A Full February

I have 4 upcoming exhibits, all opening in February.  It’s a busy time of year and I’m packing my bags now to leave for Peru.  I look forward to posting lots of pictures when I return and perhaps seeing some of you at either the Fuller Craft Museum or R&F Paints Gallery.

Visions/Visiónes

Qorikancha Museum, Cusco, Peru

Feb 1-Mar 31

 Artifacto, fiber, dye, wax, steel, 12 discs, 24" diameter each

Here's a pic of the installation I am carrying on the plane with me to Peru.  It will be installed by suspending the discs from the ceiling.  The exact arrangement will be dictated by the exhibition space at the Qorinkancha Museum in Cusco.  Most likely, not in a grid, but more organically.  

The images, patterns and colors were inspired by Inca artifacts of gold, silver, ceramic, bone, and textile works recovered at Machu Picchu by archaeologist Hiram Bingham on his expedition in 1912.  I’m not only interested in the Machu Picchu site and its place within the Inca empire, the mysteries surrounding its establishment and abandonment, and the discoveries there but intend to drawing attention to the fact that Bingham, a Yale archeologist, “borrowed”  thousands of artifacts from Peru in 1912, only to be returned under pressure from the Peruvian government, in 2012. 

The show will feature artwork by the following artists from the Boston Sculptors Gallery: Caroline Bagenal, Kim Bernard, Murray Dewart, Donna Dodson, Rosalyn Driscoll, Laura Evans, Peter DeCamp Haines, Michelle Lougee, Nancy Winship Milliken, Andy Moerlein, Nancy Selvage, Liz Shepherd, Jessica Straus, Nora Valdez, Hannah Verlin and Joseph Wheelwright. These Boston sculptors will show alongside many notable Peruvian artists such as: Ronald Alvan, Pablo Yactayo, Jacob Sulca, Persi Narvaez, Ivan Tovar, Victor Zuniga, Luis Angulo y Gianfranco Yovera, Carlos Bardales and Xavier Cano.

Transcripts/Transcripciones

 ICPNAC (Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano del Cusco) 

Jan 31-Feb 28

Artifacto Drawing, charcoal, graphite, wax, 24x36

In addition to our Visions/Visiones exhibit, many of us will be participating in a drawing show that will run concurrently with our exhibit at the Qorikancha Museum.

                                                                                                                                               

Transcripts/Transcripciones will be curated by Jose Luis Morales Sierra and will feature drawings and works on paper by the following members of the Boston Sculptors Gallery: Caroline Bagenal, Kim Bernard, Murray Dewart, Donna Dodson, Rosalyn Driscoll, Laura Evans, Andy Moerlein, Nancy Selvage, Nora Valdez, Hannah Verlin and Joseph Wheelwright. This show of drawing and visual design will also feature work by the following distinguished Peruvian artists: Jacob Sulca , Ronald Alvan , Ivan Tovar , Luis Angulo, Gianfranco Yovera, Pablo Yactayo, Persi Narvaez, Victor Zuniga, Roger Bellido, Pachacutec Huaman, Marcial Ayala, and Jose Luis Morales.

Machines and Mechanizations: Explorations in Contemporary Kinetic Sculpture 

Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA 

Feb 2-June 1 

Readymade Color Wheel, wax, springs, bicycle wheel

Machines and Mechanizations will showcase contemporary artists working in the realm of kinetic sculpture. Movement, motion and sound will be explored through a variety of motor-driven and hand-powered objects. Artists include Kim Bernard, Chris Fitch, David Lang, Erica von Schilgen, and Mark Davis.  I'll have four interactive kinetic sculptures in the exhibit. 

Kim Bernard: Gestural Record

R & F Gallery, Kingston, NY

Feb 1-Mar 22

Gesture Partakes, encaustic, 36x36

Lastly, I'll be having a solo exhibit at R&F Gallery in Kingston, NY.

Inspired by the Sumi brush paintings of Zen masters, this recent body of 2 dimensional encaustic works are an attempt to capture movement: fluid, gestural, spontaneous, whole body movement, as in a dance. The results are sumptuous abstract encaustic paintings that utilize a minimal color palette and repetitive imagery, thick layers of translucent and opaque wax, paper prepared with batik markings and hand rubbed oil stick combined to create multi dimensional panels. Adopting this approach to mark making, I place the panel flat on the floor, and allow the spiraling, gestural marks to become a record of my own whole body movement, in much the same way that the Zen master allows the ink to flow off the tip of his Sumi, committing to paper the extension of his Chi, as a culmination of summoned energy. The method that I’ve developed allows me to make marks and “erase” the ones that don’t yield the desired results.