Chajana denHarder, Two Women, 2011

Chajana denHarder, Canyon, 2012

Deborah Anzinger, My Sister Had a Pogo Stick

Deborah Anzinger, El Dorado, 2011

Deborah Anzinger, Seascape, 2011

July 2012

Paint On Known

Paint On Known is a collaborative exhibition between Chajana denHarder and Deborah Anzinger that bridges photography and painting to create systems in which decay, distorted perception and the metaphysical co-exist. Within each artist’s practice she attempts to closely connect with photographic scenes, but in doing so negates, abstracts, distorts and adds to the original source imagery. In doing this, previously static photographs, now infused with layers of paint, grids and projections, become something wild, unknowable and in some ways more real to the artists.

This project is an attempt by the two artists to create a system in which the similarities and differences between their individual modes of working interact, add, speak to then ultimately transcend their individual artistic practice.

Deborah Anzinger and Chajana denHarder’s work can be seen at www.deborahanzinger.com and www.chajana.com respectively.

Elizabeth Kauffman, The Twins, 2012

Elizabeth Kauffman, They Come in Threes, 2012

Elizabeth Kauffman, Panarch, 2012

Elizabeth Kauffman, Pluto, 2011

Elizabeth Kauffman, Machu Picchu, 2011

Elizabeth Kauffman, m42, 2011

Elizabeth Kauffman, Chiron, 2012

July 2012

Smoke Signals

The work that comprises Smoke Signals serves as an alchemical medium through which messages, simultaneously profound and mundane, can be communicated. The images within these drawings and paintings are constructed like a collage, where disparate elements are fused during the alchemical process of making an image. The elements used have been pulled from a variety of places including magazines, the internet, observational drawing, and random mark-making. The paintings take the form of something like a motivational poster. They are thinly painted with multiple layers of glazing and unblended paint, which emphasizes the illusionistic qualities of the painting. The drawings are also comprised of thinly applied watercolor or graphite and are reminiscent of illuminated manuscripts.

Like that old form of long-distance communication, these messages are relatively simple and somewhat hard to read. They are shape-shifting slogans significant to everyone and no one in particular. The phrases within these paintings and drawings are simple and mundane and can be full or void of meaning depending on the reader. Within these works there are suggestions of another kind of medium, one that carries messages between this world and other unseen forces. When generating this work, Elizabeth Kauffman looked at personal as well as global events, and was inspired by the idea that this year is one of transformation. Upheaval often leaves us looking for guidance, but as the elected officials and the system of global capitalism continues to surpass our expectations for corruption, greed, and destruction, we are left searching for other forms of wisdom. Perhaps it’s about time we learned how to get out of this mess on our own.

Visit Kauffman’s website at www.everydaydressing.com.

July 2012

Anecdotes and Paraphernalia

Mark Earnhart’s work deals with identity through the examination of environments within daily life. Earnhart believes that the physical action and habits of living leaves behind traces to our own experiences and histories. His work focuses on the acknowledgment of our own detritus and the routine objects that form the surface of our personal realities. Through sculptural form, the artist reconstructs commonplace objects using widely varying materials. His method is often a repetitive action; a kind of addiction of constraint to which he places simple conditions on material, concept and outcome. Earnhart often begin with words, stories and sayings to find relationships between language and life; humor is often a result.

Earnhart is interested in objects and acts that happen in the places and spaces we call home. He examines his situation and the details of his life, his own space. What he finds most interesting are things we usually overlook or ignore; the medicine cabinet, the junk drawer, the worn carpet path, dirty laundry, door stops, dust bunnies, the bruises in walls. Earnhart appreciates the subtlety in these things and the way our brains ignore the insignificant stuff to retain a larger picture. He is interested in how simple objects can evoke connections to a specific time, place and event. It is within this familiar that the artist situates his work in order to provoke recognition of our own histories.

May 2012

Rolled Dice and Flicked Matchsticks

With tunneled vision, its hard to determine how relatively close or distant flashing lights are. When focused on a desired outcome, the imagined ideal is projected on top of a current actuality; reality is quelled into a fading periphery.

Enter a game, a gamble or a gambit and name your stakes, place your wager and call your bet.

Through metaphoric paintings, and a psychotically charged architectural installation, Erin Bernard presents a wavering stance on the potential gains and losses of engaging in games and gambling. The figures of her paintings are unable to distinguish between their internal burning desire to continue with their gambit, and their environments’ pressing dire condition.

Rolled dice are like flicked matches: there’s a risk that bridges may be burned and stacked card house ignited. But there’s also the chance that from the ashes a fortune phoenix is born.