Collaboration among artists, venues, and audiences is a guiding idea behind Artstop's ProjectSpaces.
Any artist may collaborate with a venue to present a project or an exhibition to the public from September 14 - 29, 2012. Our audience votes to determine a People's Choice Award, which is in addition to juried prizes. Everyone takes part in creating meaningful experiences and conversation around art.
| Name | Venue | Sneak Peek | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clearly .
Ames, IA Website: http://www.hearmatthewcoley.com/CLearly.html Email: sonicinertia@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Kirkwood Hotel / Des Moines Social Club. Performances will take place at 6:15 and 9:30 pm on Friday, September 14th, with the installation remaining on view through September 29th. Clearly Collaborators: Matthew Coley and Valerie Williams of Co ‘Motion Dance Theatre, Ames
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Court Avenue District | ||
| Cedar River Artisans
Cedar Rapids, IA 319-364-1580 Website: http://legionarts.org/events/guitar-voices Email: info@legionarts.org View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Historic Valley Junction Foundation Guitar Voices Artist Statement: Cedar River Artisans members Michelle Fischer, Julia Kottal, Karen Kurka Jensen, Nancy Lindsay, Thomas Newport and Elizabeth Rhoads Read, along with local artists Scott Takes, Casey Fleming and Chris Bevauns, present a collection of repurposed guitars rescued from the flood of 2008. Guitars were given to the artists by project leader Thomas Newport with the request that each artist embellish with his or her unique, artistic touch. The show reflects a wide range of media including metalwork, Sumi-e black ink painting, mixed media sculpture and air brushing. Additionally, the artists exhibit alongside their guitar contributions one example of work in their usual media. Cedar River Artisans artist membership is Bryan Davis, Dean Dunkel, Michelle Paulos Fischer, Julia Kottal, Karen Kurka Jensen, Nancy Linday, Thomas Newport and Elizabeth Rhoads Read. The professional artist group, formed in 2011, has exhibited regionally including Iowa City Chait Gallery, Figge Art Solon and Quad Cities Art. The group is also a collaborative enterprise proposing and designing public art for projects nationally. |
Historic Valley Junction District | ||
| James Bearden
Des Moines , IA 515-991-1136 Website: http://www.jamesbeardensculpture.com/about/ Email: beardometalwork@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Capital Square Artist Statement: I strive for spacial figures in metal, a bare linear style which depends largely on rhythmic invention and a balance of dynamic movements stemming from a single fulcrum. Cutting, hammering, melting steel and bronze in an investigation of volumetric form and constructivist abstraction. Welded steel forms recalling their skeletal and weathered structure. Ancient, stripped to their natural state. Intentional controlled construction. Brutal, fused, corroded, natural chaos bring forth tortured figural beings. Earth takes back the sculpture. |
Court Avenue District | ||
| John Brommel
Des Moines , IA Website: http://sculpturesbyjohnbrommel.com/ View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Plymouth Peace Park Artist Statement: John Brommel was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa where he now resides. His informal education in art started as a childhood interest which grew into a habit of daily study. Five years in a trade school and 35 years as a steamfitter taught John invaluable knowledge of welding and working in carbon steel, stainless steel, brass, copper, aluminum and bronze. He is truly a life time learner. In 1979 John started sculpting in wood. Ten years later he taught himself to sculpt in stone. Then about 1998 he finally migrated to sculpting in metals. He started doing airbrush paintings in 2004. He has works in private collections in Iowa as well as numerous other states. About 50% of the art John does is commissioned. |
Roosevelt Cultural District | ||
| Rachel Buse
Des Moines , IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Rachel is a local sculptor who builds large paper, fabric and wood structures. She likes to create mountainous, lumpy bodies and exaggerated fantasy environments. The assembly of her works are overwhelmingly hand constructed. The quickly stitched seams remain as surface details under the stained or painted patina. In the process of developing a site specific installation, she determines scale and form by responding to the characteristics of the installation space and considers how an audience will approach and interact within the installation. Rachel moved to Des Moines in 2008 after receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 2007, she created her first full room installation at the Art Farm Artist Residency program in Marquette, Nebraska. Here, she interned as an Artist's Assistant to resident artists from Japan and Switzerland. For a June 2010 cover of Juice Magazine, Rachel built a room-sized installation in conjunction with the article, "Creating a handmade world" which featured her work. Locally, she has shown work at the Des Moines Social Club, the Ankney Art Center, Thee EYE and the Des Moines Art Center. Further information about Rachel's current projects can be seen at www.rachelannbuse.com. |
Western Gateway District | ||
| Matt Corones
Des Moines, IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center Aqua Day, Digitally-produced installation visible from building exterior |
Western Gateway District | ||
| Sarah Deppe
Cedar Falls, IA 319-273-7684 Website: http://www.sarahdeppe.com/ Email: scdeppe@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Roosevelt Rain Garden-Hubbell School Field Artist Statement: The environment is a major issue facing our world today. Everyday we hear increasing concerns regarding global warming, pollution and further ecological degradation. I believe the cause of many problems is our rapidly growing population that is using up resources very quickly. As an artist, I often have guilt as I consider all the materials that we use to achieve our own personal goals, regardless of the fact that they are detrimental to our environment. I incorporate bark and wood because I believe it is less detrimental for the environment than other mediums. I feel as though I am simply borrowing from nature and it will be returned to the Earth as it decomposes off my sculptures. All natural materials I use are collected from the ground. No living or standing parts of trees are used.
Ultimately, I would like my work to educate and provoke dialogue toward a more ecological conscious community. If my artwork can encourage dialogue as a basis for change, then that will be one step to creating a more environmentally conscious community.
The environment is a major issue facing our world today. Everyday we hear increasing concerns regarding global warming, pollution and further ecological degradation. I believe the cause of many problems is our rapidly growing population that is using up resources very quickly. As an artist, I often have guilt as I consider all the materials that we use to achieve our own personal goals, regardless of the fact that they are detrimental to our environment. I incorporate bark and wood because I believe it is less detrimental for the environment than other mediums. I feel as though I am simply borrowing from nature and it will be returned to the Earth as it decomposes off my sculptures. All natural materials I use are collected from the ground. No living or standing parts of trees are used. Ultimately, I would like my work to educate and provoke dialogue toward a more ecological conscious community. If my artwork can encourage dialogue as a basis for change, then that will be one step to creating a more environmentally conscious community. |
Roosevelt Cultural District | ||
| Peter Goché
Ames, IA Website: http://www.design.iastate.edu/FACULTY/goche.php Email: goche@iastate.edu View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Meredith Corporation Site-specific installation made with salvaged materials. Artist Statement: Title: Culture Carriage My interest in this site and particular set of spaces has to do with the nature of edges and thresholds as it relates to property rights and its associated social configuration. My intention here is to blur the threshold between the public space of the sidewalk and the private grounds of Meredith Corporation. In an effort to do so, I intend to occupy the space of a niche (the area between the serpentine retaining wall and the edge of the public walk) with a temporary carriage of staged material whereby passersby might situate themselves. The work consists of an accumulation of dimensional lumber, artifacts and a damask. |
Western Gateway District | ||
| Home Grown
Ames, IA Website: http://www.locusic.com/ View Artist Information Hide Artist Information HOMEGROWN: IOWA ARTISTS MUSIC SHOWCASE AND LISTENING STATIONS Venue: Civic Center of Greater Des Moines at the Temple of Performing Arts Co-presented by the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines and Locusic during Artstop 2012 at the Temple for the Performing Arts. Artstop and the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines present the work of local music recording artists on listening stations developed by Jake Kerber's Ames-based Locusic. Listening stations are available for use in the 1st floor lobby area. As part of Artstop, the Civic Center and Locusic are partnering to celebrate local musicians. The HOMEGROWN project will include listening stations, featuring a curated selection of Iowa-based artists, as well as a full produced showcase concert in the Civic Center’s Temple Theater. All artists featured in HOMEGROWN can be heard on Locusic, Des Moines’ free Internet radio station featuring all local artists. These experiences will provide an informal discovery of artists –emerging and veteran—who call Central Iowa home. HOMEGROWN: Iowa Artists Listening Stations September 14-29, 2012 Temple for the Performing Arts, 1st floor lobby Free and open to the public 30-40 Iowa artists will be featured on two listening stations in the Temple for the Performing Arts lobby. HOMEGROWN: Iowa Artists Music Showcase September 28 & 29, 2012 7:30 PM, Civic Center’s Temple Theater, Free and open to the public Audiences will experience 4-5 artists during each showcase – ranging in styles from folk to jazz to rock. |
Western Gateway District | ||
| Chaden Halfhill
Des Moines , IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Untitled Site-Specific Installation Venue: Studio3 Design Site-specific sculptor Chaden Halfhill creates sculpture that resonates with ecological and spiritual themes, responding to architectural context with materials that reinforce these weighted concerns. Halfhill often captures the fragile and ephemeral attributes of nature, juxtaposing our anthropocentric relationship with it. Expanding upon a temporary piece he created within Veterans Memorial Auditorium during 2007, Halfhill honors the pain and loss endured when children precede their parents in death. Artist Statement: Chaden Halfhill creates sculpture that resonates with ecological and spiritual issues by selecting materials that visually and conceptually reinforce these thematic concepts. The use of concrete as a formative structure and tensile products such as twine and wire have allowed Chaden to capture the fragile and ephemeral qualities of nature in his sculpture. His fascination with agricultural production, interweaving materials with agri-themes such as hybridization, corporate farming, soil reclamation and food source sustainability have resulted in poetic sculptures that question the farming process as well as affirm the human struggle. Chaden owns and operates Silent Rivers Design + Build, which specializes in innovative design and building solutions. He has exhibited nationally, and has received multiple awards and honors. He received his BA degree from Wesleyan University, and graduated with high honors from Phillips Exeter Academy. Chaden is listed in the Iowa Arts Council's Public Art Artists Roster. A serial entrepreneur, he most recently established the Green & Main Initiative to encourage sustainable development within the state and region. |
Ingersoll Avenue District | ||
| Home Grown Iowa Music Showcase
Des Moines , IA 515-246-2300 Website: http://www.civiccenter.org/events/other/161-homegrown-iowa-music-showcase/ View Artist Information Hide Artist Information The Civic Center and Locusic are partnering to celebrate local musicians! As part of Artstop, the HOMEGROWN project will include listening stations – featuring a curated selection of Iowa-based artists – as well as a fully-produced showcase concert in the Civic Center’s Temple Theater. Listen and discover new artists while supporting those that you know and love – who all call Central Iowa home. All artists featured in the HOMEGROWN project can be heard on Locusic, Des Moines’ free Internet radio station featuring all local artists. HOMEGROWN: Iowa Music Showcase: September 29, 2012, 7:30 PM, Civic Center’s Temple Theater Free and open to the public! Audiences will experience artists during each showcase from: Bonne Finken, Tony Bohnenkamp, Christopher the Conquered and Rae and the Honeybees. HOMEGROWN: Iowa Artists Listening Stations: September 14-29, 2012 |
Western Gateway District | ||
| Annick Ibsen
Des Moines , IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Americana Artist Statement: Annick Ibsen is a sculptor in clay, born in Paris and residing in Des Moines. The strong cubist influence informs her connection between figurative and sculptural art forms. Her sculptures are built from slabs and assembled very much like a pattern to decompose space, depth and colors and create a fresh composition that conveys a geometry of emotions. |
Western Gateway District | ||
| Vicki Ingham
Des Moines , IA 515-242-0005 Website: http://vickiingham.com/home.html Email: ingham.vicki@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Raccoon Forks Trading Company Paintings |
Historic East Village District | ||
| Michael Lane
Des Moines, IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Kosama Downtown Drawing Installation Artist Statement: I envision this as a community-based project where Kosama members, along with myself and assistants from the Central Academy AP Art Program (their campus is across the street), will create a series of Spirograph-like rings with vibrant Sharpie Markers. The rings will evoke the Olympic rings, and their actual making is akin to the kinds of exercises that one might do in the Kosama program, in that each ring will require a specific movement with the hand and mind. A goal is to wrap the entire gym with these rings. |
Ingersoll Avenue District | ||
| Guy Loraine
Des Moines , IA Website: http://www.guyloraine.com/ View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Elements, Ltd. Sycamore Tree Cut Model Guy Loraine is an artist an teacher based in Des Moines, Iowa. He received his MFA in sculpture from the University of the Arts and a BFA in photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. Mr. Loraine has shown his photography and sculpture in the United States as well as Europe and the Middle East. He is a former Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar and has worked as a photographer for The Smithsonian Institution, The National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Mr. Loraine has spent many years as an object maker and metal smith, working on conceptual pieces that combine organic shapes with agricultural and industrial forms. In his current work, Mr. Loraine investigates phenomenological events in nature as a means to explore aspects of time, labor, and value. Through conscious decisions Mr. Loraine forces upon himself and presents to the viewer a value based system derived out of a repetitive work process that some would consider an irrational undertaking. ARTIST STATEMENT At one time I believed in knew the exact location of every cap and acorn I collected from under an Oak tree. Now I don’t, and as beneficial as that is, it causes me great emotional pain. The self-assurance and faith in a rational system I created of mapping, numbering, collecting, cataloging and documenting collapsed because of a missing acorn cap. The instance of pain that I interpreted as failure, became a profound moment that shifted Fuller & Grand away from an honest attempt at an irrational undertaking into one of self-discovery. A simple careless mistake has made me realize this project isn’t about randomness found in natural events, but the values derived from the time and labor I invested in the work process. The physical marks or remnants left over from my practice are the result of an embodied experience manifest over time. Each deliberate gesture or object is made with the intent that it accounts for something whether it is at that moment or a year later. What I find fascinating and compelling are the spaces within my mind created at the same time. How do they act as a barrier and facilitator? Why do I feel compelled by questions I can’t answer and driven by latent ones I don’t know? There is a constant friction between the need to answer these questions and the longing for solitude brought about by repetitive work. It is through this state of flux that I try to come to terms with my humanity and the need to find order in the world around me. That singular moment of experiencing failure became the sublime landscape of my mind. Longinus wrote, “The sublime is often conveyed in a single thought.” I think that he is right, and it is the thoughts generated by experience that I continue to seek out and investigate. |
Roosevelt Cultural District | ||
| Jennifer Mitchard
Des Moines , IA Website: http://www.jenmitchard.com/ Email: JCMitchard@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: La MIe Bakery
Artist Statement:
My recent works have been portraiture and figurative works. I love using contour lines to explore faces and bodies, creating images of people that are just slightly abstract. It is a process of turning a person into a fine art piece, so that people will see the image in a new way. My drawings are fast and organic and they rarely change throughout the creation of the painting. I paint both famous people and anonymous found images which inspire me. I use acrylic paint on wood with marker.
Artist Statement: My recent works have been portraiture and figurative works. I love using contour lines to explore faces and bodies, creating images of people that are just slightly abstract. It is a process of turning a person into a fine art piece, so that people will see the image in a new way. My drawings are fast and organic and they rarely change throughout the creation of the painting. I paint both famous people and anonymous found images which inspire me. I use acrylic paint on wood with marker. |
Roosevelt Cultural District | ||
| Tim Mitchard
Des Moines , IA Website: http://timmitchard.wix.com/tim-mitchard-photography View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: The Pointe Academy Artist Statement:
I work with both film and digital photography. My training has been in traditional film techniques. Most of my previous work has been social documentary style portraits. However, I also enjoy abstract photos, working with shadows and light. |
Historic Valley Junction District | ||
| Anna Lambrini Moisiadis
Madison, WI Website: http://annamoisiadis.com/index.html Email: amoisiadis@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: BNIM Architecture Artist Statement: From straw to gold. I often feel like Rumplestilzken; turning a single sheet of paper into something delicate and precious by simply cutting parallel lines into paper. Through my art process of repetitive, chosen cuts, I transform the Kitakata paper into a form that emits a warm glow. The texture of the paper itself has a skin-like quality, but it is through the transformation of its structure that it becomes enlivened. The paper picks up the slightest air current. Alone, in the gallery space, the pieces appear to breath. The breath-like movements are sometimes quick and short, but often they are deep, like sighs. Once the viewer enters the gallery space, the air currents are altered and the pieces respond and react. They shimmer, sway, shiver, and sigh. Paper has the physical qualities I need to create my artwork. It is natural and warm. It is light, but can maintain a structural memory. Paper also has qualities that are analogous to the human condition. It has the strength to withstand expected stresses, but when the unexpected happens it is remarkably delicate and fragile. My pieces are delicate and they may crimp or tear, but I do not hide these imperfections. These imperfections are the layers of the art process. They are the history of the piece and reflect what it means to be human: an endeavor for perfection with the limitations of our physiological and psychological state. |
Court Avenue District | ||
| Kristen Necessary
Iowa City, IA Website: http://www.kristennecessary.com/Kristen_Necessary/Images.html Email: kristen.necessary@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Olson-Larsen Galleries Artist Statement I search to find the elegance, the humor, and the humanity in our constructed environments. I explore the ways people structure place and how, in turn, a place can shape a people. Investigating this interdependent relationship of place and identity, with a focus on domestic space and vernacular culture, is the foundation of my artistic practice. An acute awareness to the influence of place on identity developed as a direct result of my upbringing in the coalfields of Central Appalachia. This background in an area that is heavily stereotyped and otherwise constructed by the assumptions of both locals and outsiders has proven to be an influential presence in my life. Now, as I travel in and through vernaculars, the digital camera assists in collecting the traces of an experience in a place. In the studio, I draw from photographic notes and bodily memories to create compositions that catalogue, conflate, and distill images of the everyday. These personal experiences are complemented by the study of cultural geography, vernacular traditions, and domestic architecture. I construct my work using varying combinations of technique from the disciplines of print, drawing, photography, and collage. Combining traditional fine art techniques with the language of decorative craft culture, my explorations exhibit as installation, works on paper, and artist books. In this practice, representation becomes re-presentation with the intent of provoking awareness to the quotidian core of our life experience. |
Historic Valley Junction District | ||
| Saley Nong
Des Moines , IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Thee Eye “Not for Sale,” fiber sculpture |
Historic East Village District | ||
| Ryk Weiss & Pam Dennis
Ogden, IA 515-275-2594 Email: rykweiss@netins.net View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Historic Valley Junction Railroad Park Site-specific mixed media sculpture. Artist Statement: We are proposing to install a three dimensional tree panel form. Having an X shaped footprint ~5' wide, it will be ~9' high. There will be four double sided panels (steel grid), each woven with willow which will extend past the panel borders. Combined, they will make the trunk and branches of a tree. In the canopy are various clay leaves, fruits and vegetables. The leaves will be pitfired giving them the natural fall colors and the flora/fauna pieces are red terra cotta for contrast. Workshop Description: For the workshop on September 22nd we have folks create 2-3" small "seed pods" from natural materials (pinecones, grasses, stones, willow) woven or wrapped together with jute. They would be wired to a smaller shrub form that day or taken home if a participant was really attached to their piece. The materials cost is nominal with the construction flexible enough to accommodate a broad range of skill levels. |
Historic Valley Junction District | ||
| Angela Pease
Cedar Falls, IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: BNIM Architecture Artist Statement: Through my activities in the past decade (undergrad to grad school to teaching), I have become very aware of my interests in the quotidian, the fleeting and the finite. How do we choose to mark our days, punctuate our lives? For most, the rhythm of life lies in everyday tasks and our ability to conquer this repetitive minutia; meals, sleep, dusting, dishes, laundry, grocery lists, to-do lists, drive to work, driving home, feed the dog, walk the dog… My work alludes to this repetition in its process and becomes inseparable from the work itself. There is comfort in identifying with the way a piece is made, and it has the ability of acting as a way in to the work for the viewer. Chewed gum is preserved in nail polish, construction paper dots left over from a hole punch are glued back to back, a stack of paper has been slowly worn away by hand, yarn has been crocheted into long lengths of rope and latch hooked into one massive heart. These simple acts are the language of life, and I work this way to tell my own stories with the hope that others will be able to relate to them through their own experiences. In a time when artists are often told, “It’s all been done before” it is important to acknowledge that we are all making work in response to the activity and chatter of our environment, and, although mundane on its surface, it is always a brand new world.
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Court Avenue District | ||
| I Dreamt I was A Postcard
Des Moines , IA Website: https://idiwap.com/ Email: idiwap@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Badowers "I Dreamt I was A Postcard." A Des Moines based photography collaborative from artist Garrett Cornelison, Stefan Hanson, Phillip Harder, Anna Jones bringing back the postcard as communication and as an artform. I Dreamt I was a Postcard is a revival for the postcard as communication and as an artform. It is a revival for the Midwest as a source of beauty. Artists Statement: Garrett Cornelison started making photographs when he was still a teenager. He picked up his first film camera at age 17. Shooting quickly became a passion. His work has taken him to many states and countries and has been featured in galleries and magazines throughout the Midwest. Stefan Hanson made in Denmark. Raised in Germany. Developed in Iowa. Anna Jones is a photographer from Des Moines who is fascinated by the dynamic of expressing emotion through photography. Phillip Harder |
Ingersoll Avenue District | ||
| Abra Pulley
Des Moines , IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Kitchen Collage Mixed Media |
Historic East Village District | ||
| Travis Rice
Des Moines , IA 515-981-0952 Website: http://www.travisriceart.com/ Email: TR@TravisRiceArt.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Substance Architecture Site-specific installation made with paper Artist Statement: Alright…I’ll admit it “I have a ridiculous irrational infatuation/fear of the microscopic world…i.e. germs”. I would probably rather be chased by a full grown grizzly bear than be standing in a crowded elevator when someone sneezes. At least you can shoot the bear. I pretty much spend every waking hour of my life trying to mentally trace the history of every surface I am about to come in contact with. Who was there before me? Had they just come from the restroom? Did they wash their hands? Walking down the hallway of a public building is like a never ending episode of CSI for me. If it was at all accepted in society, I would prefer to go through life with a surgical mask strapped to my face, latex gloves on my hands, a roll of paper towel hanging around my neck, and a squirt bottle of bleach swinging from my belt loop. You could call me the “Bacteria Bandit” or “Ecoli Cowboy”. But while maybe one day being a social misfit will become fashionable…I don’t think they will be designing any “Germaphobe Wear” on Project Runway anytime soon. ….Deep breath… On the positive side my phobias and irrational compulsions have lead to a lot of late night research of all the evil that can only be seen through a microscope. The intricate patterns that make up the structure of various bacteria, viruses, parasites and general disgustingness are as unpredictable as the potential havoc they can create. It is hard not to be intrigued at how something so awful can be so beautiful at the same time. Initially I duplicated the patterns I witnessed through drawing, painting, or some sort of 3D investigation, but the work has moved from duplication to invention. So maybe the work is some sort of therapeutic need to gain at least a bit of control over something that has had a strangle hold on me for so long. Or it was just inevitable that, since my germaphobia has invaded every other part of my life, eventually it would take control of how I work as an artist also. Either way …I have an overwhelming need to go wash my hands right now. |
Western Gateway District | ||
| Jane Robinette
Des Moines , IA Website: http://www.janerobinette.com/art.php Email: jane@janerobinette.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Crème Cupcakes Jane Robinette was born and raised in Iowa and has lived in Iowa most of her life. She grew up surrounded by the art and art-making of her mother, her aunt, and others in the community. She has written poetry and prose and enjoyed visual creative activities since she was very young. After obtaining degrees in social work and law, and working in both areas for several years, Jane left her law job in 1998 to launch the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project (www.lucidplanet.com/iwa) and to do more of her own creative work. Since then she has coordinated another art/interviewing project (www.beyond9-11.org). She lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with her spouse.
Artist Statement My artwork contains glimpses of a search for meaning in music, animals and people, color, nature, memory, myth and mystery, among other things. I work with the languages of both the written word and the visual. Each stands on its own, but I enjoy providing space for their interplay. I create mostly small and medium-scale paintings (acrylic or oil) and mixed media pieces, often incorporating my original poetry. Some pieces include fiber, photography and other media. Both the visual and written aspects of my work arise from my own experiences, contemporary events, the natural world, free-flowing paint or wordplay, and the voice that speaks when I dare to listen. I intend for the images and words not to limit viewers’ responses, but rather to connect with and free them to consider their own life, dreams, memories and experiences—their own language. |
Ingersoll Avenue District | ||
| Laurayne Robinette
Des Moines , IA Website: http://www.lucidplanet.com/iwa/ArtistPages/robinettel.htm View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: The Juice Company Artist Statement: The work is two-fold. Representational work is taken from observation; non-representational or abstract work is subjective, with use of various media to produce a visual statement without recognizable subject matter. I find satisfaction in both kinds of work. There is challenge in every undertaking: to keep the work from being merely a record of places/things observed or an echo of other art work. Rather, to make it a personal response to nature and the unseen.
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Roosevelt Cultural District | ||
| Priscilla Sage
Ames, IA 515-292-8245 Website: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~pksage/design/exhibitions.html Email: pksage@iastate.edu View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: State of Iowa Historical Building Artist Statement I am endlessly fascinated by color and form and the relationships between them. Three-dimensional forms and color are complex phenomena and become more so when the forms start moving so that light plays on different surfaces. My sculptures are lightweight, designed to move in air currents so the colors make that sensuous slide from convex to concave or turn from a cool exterior to a rich vibrant interior. Although I work on a large scale, my inspiration comes from the structure of natural forms that can be as small as mosses, as sinuous as the DNA helix, as vast as images from the Hubbel telescope, or as personal as the human body. The underlying theme of my sculpture is the relationship of humans and nature. There are deep and powerful connexions between ourselves and everything else; the longer we look the more we see how our existence and the nature of the universe are part of one consist picture. In my work, the form comes first. I start with small, white paper models to examine an idea and to work out the geometry of a piece. The beauty of paper models is that you can play and play and, if necessary, crumple them up and start anew. It is hard to leave this stage, but eventually it's time to construct a full-size paper model to check the calculations, the connections, and the tension. If I am working with a new form, I go on to build a white fabric model—there's too much at stake to get it wrong. I also design for the slivers of space that create important tension between forms, and for the openings to interior spaces that offer surprises. When the form is clean, it's time for color. Color has a voice that is deeply human, and the emotional content of my pieces comes through color and color relationships. Having decided the value and intensity of each color, I glaze silver Mylar fabric with layers of acrylic paints and then draw or stencil over that. There is a fluid quality as one color merges into the next and the eyes follow the stripes, going in and out from light to dark. The silver underneath influences the color, and the line work creates richness and illusions on the surface. Finally the fabric is cut and stitched to its polyurethane padding. The flat, padded forms are folded and pleated; the way the wedges come together, intersect, and connect creates the form. At this point the piece is basically finished. Each piece hangs from a single point and is engineered to fall out from itself with no internal supports so that it can present different aspects and colors as it floats. |
Historic East Village District | ||
| Ben Schuh
Des Moines , IA Website: http://www.benschuh.com/ Email: benschuh@mac.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Leona Ruby Artist Statement: Ben Schuh earned degrees in fine art and graphic design in 2004. Driven by his love of painting and strong work ethic, Ben has focused his career as a professional painter and is pursuing opportunities to showcase his paintings. Characterized by bold brushstrokes, distinct colors, and multiple layers, each work is one of a kind, offering the perfect compliment to any room. His paintings may be found across the United States and Canada in homes, offices, and private collections. Artist Statement Schuh says, “Why not communicate through bold, saturated color? Make each piece memorable.” By building an emphasis, not only on contrast and color but also bold, distinctive brushstrokes and multiple layers, it is possible to provide a different perception with each work. Brushstrokes, although simple, are my works foundation. Each brushstroke is important in defining not only the subject matter, but also the entire painting. In addition, color maintains a similar noteworthiness. It is through color that unique changes and variations may be carried out. |
Historic East Village District | ||
| Cathy Soutter
Des Moines , IA View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Vom Fass Stained Glass |
Roosevelt Cultural District | ||
| Allison Svoboda
Chicago, IL 773-218-3895 Website: http://www.allisonsvoboda.com/ Email: svoboda.a@sbcglobal.net View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Capital Square Mandala Artist Statement: Organic patterns and forms found in nature have an instinctive draw. The theory of fractal geometry; infinite layers of self-similar shapes repeated in every living thing, hold an endless fascination for me. Plants, feathers, skeletons; this enormous energy in nature influences my work. The same way a plant grows following the path of least resistance, the quick gestures and simplicity of working with ink allows the law of least resistance to prevail as the ink finds its path across the paper. There is an immediacy to ink on paper, where every gesture and every flaw is readily visible. With this process, I work intuitively through thousands brushstrokes creating hundreds of small paintings. I then collate the work, tearing out images that work together. When I find compositions that intrigue me, I then delve into the longer process of collage, taking the time to digest the image. When the composition is complete, like with Japanese Suiseki or a Chinese Scholar’s rock, each viewer has his own experience as new images emerge from the completed arrangement. The ephemeral quality of the paper and meditative aspect of the brushwork evoke a Buddhist mandala. I hope by viewing the work one is brought into this meditative dream state, searching for completeness and self-unity.
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Court Avenue District | ||
| Madai Taylor
Fort Dodge, IA 515-269-8136 Website: http://madaitaylor.com/ Email: madai@madaitaylor.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: Projects Contemporary Furniture Artist Statement I was born on Bunker Hill in Lake Village, Arkansas, a small town south of the Mississippi River, down in the Delta, an area stricken by racism and blighted by deep poverty. As a child without shoes on my feet I would jump off the front porch of the dilapidated old house where I lived to play in mud puddles, after heavy summer rains. I can still feel the thick, soft earth gushing through my toes and caked around my feet. Wet dirt would flow and fasten itself around my fingers as I made tiny mud figures. I discovered my gift for art as a child playing in the mud and scratching images in the dry, parched and crusty earth. One of the earliest memories of my artistic ability was a drawing of a horse’s head at the age of eleven, which gave me instant gratification that I shall never forget. In this exhibition which I call “A Measure of Grace,” I have used dirt in a non-objective, expressionistic way to create a vocabulary symbolizing my ideals and values. I have often referred to my childhood for inspiration, especially that child-like quality of free expression. In so doing, I discover myself back in the Delta, playing in the mud again, using that medium that I grew to understand because of the time I spent working with it. Dirt intrigues me as a medium because it has unique characteristics, rare tones, gradations, and textures that lend themselves to an immense, versatile range of possibilities. It allows me to express infinite space and spiritual universes that exist beyond the visible world in a medium that is timeless and of the soul. The earth I use is the common thread we all know intimately from the moment we enter into the world and take our first steps as children. Earth is there to secure our every step and to catch us when we fall. The works in this exhibition are introspective metaphors. To develop them, I poured out all my previous notions of myself as an artist, all my doubts and fears. Believing that I possessed the Spirit to express a unique visual interpretation of grace, I allowed myself to be free; I am truly naked in these images. To do this, I have explored many layers of emotion, revealing what is concealed by the obvious or apparently real. True creativity is the ability to birth raw, authentic artistic form, a new creation that broadens consciousness. Talent alone will not suffice. Each image must be a combination of skill and originality that work together to produce artistic expression that is powerful, provocative, captivating, sophisticated and, finally, timeless. |
Historic East Village District | ||
| Jordan J. Weber
Des Moines , IA Website: http://jordanjweber.blogspot.com/ Email: FluxxGallery@gmail.com View Artist Information Hide Artist Information Venue: From Our Hands Site specific sculpture |
Historic East Village District |