Persistence at The Museum of Northern California Art

My piece Thought Loop was displayed at The Museum of Northern California Art's Persistence show.

Photo: Chico Enterprise Record

Read about the show here:

Gallery Exhibit Displays Intergenerational Beauty (Chico Enterprise Record)

Persist, Create (Chico News & Review)

365Chico

I'm honored to have been a part of Sesar Sanchez's 365Chico project. Check it out here.

Kinetic sculpture at The Butcher Shop 2016

I created this piece, entitled "Taut/Taught" for The Butcher Shop 2016 theater festival, which took place Memorial Day Weekend.

Stories Four at 1078 Gallery

I'm one of five artists in the Stories Four show at 1078 Gallery, happening in December 2015.

View the Stories Four book that accompanies the show.

"Listen. You." —my tableau vivant at The Butcher Shop 2016 Theater Festival

Save the Chico Arts Commission

I wrote this guest commentary for the Chico News & Review, check it out!

Dirty Laundry at 1078 Gallery

I have a piece in this fun group show at 1078 Gallery, on view through September 6. Come for the reception on Thursday September 4 from 6-8pm

Invasive Nature(s) project week in Bidwell Park—July 20-26, 2013

Phew!

My seven-day, Andy Goldsworthy-inspired project making sculptures from invasive plants in Bidwell Park is complete.

It was an amazing week of hard work in the heat. I had so many conversations with passers-by about art, the park and invasive plants. I thought the project was very well recieved by the public, who seemed to "get it" on all levels. Kids were some of the biggest fans of the work I was doing.

I've posted Day-by Day photos of the project.  

And photos of the finished pieces are posted here.

The work continues to be on view for as long as it lasts out there, or until Sunday August 4, 2013.

Invasive Nature(s) project in the news

Art Invades (Chico News & Review)

Artist to Create Sculptures from Invasive Plants (Chico Enterprise Record)

In the Money (Chico News & Review)

Coming July 20: Invasive Nature(s)—A tribute to the work of artist Andy Goldsworthy, with a twist

Click here for project Press Release

Re: Home at 1078 Gallery

I've paired up again with poet Hilary Tellesen for another artist/ writer collaboration project. This time the theme was "Home" and photos were the medium.

Our collaboration consisted of Hilary's poems and printed Instagram photos I shot in my house and hers, capturing the forgotten cobwebby corners, beautiful accidents, and the ubiqutous—and meaningful—mess that is often home life.

You can see the photos up close here and read the poems here.

Catch the show through October 26 at 1078 Gallery in Chico, CA.  

Hot Country Theater

Some friends put on an annual backyard theater production every July called Hot Country Theater. I made this video for this year's event. The 100-degree plus valley heat provided ample inspiration.

The Earth Day Origami Project

The Earth Day Origami Project, part of the Butte College 2011 Earth Day Festival, was a continuation of sculptural work I’ve been creating for the past several years utilizing salvaged, reclaimed and recycled materials.

See photos of the finished recycled art piece in the gallery.

Paper is one of the materials I’ve used frequently, often manipulating it by bending, layering, burning or other techniques. I wanted to use paper collected on the Butte College campus to create a sculpture for Earth Day.

The origami aspect of the project resulted from seeing a documentary film called Between the Folds, about the art and science of modern origami practice. Origami seemed like a natural way to manipulate the paper I was using into a sculptural piece. My 9-year-old son was also very inspired by the film and the magical, meditative practice of origami became a part of our daily lives as a result of watching it.

Used, discarded paper was collected around the Butte College campus. I cut this paper into squares, decorated it and provided it, along with instructions for making the origami crane, in the student lounge. Students and I made over 350 cranes over the course of one week in April, 2011.

The cranes folded by students were used to create the final piece, which I called Cresting Cranes.

The crane was selected as the the form to use for this project because of its significance in Japanese culture as a symbol of peace and wish-granting. Both of these concepts are appropriate for Earth Day and represent my own wish for the creation of a peaceful and healthy planet. 

Butte College Sustainable Art & Architecture Show

I've got a new piece in this show, now up at Butte College in conjunction with the This Way to Sustainability conference.

It's called CMYK and is made from used printer paper and toner (from spent cartridges) that I collected in the Butte College Digital Art & Design department.

The show runs through November 21 at the Art Gallery in the Arts building on the main campus.

Opening reception: Friday November 5 from 3:30 to 6 pm.

See more recycled art in the gallery.

Deep Down Things

There's a little essay about my 2008 recycled art project Fruits of Refuse in this new book by Lin Jensen called Deep Down Things: The Earth in Celebration and Dismay, published by Wisdom Books.

Jensen writes about the project, "What I saw when I got to the site challenged my sense of aesthetics, asking me to see beauty in something I'd always considered ugly. What we've already got is the beauty of the land and hopefully the will to restore that beauty whereever it has been compromised by wasteful neglect and indifference." 

A Collaboration

Here's the result of my collaboration with poet Hilary Tellesen for the Ekphrasis show at 1078 Gallery. My recycled art piece is below and Hilary's poems are on top—see below to read them. 

Awed Socks, 2010.
Salvaged fencing, socks, rocks, beeswax, pigment, oilstick

Click for a larger view of Hilary's poems:

 

"Ekphrasis" Show at 1078 Gallery

Sarah Pape put together this show at 1078 Gallery, matching an artist and a poet for creative collaboration. I have been paired with my long time friend Hilary Tellesen.

Ekphrasis: A Collaboration Between Poets & Artists
May 6–15, Reception May 12, 7:30pm
1078 Gallery, Chico

Literature & art exhibition in the lobby during Rogue Theatre's Macbeth! May 6–8 and 13–15.

Pairings (artist: a; poet : p)
Cynthia Schildhauer a / Linda Serrato p
Peter Jodaitis a / Jeanne E. Clark p
Eric Richter a / Maria Navarro p
Joanne Allred p / Carla Resnick a
Mark Clarke p/ Doug Rathbun a
Michael Diven a / Heather Altfeld p
Erin Wade a/ Hilary Tellesen p
Sally McNall p / Giety Epting a
Dan Wooldridge a / Kathleen McPartland p
Amy Antongiovanni p / Beth Spencer a
Bob Garner p / Bruce Ertle a
Sarah Pape p / Janice Porter a

See me at Janice Porter's Jtown at 1078 Gallery

Jtown is an interactive art environment by my dear friend Janice Porter that will be taking over the 1078 Gallery in Chico in October.

I've got a structure in her imaginary, utopic neighborhood of the future—a sculpture that's part meditation hut, part wedding dress—all made from recycled and salvaged materials (mainly plastic trash).

Janice has lots of events planned—check out the flyer and see you there!

Last Days at The 46

The art on the walls was the last thing I moved out of The 46 a few weeks ago. Matt Barber and Andrew Terrell have taken my place there and I'm excited to see what the two new guys and Dylan will have in store.

These are sculptural sketches done over the past 2 years—ideas for pieces, experiments and explorations excuted in miscellaneous salvaged/recycled materials.

There are more photos in the Gallery.

More on Fruits of Refuse

After two weeks in Chico's Bidwell Park, the pieces in my Fruits of Refuse installation had started to become part of the landscape. They'd been rained on and were full of oak leaves.

A swarm of ants was working on an open package of Sour Straws candy.  One piece had gone missing, been found and returned.

The boot had sprouted:

Visitors had added their own touches, many of them following the color palette of the piece, like this blue beer can added to the center of a blue and yellow sculpture: