OPENING TONIGHT @ NAVE GALLERY

Opening tonight at Nave Gallery in Somerville, MA is Reclamation II: Emerging Female Artists. The show features the work of 21 kick ass ladies, and the variety of work they’ve brought to the show is absolutely stunning! The reception begins tonight at 6 and will continue till 8 o’clock tonight.

I’d also like to thank the curators: Yorsa, Vanessa, and Cory, for choosing two of my pieces to be exhibited in this show, and to congratulate them on a job well done!

They’ve also compiled a beautiful exhibition catalogue featuring the work in this show, and its counterpart, Reclamation I, which was on view throughout November. The book is absolutely gorgeous, and is available for purchase right here!

 

Nave Gallery is located at 155 Powderhouse Blvd. Somerville, MA, and Reclamation II runs thru December 20th.

Artists To Look Out For – Volume II

Hello friends!

Back in September, I was informed that my work was to be included in a printed collection entitled Artists To Look Out For - Volume II. Compiled by Starry Night Programs, the catalogue features the works of nearly 100 emerging artists from around the world. For more information about Starry Night Programs, visit their website here. They run an artists residency out in New Mexico, and also have an exposure program where they work with art fairs world wide. 

*Book cover image pulled from Amazon.com

*Book cover image pulled from Amazon.com

You can purchase a copy for your own library right here on Amazon!

Self-portrait show @ LP Gallery in Long Island City, NY!

Oh wow! Whirlwind just won't stop, and I'm so okay with it! 
Got some last minute news yesterday that my self-portrait was accepted into YOURSELF, an exhibit of self-portraits at Local Project Art Space. Luckily, I have some time off towards the end of this week, so I'm planning a trip to Long Island City, NY, where the LP Gallery is, so I can drop off the piece in time for the show. 

The opening is November 20th, at 6 pm. 
Local Project Gallery is located at:
11-27 44th Rd.
Long Island City, Queens, NY 11101

While in NY, I'm going to try and plan a trip to PACE Gallery to see their show Matta in the 1950s and 1960s. The work of Roberto Matta has been a growing influence my own creative process ever since I first learned of his work in an art history class where we studied contemporary art since 1940. I remember just being completely enamored with his ability to create an abstract space, his bold, acidic colors, and his use of line and shape.

However, it's guna be hard – there's a lot to do and see, and I'm guna have to really make an itinerary and look at a map to make the most of my visit. I definitely want to see the Matta show, but at another one of the PACE galleries, they're having a Rauschenberg show (of course one's on the East side, and the other on the West). There's the Alberto Burri show at the Guggenheim that I've been told I need to see - that it's an exemplary use of the space, and just some work you really need to see in person. And then of course, there's the MoMA and their show of Picasso Sculptures. I know I can't do it all, and the Guggenheim being closed on Thursday really messes with me, bc that's when I was shooting for, but I suppose I can do Friday... 


Upcoming Show: 30 Below 🙌🏼

Hi Friends!

These past few weeks have been wicked exciting, having the reception at Work Nest, getting updates about ​​Reclamation II: Emerging Female Artists​ - opening at Nave Gallery on December 5th. 

And now, some more exciting news! I learned just the other day that I've been accepted into ​​30 Below​​, at ​the Kathryn Schultz Gallery​, 25 Lowell St., Cambridge, MA. 

Taken from the Cambridge Art Association's website. 

Taken from the Cambridge Art Association's website. 

The show is limited to New England artists under 30, and is sponsored by the Cambridge Art Association. Mary M. Tinti, Curator at the Fitchburg Art Museum juried the show and chose 25 pieces from over 150 submissions, so it's quite a joy to be included!  

The opening will be January 14th from 6-9. There'll be a DJ and beverages, so if you can make it out, this'll be a fun one!! 

A lot of my supplies are thrifted

Lately I've been thrifting frames and supports – frames were a no brainier, find some quality wooden ones that aren't too garish, sand and spray them, and you're in business! However, it took me a little while longer to start thrifting the supports for the pieces themselves. I'll buy bad paintings and gesso over them  - they're always done in acrylic so after a few layers of gesso you've a sound surface to paint on.

Three small canvases, presumably painted by children, cost 99¢ each at Savers. 

Three small canvases, presumably painted by children, cost 99¢ each at Savers. 

I've begun searching out those terrible digitally printed photographs that are stretched on canvas as home decor, ripping them from the stretcher bars, and re-stretching with linen or canvas. The other day I spent $24.50 on bad art at Goodwill, and am now priming a 36"x48" canvas, the three small ones pictured above, a 14"x14" canvas, and three more of varying sizes, constructed from these ancient stretcher bars still in their original retail package. 

Original label from stretcher bars found at Goodwill - the two in this package were 24" and they cost $2. 

Original label from stretcher bars found at Goodwill - the two in this package were 24" and they cost $2. 

I don't really have a point I'm trying to make here, just that I love scoring mad deals on art supplies🙌🏼🤓🙃👻  in fact, I probably shouldn't've mentioned it bc now y'all are guna be thrifting my thrifts before I can thrift them. But I suppose my point is that as an artist, it can seem like there's a lot standing against you. Supplies are expensive, and it takes time to make good work, and to pay for the time and supplies it takes to make good work, you price your work fairly and competitively, in hopes that you'll be rewarded, maybe. But to get people to see it you have to enter shows, where you have to pay to enter with no guarantee of being represented or getting your work on the wall, and if you do, the price then includes a commission, roughly 40/60 or 30/70, so the work then gets priced higher to compensate for the commission, and then all of a sudden art is expensive to buy which makes it less likely that people will buy your art, which, let's face it, wasn't very likely in the first place, bc who in their right mind would want THAT hanging in their living room. This isn't even considering the cost of living or the debts so many of us have from obtaining a degree (in art! Like why?!!! Hahahahha). Being an artist is hard. It's expensive, and it's hard, and it takes a lot of your being. So it's nice to know you've got crappy stores like Goodwill and Savers where people throw out all their ugly, old, wall art, or the painting they did at a "drink n draw," or that when somebody's aunt dies, all their antique frames find their way to those dingy back shelves of your local donation center. 

 

Anyway, I've been considering starting a blog post about things I paint over - the crappy acrylics your daughter did in sixth grade, the abandoned portraits of freshman BFA students, that same sunset scene all of you painted at that company outing or friend's birthday at Muse Paintbar, and even the old self-portraits of me three years ago, the unfinished cityscapes, and other rejects from my undergrad portfolio. I think it'll be a good series, I'm just trying to think of the hashtag 🙇🏻

 

Looking Forward: The upcoming show at Nave Gallery this December!!

It's been a bit of a whirlwind for me lately, but all good things! The show with Flock at Work Nest went off without a hitch, and will remain on view through the holidays, and towards the end of November I'll be back in Concord to pick up two of my pieces that have been on display at the Kimball Jenkins Estate as part of th WCA-NH exhibition, and preparing them for a journey to Somerville, MA where they will be hanging at the Nave Gallery as part of

Reclamation II: Emerging Female Artists.  

Flier Nave Gallery's put out for Reclamation II  

Flier Nave Gallery's put out for Reclamation II  

The show will run December 5-20, with a reception from 6-8p on Saturday, the 5th. And, in case you don't live close enough to catch the show before it's over, Nave Gallery has put together an absolutely stunning catalogue (well, book really!) that you can purchase right here on the Internet.

 

More info about the show can be found at the Nave Gallery's website.

You can RSVP to the opening through the Facebook Event Page. 

&& Fresh Paint Magazine did a write-up about the show on their website!! You can read what they've said about the show here!

 

For photos and updates as the show draws near, you can follow @reclamationexhibit on Instagram!!  

Thank you for the great time last night 🙏🏼

I'm so thankful to Flock and the folks at Work Nest for having me and my work, and for hosting such a nice reception. I got to see some friendly faces I used to work with at the museum, as well as friends and colleagues from the Institute. Marcus Greene even told me that this is the strongest body of work he's seen from me yet! Well, Marcus, here's to hoping that this sets the trajectory for improvement! I'm stoked on the work I've been putting out, and the recognition is so heartwarming. Also, everyone's outfits were on point 👌🏼💃🏻

A not-so-candid pic Jeff caught of me talking shop. 

A not-so-candid pic Jeff caught of me talking shop. 

The show will remain up through the holidays, so if you couldn't make it out last night, I understand - swing by next time you're in Concord, and check out the space at large, Work Nest really is doing something cool! 

Sometimes the universe tells you things

There was this one time, I think it was Autumn of 2012 perhaps... I was driving through Newburyport, MA with Sam Stambaugh and we were headed downtown on one of the town's main streets. We passed what looked like an old church or some other large, colonial building and as we passed it, I noticed, peripherally, a bunch of things laid to the curb – an end table, an old mirror, and what looked to be some large canvases. I must've exclaimed some sort of "Woah!" as I pulled a dangerous U-turn back towards the building, and Sam probably screamed something along the lines of "Are you trying to get us killed?!" Ignoring the remark, I park next to the discarded elements, and begin to handle the canvases. There were four of them, large and varying sizes but roughly 30"x40", stretched linen, primed with Matte Medium or Rabbit Skin Sizing.

Like, I was driving, and found four, perfectly hand stretched canvases discarded on the curb. And I felt that day, as I loaded the canvases into the hatchback of my Forester, that I'm supposed to be painting - I'm doing a good job. 

A painting I did in undergrad on one of the Miracle Canvases hangs above my bed where Billie's hanging out. 

A painting I did in undergrad on one of the Miracle Canvases hangs above my bed where Billie's hanging out. 

The Incident of the Miraculous Canvases hasn't been the only time in my life where the Universe has seemingly said "Keep Going," there've been times where I've been given copper, old barn windows, window screens and other junk that happens to be vital elements to my creative practice and the work that I make. Now perhaps it's just me being a scavenger, being constantly on the look out, and keenly observing every junk pile I drive by, but sometimes it feels like more than that. It's one thing to successfully thrift some frames and refinish them to frame a show on a budget - sure, that's crafty, but it's another thing entirely to be killing time at a distant Good Will while you wait for your partner to be done at the walk-in next door and find bundles of stretcher bars for a dollar or two per pair...

image.jpg

or a 36" x 48" canvas for $10 in the same trip. That, to me, is a sign I'm doing the right thing. A reward for perseverance and the universe encouraging me to keep going. 

_AKK