Pressing Flowers in Amber. Jen Blazina, artist
By Natasha Anderson
Blue Spiral 1 presents four new exhibits, on display from Friday, March 4, to April 27. In the Main Gallery, Still Life 2.0 pays homage to a traditional source of artistic inspiration, providing contemporary interpretations of inanimate subject matter in our periphery. Artists in this exhibition use paint, metal, glass, clay and wood to reimagine natural objects and material culture.
Torch. Jon Sours, artist
Jon Sours will include a series of small oil paintings about the passage of time that reference the figure. Rob Levin’s work transforms items associated with classic still lifes into 3-D glass objects. Fruits, vegetables and insects are combined with the organic flow of hot glass, and are textured to reflect the bumpiness of life.
“The approaches I use are eclectic and personal at the same time—sort of a blend of Late Venetian and Early Neurotic,” says Levin.
The exhibit also includes work by Michael Fitts, Charles Ladson, Chris Liberti, Heather Marshall, Carol Milne, Ward Nichols, Tom Pfannerstill, B.A. Thomas and Kari Woolsey.
In the Showcase Gallery, Human+Nature: Photographic Explorations presents images exploring the interconnected relationship between humans and nature. These photographs reveal not only our individual perceptions of nature but also our own nature made manifest through changes inflicted on the environment and the adjustment of humankind within self-created structures.
Exhibiting artists are Ralph Burns, John Dickson, Bill Green, Brian Kelley, Micah Mackenzie, Susan Patrice, Peter Olson and David Samuel Stern.
In the Small Format Gallery, Garden of Memory, New Work by Jen Blazina showcases Blazina’s glass and bronze sculptures, cast from salvaged items from antique and thrift stores and evoking memory, nostalgia and history.
Syndyoceras Wall Clock. Ariel Bowman, artist
“While the work is a continuation of past narratives of memory and has a similar sensibility, I have pushed myself in scale, decorative elements and the combinations of glass and bronze,” says Blazina.
The Lower Level Gallery contains The Beauty in the Beast. The artists in this exhibit all have unique reasons for using the animal form to investigate various concepts, including social issues, gender and sexuality, memory and narrative, and ultimately, the human condition. They represent various racial and cultural identities, gender identities, methods of working and career stages. The show is guest-curated by Ariel Bowman, Shelsea Dodd and Taylor Robenalt. “I am so excited for the viewers to see all the ways artists use animals to talk about life,” says Robenalt.
The exhibit also includes work by Rebekah Bogard, Karmien Bowman, Julie Clements, GV Kelley, Grace Khalsa, Christine Kosiba, Bethany Krull, Tyler Quintin, George Rodriguez, Naomi Stein Cooper and Travis Winters.
Learn more at BlueSpiral1.com.
