Voices From Another Room: Five Artists Explore Paper Hot Art Wet City gallery in Vancouver
This exhibition showcases paper as an artistic medium unto itself, and demonstrates its versatility beyond the role of a mere surface for other materials.
Rachael Ashe, Alison Woodward, Sarah Gee Miller, Connie Sabo, and Joseph Wu produce strikingly different styles of work but approach working intimately with paper through similar methods. Each of the five artists transforms their materials using one or more techniques of cutting, folding, twisting, painting but with a unique take on the end result. The work in this exhibition reveals the infinite possibilities of paper as alchemical material in the creation of intriguing pieces of fine art and craft.
Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday April 3rd, 7pm to 11pm. The show continues until Friday April 25th, 2014.
Voices From Another Room Hot Art Wet City Date: April 3rd to 25th Location: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Avenue)
For the past two days Boris and I have working away on my installation at the Gladstone Hotel for the exhibition, If Walls Could Talk. We had three days for install but we managed to get it done in two. It was a tonne of work, and at the beginning I truly had my doubts this piece would come together, but the completed installation looks even better than I’d hoped.
I made sure to document the process from the beginning, starting with Boris up a ladder weaving metal cable back and forth through the existing hooks in the twelve foot ceiling. The cable is the basic infrastructure from which all the wing clusters hang.
The clusters are made up of eight wings cut from card stock in various sizes and shapes. I was using the bottom of the ladder as a staging an assembling area to string the wire, and then cut and fit the wings together one cluster at a time.
Boris did all of the ladder work on my behalf, which I am extremely grateful for because I am afraid of heights and this was a twelve foot ceiling.
Once we get a rhythm going, I was assembling six to eight wing clusters at a time so we could hang a bunch in one go. It was a good way to work because it filled the space faster, and helped me figure out how much more we needed to complete the work.
I cut just over six hundred individual wings to use in the installation, and did not end up needing to include them all. I think the final tally of wings included in the piece is somewhere between four and five hundred. I wanted to make sure I had more than enough to work with because I wouldn’t be able to cut more once I arrived in Toronto. The wings were created using a Silhouette Cameo digital cutter, rather than done by hand. I am not that crazy.
Once the installation was completed we tweaked the lighting. The shadows projected on the wall behind it are pretty dramatic and incredible. It adds a beautiful sense of movement to the piece.
Here is a short video of Flight Path / Taking Flight. I think this may win as the largest piece of artwork I have made to date.
You can see Flight Path / Taking Flight as part of If Walls Could Talk at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. The show opens Thursday March 6th 2014, and my work will be up until March 16th.
Beyond the utilitarian use of letterforms, typography can be beautiful art. This show features typographic-based works from Bennett Slater, Scott Sueme, and Frazer Adams, plus guest artists Ben Knight, James Knight, Erin Gibbs, Brandon Cotter, Ali Bruce, and Rachael Ashe.
Typo: Typographic Art Hot Art Wet City Dates: January 9-25, 2014
Opening reception Friday January 10 from 7pm Location: 2206 Main Street at 6th Avenue
The 17th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl is just three weeks away, and happens on the weekend of Friday November 15th to Sunday November 17th, 2013. This will be my fourth year participating. It amazes me to realize how much time has passed since my first Crawl experience because it feels less long ago.
In addition to the usual Friday to Sunday dates a preview evening has been added on Thursday November 14th, from 6pm to 9pm. Visit the Crawl website for details because not all artists will be participating (myself included).
17th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl Dates: November 15th to 17th, 2013 Time: Fri, 5pm to 10pm | Sat & Sun, 11am to 6pm
My location is E15 on the Culture Crawl map Address: 1660 East Georgia Street
If you happen to be in St. Petersburg Florida in the next while, I have a few pieces in “Cut, Fold, Shred” at Florida Craftsmen Gallery. The show opens tomorrow evening and runs until October 19th, 2013.
Florida Craftsmen presents a showcase of paper art from beautiful carved, folded, cut out paper objects and realistic 3D paper sculptures to altered books.
Roam through “Falling Leaves”, an installation created by members of the community using decorative papers created by Jackie Peters Cully.
Participating Artists: Rachael Ashe, Marsha Bard, Lucrezia Bieler, Sarah Butz, Jeff Henriquez, Cindy Mason, Dennis Meloy, Mark Noll, Aida Sheets, Michael Velliquette, and Elise Wehle.
September 6th – October 19, 2013 Opening Reception: Friday, September 6th, 5:30-8:30pm Location: 501 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, Florida
My solo show, Currents of Nature, opened this past weekend at the Ranger Station Art Gallery in Harrison. Here are photos of the exhibition:
One side of the gallery has altered book work and installations, while the other has recent paper cut sculptures and wall pieces.
Thanks to my friend Siobhan Humston for making the installation process so smooth and easy. All of the work was in position within two hours of my arrival at the gallery, and the show looks terrific.
Currents of Nature will be on display until July 28th as part of the Harrison Festival of the Arts, so please do visit the show.
Currents of Nature is a mix of new works in abstract cut paper sculpture as well as installation works made from repurposed books, all inspired by elements of the natural world.
Please join me on Sunday June 30th, between 2pm to 4pm, for the opening reception of Currents of Nature. I will be in attendance and look forward to seeing you there. The exhibition continues at the Ranger Station Art Gallery until Sunday July 28th.
Currents of Nature Date: June 30th to July 28th, 2013 Opening: Sunday June 30th, 2pm to 4pm Location: Ranger Station Art Gallery Address: 98 Rockwell Drive, Harrison Hot Springs, BC
It’s the fortieth anniversary of the Craft Council of BC and in celebration they are having a whole series of shows around the province on the theme of 10,000 hours. I have one of my paper cut vessels in the show opening tonight at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby.
From the press release:
…Malcolm Gladwell identified 10,000 hours as the “magic number of greatness” in his book Outliers: The Story of Success. The artists featured in this exhibit are working towards 10,000 hours in their own expertise. They are intimately familiar with many aspects of their chosen materials –what they can and can’t do, where they can push them, as well as their metaphoric, communicative potential.
‘10,000 Hrs’ presents a wide variety of mediums from ceramics, to fibre, from jewellery to sculpture and installation work. The show runs from April 15th to April 30th, 2013.
10,000 Hours: Celebrating 40 Years of the Craft Object Shadbolt Centre for the Arts Date: April 15th to April 30th, 2013 Location: 6450 Deer Lake Avenue Burnaby
This lovely little kokeshi doll is my contribution to an upcoming fundraising event at the Nikkei Museum. This is my first time contributing work to their annual BLOOM art auction, an event that supports the exhibitions, educational and cultural programs at the museum.
There are about 100 artists contributing work, and each was provided with a basic wooden kokeshi doll they could customize however they liked. I am very curious to see all of these dolls together on the night of the event.
My doll is eight inches high (we had a few sizes to choose from) and I have decorated her head to toe in cut paper. Her face is cut from white paper, and her clothing and head dress are cut from red paper.
The dress is one piece of paper, while her head is decorated with multiple pieces of cut paper. This was actually her first outfit which I cut to pieces and used a different way because I wasn’t happy with how it turned out (because I’m picky).
If you’re interested in purchasing one of the dolls the silent auction is happening on Thursday, April 25th, from 7pm to 9:30pm. Tickets are $25 to attend and can be purchased in advance online using paypal.
