davidson thomas: dream sculptor: archeologist

Davidson Thomas just mounted an air conditioner in his garage and has turned it into a studio.  It's still summer in Florida and so this was essential. He's been working on building chairs out of resin molds and uses a gas mask. Above is a photo of his senior exhibition. Davidson is a collector. In these pieces he's pulled a variety of wooden and antique found objects together and sketched them with ink, then burned, stained, burned and illuminated them. More work from him on the way as well as some biographical yammer.  Thanks Davidson.

tele-portraiture: a movement in (re)vision

The human collective is continuously projected toward an enthusiasm for technological consumerism. Whether it be a flatter screened television, a more compact digital camera, mac or pc, ad campaigns that portray the possibilities for a brighter, more enhanced human experience seek to convince us that our lives will simply be better with these products. It may be instinct that we validate our existence by  cataloging segments of our lives: cave paintings, school pictures, online profile photos; and so we forego necessity for distraction. Keeping our eyes forward it's easy to forget to value the past.

Art serves as our greatest memento. Lucky for us, an artist's work can quickly remind us of our own shortcomings and demand the reconsideration of our values. From her collection of antiquated television sets and discarded family photographs, Jaclyn Miller exhibits the necessity for us to revisit our past.  In the fuzz of her faceless characters we may be encouraged to insert our own faces and stories. And not only does Jaclyn's color palate reflect her unique (re)interpretation of the portrait, but her tele-canvas paintings allow us to contemplate life's many different segmentary moments as anything but static. Once again, Jaclyn, Thanks for the reminder.

considering art's ever changing nature: jaclyn miller

Orlando, FL native, Jaclyn Miller is about a month into an adventure. After finishing her undergrad in central Florida she's migrated to the mid-west's most happening city, Chicago.
Displayed above are works from her senior thesis exhibition. Using vintage and seemingly antiquated televisions as her canvas, Jaclyn delivers a slideshow of portrait and candid familial circumstances. "My biggest goal when I'm making work is to keep myself surprised and engaged with both the idea and the final product," she says. "I like to work with non-traditional media, and the tvs were my first serious venture into that interest. In future projects I'm considering mirrors, continuing some earlier works on records, and using other types of supports that can offer more to the piece than strictly a working surface (as the static did for the television pieces)."

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Jaclyn looks into the human form, and represents the human creature ambiguously through the use of silhouette, missing facial expressions, and bright and unnatural colors. She rides a bright yellow road bike named "Godwin", and prefers comic books to romance novels--which may have something to do with her choice of bright, flat color planes and outlined figures.

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Keep checking the blog for more photos of her work and others.

artist watch

Two friendly art makers are in line to post some of their work with us: Jaclyn Miller and Davidson Thomas. This past week Davidson has been helping some friends move to Knoxville and growing his beard out, so we hope to hear from him soon. Jaclyn has been boxing up all her stuff and mapping a route to Chicago.  The picture above is a glimpse at some of Jaclyn's work. You can't see it in the photo, but the faces are not painted on any of her characters so the static fuzz can be seen in the image. More on the way...

en route

I've been driving a lot this summer. Right now I'm in Lititz, PA, a cozy colonial town known for it's lingering Amish community and Chocolate Factory.  I got caught in a thunderstorm in Lancaster and ducked into Rachel's Cafe' & Creperia to ride out the storm.  The tags below lined the hallway leading to the bathroom. And the crepes were so tasty.

the beginning

We've finally begun. Soon to follow are the Website. Quarterly. and Exhibition Series. 

 

This art thing is a strange creature. I can spend hours searching all over the house for it like a missing shoe. The art muse is a guest who leaves without saying "good bye" and then returns unexpectedly, staying for weeks disrupting previous plans. 

 

Sometimes I won't even plan on a particular project, or have anything in mind, before it wells up:  a dense matter building up somewhere beneath the ribcage. Whatever art is, or what its process of expression may be, it's clear that something else is prompting us, in control, like a puppeteer. And so here we are.

 

This blog represents the infancy of a community. Here begins the first strokes of an online exhibition created to share and display the works and crafts of emerging artists.  Here is a space filled with art that travels numerous paths of artistic expression across a mélange of media. It houses art that seeks to represent, inform or inspire life in its many varieties.  Sometimes things just have to be made and we’ve created a place for them to be seen. Enjoy.