24 WORKS ON PAPER: Love Letters to the World of the Outside

By Bianca Martucci-Fink

Crystal Z Campbell, Notes From Black Wall Street #59, 2020, mixed media on archival paper, 11” x 8.5”

As many of us are still staying indoors in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is gearing up for another traveling installation. The biennial 24 Works on Paper exhibition is scheduled to begin its tour of Oklahoma on August 20th at the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Art Gallery in Weatherford. As the only show of its kind, designated to feature living Oklahoma artists, it is planned to visit ten locations. From smaller towns like Altus and Sulphur, to the state’s largest cities of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, these 24 works of art will be on view through 2022—ending with a reception at its final location of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

Liz Dueck, Fleeting Blooms, 2020, oil paint, 28” x 22”

selection however seems particularly cohesive. Usually united by the initial requirements of the artists and their base medium of paper, previous collections of these 24 works have spanned varying themes within a single show. However, the 2020-2022 assemblage is strikingly connected not only by paper, but the artists’ interests in the natural world and outdoor spaces.

heather ahtone is the Senior Curator at the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum (AICCM) in Oklahoma City, and is the curator for this round of 24 Works on Paper. ahtone has worked in the Native arts community since 1993 and has an established career as a curator, arts writer, and researcher. Her research and writing have

Jarica Walsh, We are One, Despite the Distance, 2020, cyanotype on paper, 20.5” x 14”

primarily examined the intersection between tribal knowledge and contemporary art. She has curated numerous exhibits, published articles on her research, and continues to seek opportunities to broaden discourse on global contemporary Indigenous arts. In addition, she is committed to serving the arts community of Oklahoma. She is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, descended from the Choctaw Nation and has strong family ties to the Kiowa and Navajo communities.

ahtone says: “Working on paper was my favorite material as an artist. Paper-based arts have remained a focus for my research and exhibition focus. I look forward to supporting the artists who submit[ed] to provide audiences access to see the amazing creations being made in our community through the 24 Works exhibition.” It is evident that ahtone’s admiration for paper shines through her selection of these 24 artists—calling the act of working on paper “magic.” She has selected a variety of works that absolutely seek to elevate the medium and broaden its potential. Black and white works display systematic and mechanical processes like printmaking, and precise lines made of graphite. While some of the colorful and more abstracted works remind viewers that paper lends itself to being bold.

As earlier stated, ahtone’s attention to the medium has clearly been focused to showcase

Michael Elizondo Jr., Freaky Tails, Prismacolor pencil on Bristol paper, 12” x 9”

Nicholas Malkemus, Guatama Buddha, Dark Blue, reduction woodcut, 14.75” x 11”

scenes and images from our outdoor world. In her curatorial statement, she says, “Many of the images were direct references to nature’s glory, the light found being outdoors, and the absolute beauty of the natural form. Each one was created with such care. It occurred to me that these were love letters to the world of the outside, perhaps created during this recent period of forced confinement.”

I initially viewed the collection of works prior to reading the curator’s statement, and had quite a similar line of thought to ahtone’s. “Love letters to the world of the outside.” I was reminded how quickly the visual arts impart themselves to subjective emotion. Perhaps if I weren’t viewing these from the constant (and what feels like never-ending) confines of the indoors, I wouldn’t have felt as struck by what may have been a different reading of these various nature scenes.

While many titles of these paperworks don’t particularly call attention to current global events, Jarica Walsh’s We are One, Despite the Distance does explicitly recall this time of social distancing. Walsh is a multidisciplinary artist, working mostly in ceramics. She describes herself with “a compulsion to collect scraps of paper, and the constant desire to spend time alone with trees.” Using the cyanotype process, Walsh has created four Rothko-like cyan color blocks—broken apart but united by the thread of flora that runs from top to bottom. It is interesting that Walsh has used an object from nature to unite the work, to unite the viewers, when it feels like nature is something we no longer have easy access to. In her Instagram caption to this work, the artist writes “We are all connected and our roots are deep. Our togetherness surpasses the boundaries we create, reminding us we are always one, despite our physical distance.”

In a turn from Walsh’s direct linkage of physical distancing and natural elements, artist Crystal Z Campbell’s submission to this 24 Works iteration does not depict your typical peaceful landscape. Campbell is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and writer who typically “excavates public secrets through performance, sound, and film.” Her piece in this exhibition, Notes From Black Wall Street 59, is a mixed-media collage that’s title marks a significant geographic location in Oklahoma. Referencing the Greenwood district in Tulsa, one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the early 1900s, Campbell’s work notably recalls a devastating and haunted

TOP LEFT: Matin Alavi, You Can Take Care of Your Heart and Emotions Without Being Considered Difficult or Dramatic, smoke alchemy on mixed media paper with acrylic ink embellishments, 1.75” x 11.75” TOP RIGHT: Bryan Dahlvang, Chickadee, watercolor on paper, 11” x 8.5” BOTTOM LEFT: Michelle Himes-McCroy, Get Around to It, relief print with colored pencil, 13” x 13” BOTTOM RIGHT: Lauren Rosenfelt, Green Darner Dragonfly, graphite, 6” x 7”

history of our state—the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Intentionally bringing hidden and ignored stories to light, this piece tells a story of community and loss in both historical and contemporary contexts. As the pandemic continues to impact many black communities because of racial and social inequalities, Campbell’s piece carries such plurality in telling past and present stories of togetherness and continued injustices.

Katelynn Noel Knick is a multidisciplinary artist working in Oklahoma City. As a part of the Factory Obscura Artist Team, she is working collaboratively to make immersive art in OKC. These experience-based arts may be functioning differently in the future, particularly because they do so heavily involve touch, place, and a type of confined gathering. Knick’s Forbidden Fruit Loops is an abstracted work of swirling and colorful acrylic, colored pencil, and graphite. While again the curator has selected a work that does not appear inherently natural, these kinds of shapes and colors still call the viewer into another type of space—perhaps one like Factory Obscura, where the unnatural is naturalized. This abstracted work amongst the neighboring 23, particularly allows viewers to critically examine our spaces, whether they be indoor or outdoor, physical or conceptual.

It will be a fascinating experience to not only see these works in person, but to be in the presence of others while doing so. Although the viewing of objects in museums and galleries may be different, I look forward to being in a space with others and discussing these works on paper down the line. Will these views of nature remind us of our previous time without it and without each other? And finally, while we continue to remain indoors, perhaps paper is

another medium we can appreciate during this time. While we stay connected digitally in the time of Zoom, maybe these twenty-four artists can help us find inspiration in a medium we may have laying around the house.

For a full schedule of 24 Works on Paper and artist and curator information, visit 24works.org. Any updates on the show will be shared by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition staff across their digital and social platforms. n

Bianca Martucci-Fink is a graduate of Oklahoma State University’s Art History Master’s Program. She co-hosts the Artpop Talk podcast— available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube. You can learn more about Bianca and her work at artpoptalk.com.