stands out the most. An entirely teal living room, the way a yellow pane of glass made the room glow, or a cream and yellow-orange bedroom that had little natural light become stage sets where things are happening. Within these paintings and drawings, as I reconstruct a remembered place, I play with mark-making – scraping and stumbling, scribbling and erasing – signaling the frustrating process of trying to recall. Accidents abound, and shapes emerge, which I often include in other paintings. As I work, I make networks of associations of objects and shapes that remind me of other things.
SUNDAY 10 X 10” OIL ON CANVAS
STAYING UP WITH J.M. 34 X 36” OIL ON CANVAS
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ADAM LAFON
ADAM LAFON.COM
When I approach a painting I’m thinking about edges cutting and biting into one another, overlapping and reasserting themselves until an equilibrium is found. Areas of color are carved into shapes by their surroundings, foregrounds are made out of backgrounds. I try to keep my moves bold, painting in and painting out, never allowing a painting to crystalize too completely. In the end, there is often a feeling that the course has been altered somewhere in the process, but traces of what was there before are left behind. The images come from a place of humor, but also from a sense of the tragic and the pathetic. Absurd, cartoon icons of American masculinity are confounded. Their brawny potential energy is neutered and negated, and in its place is left something fragile and empathetic.
UNTITLED 36 X 36IN OIL ON CANVAS
WAY TO GO! 53 X 82IN OIL ON CANVAS
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UNTITLED 36 X 36 IN OIL ON CANVAS,
INSTRUCTOR 18 X 14 IN OIL ON WOOD PANEL 2014
W W W. M A R I S A L A G U A R D I A . C O M
MAR I SA LAG UAR DIA
I am amazed how color and form fit together so effortlessly in reality. Certain utilitarian objects and their simple specificity often demand my attention, and cause me to focus on something other than what’s going on inside my head. The objects I observe are typically made of rigid, sturdy materials and exist for a single purpose. My paintings and drawings are made in response to recollected memories that are interpreted through a combination of images and marks, which recreates the aura of my past experiences. I view my work as recordings of the beauty I see in mundane moments. I create images with the hope that the viewer is as enticed and attracted to everyday experiences as I am.
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THROUGH LIGHT 12 X 16 IN OIL ON WOOD PANEL 2014
A STUDY OF LIGHT 30 X 22 IN CHARCOAL ON PAPER
C A R G O C O L L E C T I V E . C O M / L I N D S E Y M A C K
LI N DS EY MACK
STACKED 24 X 60” CHARCOAL AND WHITE GESSO ON CANVAS
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A sense of action resides in spaces that have endured deterioration from external forces. Architectural decay ranges from the mundanity of abandoned buildings to historically monuments, and we elect them according to what is known in history and our physical feeling while occupying their space. There is a romantic essence to rigid structures being reclaimed by forces of nature that alters the psychology of structural spaces. There is an ambiguity to the imagery as it does not blatantly reveal a specific place that is being depicted, but it has moments of recognition that solidify the piece in reality. Referencing the materiality of our concrete environment, I often work with mixed media ranging within oils, acrylics, charcoal, graphite, caulk and dirt that are all applied to the surface in a variety of methods. I create paintings and drawings that emphasize deconstructed space as abstractions of interactions between the constructed and chaotic. OVER OIL ACRYLIC & CHARCOAL ON PAPER MOUNTED ON WOODEN PANEL 49 X38”
MORE AWARE ACRYLIC ON WOODEN PANEL 40”X48”
JAM ESON MAG ROGAN.COM
JAM E SON MAG ROGAN
PEDESTAL GARDENS MIXED MEDIA ON LINEN/ 54”X45”
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BILL BRASKY 60” X 42” MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
SCAR LETTMCCALMAN.COM
SCAR LETT MCCALMAN
I CAN’T HANDLE THIS KIND OF VIGIL 14” WIDE TYPEWRITER, 4’ LONG WIRES TYPEWRITER CARCASS HUNG FROM CEILING WITH METAL WIRES.
With nineteen typewriters I transcribe my collection of personal journals. I draw and write simultaneously: building up words to build up images. Building up an image inspired meto deconstruct the object. Thus I started dissecting typewriters. I found that their inner workings were just as aesthetically beautiful as any image I could create with a typewriter. Unlike modern technology where a few pieces serve a thousand functions, old machines such as typewriters are comprised of thousands of parts that work to serve one purpose. If one part fails the entire machine fails, much like my typewritten drawings where every mark has its place in a vignette, as well as in the portrait. I have combined my collection of typewriters, their parts, and my writings and drawings. These nostalgic installations pay homage to typewriters as discarded and dead machines, as art objects and artistic tools.
BEDLAMITE’S SONG 7.5” X 5” PAGES TYPEWRITTEN TRANSPARENT PAPER
TOWER OF TYPEWRITERS 5’ TALL 18” SQUARE PEDESTAL TYPEWRITERS, WOOD, SPRAY PAINT
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M A R I A M Y L N I K O V. C O M
MAR IA MYLN I KOV
SKETCH FOR OPHELIA TEMPERA AND LATEX ON PANEL 6”X9” 2013
Cyan Painting and photography have been two distinct mediums for me. I approach photography quite matter-of-factly with a distinct third person approach. Painting, on the other hand, has become a way to memorialize experiences, to concretely solidify and stop time. It has become a kind of relief where I take people, places, things I hold dear, and create a requiem for them to live inside of. As these two mediums are well loved, I find it important to attempt to unify them in marriage. Cyan takes two antiquated forms of art—oil paint and the cyanotype —and marries them. Drawing from old renaissance themes and poses and combining them with a precise chemical process—with drawing as the bond— these works become highly processe based in nature, and create a strange environment within the painting realm where neither grey nor brown is the neutral, but, rather, blue. Both documentary and narrative, Cyan helps transcend and marry these two techniques.
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I’LL SERVE YOU DRUGS ON A SILVER PLATE IF IT WILL HELP YOU GET AWAY ST. JUDE OIL ON PRIMED CYANOTYPE ON COTTON MOUNTED ON STRETCHED CANVAS 30”X40”
WAITING FOR DAWN TO CRAWL THROUGH THE SCREEN LIKE A BURGLAR ABOUT TO TAKE YOUR LIFE AWAY OLYMPIA, OIL ON PRIMED CYANOTYPE ON COTTON MOUNTED ON STRETCHED CANVAS 20”X35” 2013
A B I G A I L M . PA R R I S H Confrontation Through Humor The root of my work derives from a need to express the moral parameters which society uses today. Mass media and culture thrives on the primal needs of humanity through sex, power, and fear. Thus, I focus on this subject matter through the language of intimacy and ecstasy. I visually represent this imagery through certain characters to achieve comedy and, sometimes, disgust. I wish to create a discussion in viewing my work, thus I use comedy as a means to facilitate openness. I intend for the viewer to remain with my images and consistently find meanings to illicit more questions in response to the initial narrative that I have achieved.
DETAIL OF PIZZA POOL PARTY IT’S DINNER TIME- UPPER LEFT CANVAS
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PIZZA POOL PARTY IT’S DINNER TIME TRIPTYCH LEFT AND RIGHT CANVAS ARE 54 X 34 “AND MIDDLE CANVAS IS 58 X 46”, GOUACHE, ACRYLIC AND FLASCHE ON CANVAS
DON’T BE PLAYIN 82 X 7O IN, GOUACHE AND FLASCHE ON CANVAS
LY D I A P E T T I T . C O M
LY D I A P E T T I T
IT NEVER REALLY GOES AWAY 48 X 72” OIL ON CANVAS
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Painting has proved to be a platform for conversation in the past, whether it is political, social, or philosophical. I channel that history in this series of paintings. Based on my own interviews with individuals who manage depression, I construct a visual understanding of their experience and collaborate fully with the person to ensure their message is accurately represented. Each painting becomes its own world, with different structure, color, and impossibilities directly stemming from the words of the interviewees. Body language and environment are carefully orchestrated, with each object and pose meant to reflect the conditions of their struggles. This isn’t a Public Service Announcement, it’s a visitation into the lives of these men and women, a group I belong to, who deal with the invisible illness of depression. Their accounts and words are simply their truth. IT’S NICE TO BE IN A WARM PLACE 60 X 60” OIL ON CANVAS
JANE-PHILIPS.COM
JAN E PH I LI PS
PERIPERSONAL 50 X 32” SPACE OIL PAINT, COFFEE, AND GESSO ON WOOD PANEL
I have spent my time at MICA exploring two realms of work. The first: my love of the human figure, the technical labor and proficiency in producing it and the history that surrounds figurative painting. The second: vast and visceral abstract grounds I produce through an energetic and spontaneous process. I have married these realms by turning the abstractions into environments in which my figures exist and explore. The environments I create became more of a representation of mental space than a physical landscape. They are a reflection of the chaotic mentality that the modern world produces: anxiety, depression, mental anguish and the subtle and dark beauty that can be found in each state. The figure becomes an anchor within this turbulent world – a center that the viewer can relate to and identify with. At points, the figure is overwhelmed by the environment. At other times, it conquers.
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HONEYCOMB COFFEE , 60 X 60” INK, CHARCOAL GOLD LEAF, GESSO, POLYURETHANE ON CANVAS
JAW OIL PAINT AND MODELING PASTE ONE CANVAS 36” X 24”
E M M A P O P P. C O M
EMMA POPP
CHRIS 30 X 40” GRAPHITE ON MYLAR
My work meditates and reminisces moments of the past by visually reconstructing memories that ultimately create a story. As time elapses, details of what I’ve seen and experienced can regress or progress, fade or brighten; the past is just a story we tell ourselves. I am interested in tackling my past and sorting through it in order to create these visual narratives. The decisions made, and the resulting paintings and drawings, are personal and intuitive, and often romanticized. What appears on the canvas or paper is exactly how I wish to remember. Much of this practice is rooted in careful observation of the visible world: I see, I process and I react. As I work, I am constantly searching and unfolding even the smallest of details in order to compose an all-encompassing scene.
BLISS, DAY ONE 2.75 X 4” GRAPHITE AND WATERCOLOR ON PAPER ZINE
BAY SHORE AT 3AM 22” X 30” GRAPHITE AND ACRYLIC ON PAPER
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DAVI D RAMOS
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Myopic My paintings are a collision of Christian and Islamic iconography which, through portraiture, explore themes of death and spirituality. Since the chemical bombings in 2013 Syrian activists have begun to release video footage online to bring world-wide awareness to the acts of terror. Through these videos I get a sense of what it’s like to be a participant to the event and from them is where I find my subject matter men who have died fighting for their spiritual beliefs and their community. Those that have died are considered martyrs and are given a spiritual burial involving a white cloth that they’re wrapped in before burial. Through these paintings I seek to memorialize the men and women in a painting that, to me, reflects their spirit.
MALALA YOUSAFZAI 24 X 24” ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
B E H A N C E . N E T/J E S S I CA R U S H
J E SS ICA R US H
UNTITLED 60 X 52” OIL ON CANVAS
There’s an immediacy to visual experience that I try to actualize through paint. I focus on everyday subjects including the figure, interior spaces and the landscape to explore the nature of human perception through large-scale paintings. My painting process captures the structure and logic that underlies the everyday and our experience of it. People perceive this visual logic instantaneously, but to capture it in paint I work both from direct observation and also from memory. As I think through what I’m seeing, I build up a layered and tactile surface of paint. This buildup of paint helps emphasize that the paintings are made and creates a freshness that is analogous to my initial visual perception. When people see my paintings, I want them to see this record of my visual thought process.
DREAMING OF THE HUNT 48 X 72” OIL ON CANVAS
REFLECTIONS 48 X 44” OIL ON CANVAS
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CSCHOE N HAR D@M ICA.E DU
CHRISSIE SCHOENHARD
CAKES 24 X 30” OIL ON CANVAS
In my work I combine my love for painting with baking. While I was studying abroad in Florence, I developed a passion for authentic Italian food and the way it defined much of Italy’s culture. As a result, I have found myself in my kitchen at home baking intricate cakes, pastries, and perusing every cookbook I can get my hands on. Using my experience with composition, I have created scenes on tables, shelves, and outdoors for my paintings. The paintings range in scale from 24”x 30” to 7 ft x 3 ft. I go beyond simply replicating the cakes into my paintings as I experiment with color, warm lighting, and perspective. My goal is to be able to communicate my passion for beautiful food through the fine art of painting to share with the community.
CAKES #2 24 X 30” OIL ON CANVAS
PASTRIES 28 X 36” OIL ON CANVAS
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RSHMULUVITZ.COM
R E B ECCA S H M U LUVITZ
MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS 48 X 48” OIL ON CANVAS
Although I approach my work with a predetermined idea in mind, all elements in a piece become subject to change as it develops and the works eventually open up to embrace other possibilities. The conceptual intentions behind my work are rooted in memories, stories, explorations into the abstract, and visual research. Subtle stretches in the boundaries of realism elicit a sense of multiple realities within my work, a dream world that imbues the scenes depicted. Recently, I have been tackling compositions involving more than one figure and confronting my fascination and curiosity regarding social interaction and the intersection between innocence and intimacy in youth culture. In the modern world where intimacy is often a construct, we are confused by what it means to be truly intimate. I want to explore the avenues of intimacy, the liminal space between authentic closeness and the illusions we create to comfort ourselves.
IF WE COULD CLIMB TO THE SKY 60 X 66� GRAPHITE ON PAPER
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MARGAUXSI EG E L.COM
MARGAUX S I EG E L
My work is the process of remembering, forgetting, and the exploration of the collective denial that exists within my home. Each piece is fueled by relationships and lack of relationships. I make impulsive and intuitive small-scale ink drawings and acrylic paintings. Ink distorts imagery similarly to the way that memories bleed into another and are reconstructed through time. The visual language within these works consists of triggers, universal symbols, such as hands, that spark memories. These symbols function as catalysts to communicate fragments of my childhood. The figure’s hands are drawn in a way to express psychological distance, hindering them from properly interacting with each other and even their own bodies. The figures and their environments are warped, interchangeably pathetic, beautiful, and humorous. The immediate creation of each piece allows me to see the truth in my mark making. This honesty is the preservation and the closure to each moment mentally and visually.
LOST AND FOUND AIRBRUSH ON PAPER/42X75’’
UNFORGIVABLE MINUTE INK ON PAPER/19X24’’
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TV DINNER INK ON PAPER/19X24’
B E H A N C E . N E T / K AT R I N A S L A V I K
K AT R I N A S L A V I K
After spending a month in Nicaragua and six months in Jerusalem, I became interested in site-specific installations and my perception as an American. My installations are site-specific to the city and country in which they are made. For example, a piece constructed in Baltimore relates to the architecture of its immediate surroundings as well as to the city outside a nearby window. The color palette, materials, and imagery are derived from my observations and experiences in the specific place. My work is the result of a struggle to comprehend my environment, keeping my American nationality and paradigm in mind. I build my installations into per-existing physical spaces by attaching plastic bags, cardboard, and other found material from the city where the piece is located directly onto the wall. I paint these materials with acrylic paint.
MANIFEST DESTINY (JERUSALEM, ISRAEL) ACRYLIC PAINT ON PLASTIC BAGS AND
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HALLWAY IN MICA ACRYLIC PAINT AND SHARPIE ON CARDBOARD AND BROWN PAPER/ 8’X9.5’X9’
A A S TA R K E Y. C O M REPLACED 68” X 54”, OIL ON CANVAS 2013
A A R O N S TA R K E Y
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Growing up listening to hip-hop music, I’ve noticed the influential power it has on culture. Both its negative and positive content have influenced African Americans’ way of thinking as well as all other races. My figurative oil paintings reflect this concern. Influenced by my personal experiences, my family and friends, Baroque painting and hip-hop culture the figures in my paintings are often composed in controversial gestures and dramatic lighting. I employ dark backgrounds to represent negativity in present society. Conversely, the light that shines on certain figures highlights the body language of the silhouettes, such as the way a hand is positioned to symbolize the main concerns in my work. As born sinners, we often struggle with right and wrong, and I leave the painting open to interpretation for the viewer to either reflect on his or herself and/or make a judgment. BTB 60”X50”, OIL ON CANVAS 2013
CONOR STRAIT
The human is more than a narcissist in a material world, but in fact a geometric jewel, not a mule for the cruel few who view the earth as a tool, that’s disgusting, a sign for erupting and I know you feel this, can’t be life, this can’t be right, the ignorant miss the signs and that’s bliss? No. That’s just ignorance, which is lacking information, for those, public relations is creating mental vacations, so do they keep fractal geometry in mind? Distracted and deaf to that door knock on their closed box they call reality, so in this land of the deaf, dumb and blind where the one eyed king rules, question their care for your vitality, their words duality is brutality, hold onto your mental liberality and be water, my friend.
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STRANGE FRUIT 5 FT X 3.75 FT OIL ON CANVAS
THE GROVE OIL ON CANVAS 52X44”
CA R G O C O LLE CT I V E . C O M / LI N DYS WA N
L I N D S AY S W A N
113
The figure has always been a central focus in my paintings. Figures are easy to relate to - they represent us, after all. My new work removes that element of familiarity. I became interested in what happens when you take the figure out of the scene; I want the viewer to be the one stepping into the canvas, to feel these empty spaces as they would if I had painted them into it. For while I’ve had a lifelong fascination with the figure, I’ve had the same fascination with loneliness and emptiness, and in these scenes that feeling is made even stronger because now the viewer is the one that’s alone. LINDYSWAN FENCED OIL ON CANVAS 56X44”
MIKE THOMAS
M I K E T H O M A S A R T. T U M B L R . C O M
My current work is based on dreams and memories. The body of work consists of oil and watercolor paintings, ink drawings, linoleum block prints, and artist trading cards. Usually, the dream pieces are dark both in the lighting and in the subject matter and have a graphic aesthetic to them with emphasis on outlines and a recurring star symbol. The compositions of these surreal works include figures (human and animal), geometric shapes, black backgrounds, and sometimes landscapes. When not working on these dream/memory pieces, I make large, abstract paintings as an ongoing side project. They are made with acrylic on canvas, painted in bright colors, and usually consist of either large, alphabet-like shapes, or improvised splatter compositions.
IMPROVISED ORANGE/VIOLET ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 48” X 40”
DROP WATERCOLOR AND INK ON PAPER 20” X 15”
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PRESENT OIL ON CANVAS 28” X 22”
MARKWEHBERG.COM
SAD GUMBY 5FT X 3FT , 2014 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
MARK WEHBERG
My paintings revolve around the psychology of human interactions. Inspired by my day-to-day life, I focus on moments that are awkward and crude because this is where I feel most vulnerable. I make large, gawky, fantastical paintings, pulling from my encounters and relationships. I start out with sketches on my iPad, to me it’s like a sketchbook. From then, it is a back and forth conversation between the physical painting, and the digital painting, as I use them both for achieving the final image. While paint is my main medium, I often introduce other media as I am drawn towards new forms of mark making. My paintings are reinventions of my reality and aim to question our feelings, our values, and our interactions.
IN PROGRESS 6FTX6FT , 2014 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
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M O L LY Z I M M E R
M O L LY B Z I M M E R . C O M
High Desert Molly Zimmer transforms her experience of growing up in the New Mexican high desert terrain to re-construct her interest in the geometric aesthetic mining technology has had on the arid environment. She views the Southwest landscape as an accumulation of geologic building blocks, that mimic the slow evolutionary process of building a landscape. In this series of accumulated collages, she cuts, scrapes, sews, pastes paper, and applies collected samples of New Mexican sand to sculptural canvas structures. Overlapping forms of cut or torn paper, hand-dyed fabrics, and burlap are stitched to another, woven in between brushed on layers of sand, and into earth-toned fabrics to reveal the industrialized displacement of soil.
ARROYOS, ACRYLIC, PAPER, COFFEE, GEL MEDIUM, SAND FROM ALBUQUERQUE ARROYO 14 X 20 X 3”
FOOTHILLS, ACRYLIC, SAND FROM RIO GRANDE RIVER, PAPER, TWINE, BURLAP, BALSA WOOD STRUCTURE, COTTON FABRIC, SEWING THREAD, TAPE, 14 X 10 X 6“
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DESERT MINING, ACRYLIC, SAND FROM TUCUMCARI NEW MEXICO, PAPER, TWINE, HAND-DYED PAPER TOWEL, BALSA WOOD STRUCTURE, COTTON FABRIC, SEWING THREAD, TAPE, 16 X 16 X 4”