◄HOME► ART EXPLOSION ARTISTS

Open Studios at The Art Explosion

October 19-21, 2007

ERIKA MERAIUX 17^th St Studios	erikameriauxart.com	MERI PAGE Alabama St Studios	meripagedesign.com	PAZ DE LA CALZADA 17^th St Studios	pazdelacalzada.com
	My paintings are essentially figurative. My chosen medium is oil on canvas. I also use gold leaf, which reflects light as if it were the light-source itself. Characters may be surrounded by motifs or ornaments which emphasize the symbolic aspects of the scene In nude or portrait work, my inspiration finds its source in myths, sacred icons and tales… Perhaps we can refer to these as "classic" inspirations, but for me they function exist as archetypes.		Each panel is a free form intuitive construction. No patterns are used in the creative process, allowing the work to evolve spontaneously—each piece one of a kind. Exploring organic forms, abstraction, negative space, color, light and texture. Pieces may incorporate a variety of natural materials including: glass, stone, sea glass, sea shells, gemstones, and other found objects.		This body of work is inspired by different hair styles. I am interested in exploring the tension between order and chaos. I create a variety of forms that allude to the complexity and playfulness of labyrinths.
Title : Wiping sweat Medium: oil on canvas size: 26" 35"		modern organic stained glass art, inspired by nature		HairScapes. 80 x 80". Charcoal on canvas. 2007
PRISCILLA OTANI 17th St Studios	mrpotani.com	FACUNDO ARGANARAZ 17th St Studios		WENDI SPIERS 17th St Studios	wendispiers.net
	My 2007 series, Enigma of the Invisible, was inspired by migrants and immigrants in our country. Many live and work “below the surface” because of language issues or because being seen or heard could mean dire consequences. We may not notice them but we are the beneficiaries of their efforts: gorgeous vineyards, tasty produce, sparkling dishes in a restaurant, well-vacuumed offices, an over-stuffed bed in one’s hotel room, sexual release. My portraits are tributes to the invisible people who share our dreams for a better life.		I am currently working, exploring the dynamics of mass media and it's consumption aftermath over perception and experience. Being consciousness the result not only of externalities but of our own self-organization circle, I wonder over the ambiguity of everyone experiences. Each of theses characteristics create tree ongoing bodies of works, each one collides in different fronts.		My work is about exploring human emotions and responses through animals. I am constantly intrigued by the simulaties in actions and ways of being between species. The way animals instinctually react to treats; c love and triumphs are basic instincts that we tend to ignore in ourselves. I also love to create movement in static sculptures to have them seem about to finish movement to be liquid even though they are all solid high fire clay.
"Enigma 3." digital image 10"x10"		Leviathan. Acrylic on canvas 10' x 6'		"Deer Man" Ceramic scuplture 27" tall x 5"
JHAYA WARMINGTON 17th St Studios	jhaya.com	SUMMER LEE Alabama St Studios	summerleeart.com	SHELLEY MONAHAN 17th St Studios	shelleymonahan.com
	My new series of equine sculptures are all about exploring texture. For me, creating sculpture is such a tactile process, that I wanted this new series not only to reflect that, but to exaggerate it. I find an intense familiarity between my past life as an equestrian, and my present life as a sculptor, as both creating sculptures and working with horses are such physically rewarding experiences. I want other people to experience that in a tangible way when they come into contact with my work		My recent work explores the degradation of the environment and spirituality's quest for transcendence, using images of flying birds painted with allusions to early medieval art.		These figure fragments, floating in a field of empty space, are false diagrams of everything that person may represent. I think about it in the same way that a field illustration of a wild animal could never prepare you for the actual living thing. Likewise, absolutely nothing can be gleaned from the photos, or from my paintings for that matter. Whatever emotion or meaning a viewer may find in the faces of the people is an inference.
DAVID OTTO 17^th St Studios	davidotto.com	MELISSA YARBROUGH Alabama St Studios	melissayarbrough.com	LUCKY RAPP 17^th St Studios	luckylucko.com
	"I think highly of animals. The way I see things, bunnies like ice cream sundaes and reindeer could often use an antler-cut, and that about sums things up."		Melissa Yarbrough’s colorful and stylized paintings are thick and lush with layers of color applied one over another. Her landscapes and still life arrangements are chosen for their unique and inherently abstract natural patterns so that her paintings are more about paint, color, shape and application than about the subject. Bold, decisive and ablaze with her trademark yellows, red and citrusy greens, her paintings are honest and uncontrived.		My work explores textures, words and languages. Their combination creates a history or memory captured within the preserving resin. Ironically the resin itself can then continue to age and change over time.
Title: Sundae Bunny Medium: 22 x 28 inches, Oil on canvas		Robin's Nest 20"x20" oil on linen 2007		"premiere collection de vestes" Paper, wax crayon, acrylic paint, resin on canvas (w)28"x(h)60"
LAURA BOLES FAW 17^th St Studios	laurabolesfaw.com	GABRIELLE GAMBOA 17^th St Studios	gabriellegamboa.com	EVE SHEN Alabama St Studios	eveshen.com
	For the past several years, I have been working on sculptures and other mixed media works that focus on skins, veils, cages, and enclosures. The dichotomy of bound/unbound has been a recurring theme in my work. I encase or veil many of my objects while others merely refer to the interconnectedness of the inside and outside of things and beings. Much of my work has animal references as I think about our relationship as human beings to our surrounding world.		I am interested in exploring the connections of events of the past with the present. My work also deals with issues of cultural and ethnic identity, the fragility of memory, and the dynamics of human relationships.		Born in Taiwan, Eve Shen moved to San Francisco in 1998 from NYC where she received her BFA in Graphic Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Eve loves to paint, sculpt, draw, and challenge herself to be a creative being. Inspired by the limitless imaginations of youth, Eve is always discovering new ways to create art and give back to her community.
		Heir, 11"x14" oil and aluminum leaf on canvas		Title: My Landscape Size: 18" x 24" Medium: Oil on Canvas
DMITRI HOCHSTATTER 17^th St Studios	dmitrihochstatter.com	PATRICK VITALE Alabama St Studios	artnspirit.biz	SAMANTA TELLO Alabama St Studios	samantatello.com
	My recent art very often deals with social concerns such as money, classism, and technology, although I like to make my statements somewhat ambiguous as to allow the viewer to be able to draw their own opinions from the piece, as art is universal and should impact any viewer if done well.		My art is about how I feel convergence and connection.  The subject matter and style is not defined until the work starts breathing.  Then the work will emerge and define itself through geometric or looped linkage, story telling, fantasy and mythology or nature.		One of the techniques I am currently focusing on involves painting with grounded metals, such as iron, bronze and copper simulating the natural rusting process. However, rather than illustrating the rusting of objects made of metal, I am using this technique to represent textures such us tree bark and moss on branches and to amplify their colors.
Circuit in the Sky Approx 24"x 36" Acrylic, charcoal, paint pen, graphite on paper		Titled:Metal Urge V-"Burn"  Oil on foam core and inserted into a brushed steel frame that I polished and finished with a copper rub.  12"x24"		Title: Wispering Trees, 22.5" x 29" Charcoal on paper
MELISA PHILLIPS 17^th St Studios	thickpaint.com	CATHERINE REED 17^th St Studios	catherinecreed.com	ANTHONY PAPINI Alabama St Studios
	I am a self-taught painter, Bay Area native, living and painting in San Francisco for the past 10+ years.  Recently, I started using a technique called Blind Drawing as a starting point for my new paintings. Blind Drawing, is a drawing exercise, in which you draw something while looking at the object/person, but not looking at your paper. The results are usually strange and fractured, but also oddly compelling and fun. Since I already loved using vibrant color contrasts, and thick oil paint, when I decided to turn my Blind Drawings into paintings, it made sense to apply those same elements to the task. In my Blind Series, I tried to bring the energy of the Blind Drawings into paint.		Catherine Reed aka Bouteloua explores the stranger aspects of nature using fiber and found materials.		A painting should be: highly layered, grow conceptually as it grows visually, Be constructed with no regard for the outcome, and have a point when it is completely broken
Judah Sunlight  (Blind Collage #1)  18x24" Oil on canvas		Volcanic Gaia Medium: Fiber 16"h x 18"w		People Eaters Oil on canvas 3'by 3'
RENATA MARTINS Alabama St Studios	renatamartinsbags.com	ELI MANESS Alabama St Studios	elitheman.com	CHARLES KRUGER Alabama St Studios
	Brazilian designer Renata Martins creates handbags, purses, totes and other accessories which blend the casual urban cool and the easy-living but sophisticated beach culture of her native Rio de Janeiro. Using natural fabrics, which are printed and treated, and working exclusively with local Bay Area artisans, Renata Martins is committed to the strictest standards of labor practices and social responsibility.		All these works are inspired by city living and human interaction. We are all simultaneusly awake and asleep. reacting to one another and and our environments as well as daydreaming in our own minds amidst our unique fantastic circumstance.		Charles Kruger has only recently begun painting at age 50, having previously been both an actor and a writer.  He is interested in exploring what it means to "process a surface" as opposed to simply "making a picture".  He incorporates a variety of found images that strike him as personally numinous, but are not necessarily traditionally religious (although some are
"Redentor bag" 11 1/2'' x 6 1/2'' Printed canvas		34"x16" ink, pencil, and acrylic on wood		Title:  Healing Circles.  Medium:  Acrylic & Mixed Media on Board.  Size:  3' x 4'.
LYNNLY LABOVITZ 17th St Studios	http://www.lynnly.com	CARLA CALETTI 17th St Studios	carlacaletti.com	COREY MARCH 17th St Studios	marymarch.com
	My most recent work (which includes the Pear shown in the online catalogue) is a series called Signs of Life--which has grown from my experience of living with metastatic breast cancer. This work is done photographically but in the dark using flashlights and long in camera exposures. Working in the dark and "uncovering" the colors and shapes of things with flashlights has allowed me to explore the most visual fundamental elements of life and the passion evoked by light, shape and color.		In my paintings, I explore form and color. Inspired by folk art, my figurative style is representational with an emphasis on bold color. I like playing with scale and letting what is real on the canvas be an experiment.		My artwork ranges quite a bit in subject and media, often with very different themes, techniques and whole series overlapping in time.  The ongoing Sculpted Canvas Series are about reaching into the visceral experiences of life- moments, both sublimely quiet, and those that rush with sensation. The sculpture comes out of my full contact and involvement with the work- I need to mold it with my hands as well as apply paint. The gesture, stroke and color evoke the feelings of the moment. They are memories, sensations, and feelings.
"Signs of Life" Photographic Lightpainting 20 x 30				"Witness" Oil on Canvas 16" x 40", 4"
TERRI WOLFE Alabama St Studios	terriwolfe.com	AFSANEH MICHAELS Alabama St Studios		REBECCA BAZELL 17^th St Studios	rebeccabazell.com
	My abstracts are very organic and my realistic paintings often border on the abstract. I like to paint colors and textures, with strong design elements. But mostly, I just like to paint.		I am a very international person and I have lived and worked in many places in the world. In these series of paintings I am using details of colors and folds from clothing from across the world, particularly clothing of women. The identities of these women are hidden but the viewer is invited to explore culture and identity without reference to individuals in their social and political setting.		I paint subjects from Lost Worlds-- toys, automata, mobiles, animal and human pageants and so on-- as symbols of the past. I'm drawn to the "old fashioned" notions of design and memory, which is what love most about painting.
SunFlowers 3 Oils on canvas 12" x 12"		An evening in London 43"x49"		"Menagerie" Oil on canvas 21 x 21 inches
MARGO MAJEWSKA Alabama St Studios	margomajewska.com	REBECCA BENNETT Alabama St Studios	monsterartist.com	MARILYN JONES 17^th St Studios
	I am a multidisciplinary artist working in a variety of media: architecture, drawing, sculpture, photography and installations. My work is done in response to the environment I am in and the materials that I have available. I rarely have a complete idea or image in my mind when I start work. It’s all process driven, a process of discovery, a continuous exploration. Currently, I am working on a “shadows” series. I draw shadows and a create drawings that cast shadows.		To a large degree, my work has always been driven by the question of how to solve a particular visual phenomenon - how to express through paint the varied colors perceived when looking at a backlit figure in a window, for example. My current work uses the craft of painting and my longstanding curiosity about color and composition to support themes of body image, transformation, super powers, isolation, disfigurement, and deformities. I look at it as a kind of comparative anatomy.		All of my paintings are defined by light, color, and line. This essence of movement produces their titles. I use the medium of oil paint because I find it easier to reflect light on many different planes. Influenced by the movement of water, and how light is reflecting on the surface, my color choice tries to recreate the frequency observed and accent patterns of movement.