BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Exhibit: Visions and Revisions: Renwick Invitational 2016

DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Exhibit: Visions and Revisions: Renwick Invitational 2016:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: "Visions and Revisions: Renwick Invitational 2016"
"Visions and Revisions" presents the work of emerging artists Steven Young Lee, Kristen Morgin, Jennifer Trask and Norwood Viviano, who take innovative approaches to their chosen mediums--including raw clay, bone, ceramics, glass and metal--and who share a fascination with themes of transformation, ruin and rebirth.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 18.222.125.171 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

[1] SIRGV1_160908_001_STITCH.JPG

[2] SIRGV1_160908_003_STITCH.JPG

[3] SIRGV1_160908_004.JPG	[4] SIRGV1_160908_012.JPG	[5] SIRGV1_160908_024.JPG
[6] SIRGV1_160908_027.JPG	[7] SIRGV1_160908_033.JPG	[8] SIRGV1_160908_043.JPG
[9] SIRGV1_160908_055.JPG	[10] SIRGV1_160908_063.JPG	[11] SIRGV1_160908_068.JPG
[12] SIRGV1_160908_071.JPG	[13] SIRGV1_160908_075.JPG	[14] SIRGV1_160908_080.JPG
[15] SIRGV1_160908_085.JPG	[16] SIRGV1_160908_096.JPG	[17] SIRGV1_160908_098.JPG
[18] SIRGV1_160908_107.JPG	[19] SIRGV1_160908_110.JPG	[20] SIRGV1_160908_113.JPG
[21] SIRGV1_160908_119.JPG	[22] SIRGV1_160908_125.JPG	[23] SIRGV1_160908_128.JPG
[24] SIRGV1_160908_133.JPG	[25] SIRGV1_160908_139.JPG	[26] SIRGV1_160908_144.JPG
[27] SIRGV1_160908_151.JPG	[28] SIRGV1_160908_154.JPG	[29] SIRGV1_160908_157.JPG
[30] SIRGV1_160908_163.JPG	[31] SIRGV1_160908_171.JPG	[32] SIRGV1_160908_172.JPG
[33] SIRGV1_160908_175.JPG	[34] SIRGV1_160908_183.JPG	[35] SIRGV1_160908_189.JPG
[36] SIRGV1_160908_196.JPG	[37] SIRGV1_160908_201.JPG	[38] SIRGV1_160908_204.JPG
[39] SIRGV1_160908_209.JPG	[40] SIRGV1_160908_216.JPG	[41] SIRGV1_160908_223.JPG
[42] SIRGV1_160908_232.JPG	[43] SIRGV1_160908_239.JPG	[44] SIRGV2_160908_004.JPG
[45] SIRGV2_160908_013.JPG	[46] SIRGV2_160908_018.JPG	[47] SIRGV2_160908_021.JPG
[48] SIRGV2_160908_023.JPG	[49] SIRGV2_160908_026.JPG	[50] SIRGV2_160908_031.JPG
[51] SIRGV2_160908_044.JPG	[52] SIRGV2_160908_049.JPG	[53] SIRGV2_160908_053.JPG
[54] SIRGV2_160908_058.JPG	[55] SIRGV2_160908_062.JPG	[56] SIRGV2_160908_066.JPG
[57] SIRGV2_160908_074.JPG	[58] SIRGV2_160908_080.JPG	[59] SIRGV2_160908_089.JPG
[60] SIRGV2_160908_097.JPG	[61] SIRGV2_160908_101.JPG	[62] SIRGV2_160908_105.JPG
[63] SIRGV2_160908_112.JPG	[64] SIRGV2_160908_118.JPG	[65] SIRGV2_160908_121.JPG
[66] SIRGV2_160908_124.JPG	[67] SIRGV2_160908_137.JPG	[68] SIRGV2_160908_142.JPG
[69] SIRGV2_160908_148.JPG	[70] SIRGV2_160908_155.JPG	[71] SIRGV2_160908_163.JPG
[72] SIRGV2_160908_166.JPG	[73] SIRGV2_160908_168.JPG	[74] SIRGV2_160908_171.JPG
[75] SIRGV2_160908_174.JPG	[76] SIRGV2_160908_177.JPG	[77] SIRGV2_160908_180.JPG
[78] SIRGV2_160908_189.JPG	[79] SIRGV2_160908_191.JPG	[80] SIRGV2_160908_197.JPG
[81] SIRGV2_160908_200.JPG	[82] SIRGV2_160908_202.JPG	[83] SIRGV2_160908_207.JPG
[84] SIRGV2_160908_209.JPG	[85] SIRGV2_160908_211.JPG	[86] SIRGV2_160908_213.JPG
[87] SIRGV2_160908_215.JPG	[88] SIRGV2_160908_217.JPG	[89] SIRGV2_160908_221.JPG
[90] SIRGV2_160908_223.JPG	[91] SIRGV2_160908_226.JPG	[92] SIRGV2_160908_229.JPG
[93] SIRGV2_160908_237.JPG	[94] SIRGV2_160908_241.JPG	[95] SIRGV2_160908_249.JPG
[96] SIRGV2_160908_253.JPG	[97] SIRGV3_160908_001.JPG	[98] SIRGV3_160908_006.JPG
[99] SIRGV3_160908_007.JPG	[100] SIRGV3_160908_011.JPG	[101] SIRGV3_160908_022.JPG
[102] SIRGV3_160908_026.JPG	[103] SIRGV3_160908_038.JPG	[104] SIRGV3_160908_044.JPG
[105] SIRGV3_160908_050.JPG	[106] SIRGV3_160908_054.JPG	[107] SIRGV3_160908_059.JPG
[108] SIRGV3_160908_063.JPG	[109] SIRGV3_160908_066.JPG	[110] SIRGV3_160908_070.JPG
[111] SIRGV3_160908_077.JPG	[112] SIRGV3_160908_081.JPG	[113] SIRGV3_160908_085.JPG
[114] SIRGV3_160908_087.JPG	[115] SIRGV3_160908_090.JPG	[116] SIRGV3_160908_093.JPG
[117] SIRGV3_160908_097.JPG	[118] SIRGV3_160908_101.JPG	[119] SIRGV3_160908_107.JPG
[120] SIRGV3_160908_111.JPG	[121] SIRGV3_160908_114.JPG	[122] SIRGV3_160908_119.JPG
[123] SIRGV3_160908_125.JPG	[124] SIRGV3_160908_128.JPG	[125] SIRGV3_160908_137.JPG
[126] SIRGV3_160908_144.JPG	[127] SIRGV3_160908_149.JPG	[128] SIRGV3_160908_152.JPG
[129] SIRGV3_160908_159.JPG	[130] SIRGV3_160908_164.JPG	[131] SIRGV3_160908_165.JPG
[132] SIRGV3_160908_168.JPG	[133] SIRGV3_160908_175.JPG	[134] SIRGV3_160908_177.JPG
[135] SIRGV3_160908_181.JPG	[136] SIRGV3_160908_185.JPG	[137] SIRGV3_160908_189.JPG
[138] SIRGV3_160908_199.JPG	[139] SIRGV3_160908_203.JPG	[140] SIRGV3_160908_205.JPG
[141] SIRGV3_160908_212.JPG	[142] SIRGV3_160908_216.JPG	[143] SIRGV3_160908_218.JPG
[144] SIRGV3_160908_220.JPG	[145] SIRGV3_160908_224.JPG	[146] SIRGV3_160908_228.JPG
[147] SIRGV3_160908_235.JPG	[148] SIRGV4_160908_001.JPG	[149] SIRGV4_160908_012.JPG
[150] SIRGV4_160908_015.JPG	[151] SIRGV4_160908_021.JPG	[152] SIRGV4_160908_024.JPG
[153] SIRGV4_160908_029.JPG	[154] SIRGV4_160908_037.JPG	[155] SIRGV4_160908_045.JPG
[156] SIRGV4_160908_048.JPG	[157] SIRGV4_160908_053.JPG	[158] SIRGV4_160908_058.JPG
[159] SIRGV4_160908_065.JPG	[160] SIRGV4_160908_071.JPG	[161] SIRGV4_160908_073.JPG
[162] SIRGV4_160908_078.JPG	[163] SIRGV4_160908_090.JPG	[164] SIRGV4_160908_092.JPG
[165] SIRGV4_160908_098.JPG	[166] SIRGV4_160908_105.JPG	[167] SIRGV4_160908_115.JPG
[168] SIRGV4_160908_118.JPG	[169] SIRGV4_160908_120.JPG	[170] SIRGV4_160908_122.JPG
[171] SIRGV4_160908_125.JPG	[172] SIRGV4_160908_128.JPG	[173] SIRGV4_160908_131.JPG
[174] SIRGV4_160908_136.JPG	[175] SIRGV4_160908_142.JPG	[176] SIRGV4_160908_151.JPG
[177] SIRGV4_160908_156.JPG	[178] SIRGV4_160908_159.JPG	[179] SIRGV4_160908_162.JPG
[180] SIRGV4_160908_164.JPG	[181] SIRGV4_160908_168.JPG	[182] SIRGV4_160908_171.JPG
[183] SIRGV4_160908_177.JPG	[184] SIRGV4_160908_181.JPG	[185] SIRGV4_160908_183.JPG
[186] SIRGV4_160908_186.JPG	[187] SIRGV4_160908_189.JPG	[188] SIRGV4_160908_191.JPG
[189] SIRGV4_160908_194.JPG	[190] SIRGV4_160908_200.JPG	[191] SIRGV4_160908_202.JPG
[192] SIRGV4_160908_204.JPG	[193] SIRGV4_160908_210.JPG	[194] SIRGV4_160908_215.JPG
[195] SIRGV4_160908_223.JPG	[196] SIRGV4_160908_225.JPG	[197] SIRGV4_160908_229.JPG
[198] SIRGV4_160908_236.JPG	[199] SIRGV4_160908_244.JPG	[200] SIRGV4_160908_250.JPG
[201] SIRGV4_160908_256.JPG	[202] SIRGV4_160908_259.JPG	[203] SIRGV4_160908_262.JPG
[204] SIRGV4_160908_265.JPG	[205] SIRGV4_160908_274.JPG	[206] SIRGV4_160908_278.JPG
[207] SIRGV4_160908_286.JPG	[208] SIRGV4_160908_289.JPG	[209] SIRGV4_160908_291.JPG
[210] SIRGV4_160908_294.JPG	[211] SIRGV4_160908_297.JPG	[212] SIRGV4_160908_303.JPG
[213] SIRGV4_160908_312.JPG	[214] SIRGV4_160908_320.JPG	[215] SIRGV4_160908_327.JPG
[216] SIRGV4_160908_343.JPG	[217] SIRGVI_161013_04.JPG	[218] SIRGVI_161013_11.JPG
[219] SIRGVI_161013_16.JPG	[220] SIRGVI_161013_23.JPG	[221] SIRGVI_161013_31.JPG
[222] SIRGVI_161013_34.JPG	[223] SIRGVI_161013_37.JPG	[224] SIRGVI_161013_40.JPG
[225] SIRGVI_161013_46.JPG	[226] SIRGVI_161013_53.JPG	[227] SIRGVI_161013_56.JPG
[228] SIRGVI_161013_60.JPG	[229] SIRGVI_161013_65.JPG	[230] SIRGVI_161013_67.JPG
[231] SIRGVI_161013_69.JPG	[232] SIRGVI_161013_71.JPG	[233] SIRGVI_161013_74.JPG
[234] SIRGVI_161013_79.JPG	[235] SIRGVI_161013_83.JPG	[236] SIRGVI_161013_90.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIRGV1_160908_004.JPG: Visions and Revisions Renwick Invitational 2016 The 2016 Renwick Invitational, Visions and Revisions, highlights the work of four craft artists, Jennifer Trask, Steven Young Lee, Kristen Morgin, and Norwood Viviano, who invite chance into their practice, and explore universal cycles of growth and decline, ruin and reinvention. Jennifer Trask creates ornate sculpture and jewelry with the eye of a naturalist, using fragments of bone, antler, antique frames, and natural materials. Her contemplative pieces reflect on humankind's struggle for dominion over nature, and the resilience of life in the harshest conditions. Steven Young Lee reimagines Asian ceramic traditions through his ‘deconstructed' vessels, surrendering control and allowing them to slump and fold in the kiln. Expressive yet humble, his work provokes meditations on cultural identity and the nature of perfection. Norwood Viviano's glass and metal works use cutting-edge technology and historical data to explore population shifts; the fragility of his medium becomes a metaphor for the delicate equilibrium of communities, industry, and environment. Kristen Morgin's nostalgic raw clay sculptures, from massive ‘archaeological relics' to tiny anonymous toys, recall the innocence of bygone days, elevated to art even as they teeter on the brink of disintegration. Reflecting on life's ephemerality, these artists challenge our expectations to optimistically remind us that we are part of a large continuum. Through their work, they pose to us a vital question: What do we choose to carry with us, and what do we leave behind, as we remake ourselves time and again?
2. SIRGV1_160908_012.JPG: Jennifer Trask Landscape, 2014
3. SIRGV1_160908_024.JPG: Jennfer Trask Bresler Vignette 2013
4. SIRGV1_160908_033.JPG: Jennifer Trask born Cape Cod, MA 1970; resides Zephyr Cove, NV Since her childhood, exploring tidal pools on the Cape Cod shore, Jennifer Trask has been captivated by the mysteries of nature and man's attempts to tame, conquer, and order it. As an undergraduate in metalsmithing at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Trask took courses in biology, anthropology, and archaeology, and frequented Harvard's Museum of Natural History and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, where she was as enchanted by the display methods as by the artifacts and specimens on view. By the time she received her MFA from the State University of New York at New Paltz, these experiences began surfacing in works that drew inspiration from historical curiosity cabinets and functioned like miniature reliquaries. She won early national acclaim with pieces like October Necklace (2002), employing natural elements such as insect wings, snakeskin, pigments, and gemstones, arranged in her own taxonomic schemes. In Trask's recent works, animal remains such as bone and antler, the strong yet delicate underpinnings of so many living things, have become central elements and have expanded her practice from jewelry to large-scale sculpture. Transfigured by the artist's hand, these materials become landscapes and botanical growths, furniture and delicate tools. Neckpieces echo and extend the wearer's own skeleton, often jutting from shoulders or collarbone. Fragments of antique gilt frame also figure prominently in these compositions, recalling sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Dutch vanitas paintings, which remind viewers of life's transience. Yet despite these melancholic undertones, Trask's work feels more celebratory than sad. As wild "vegetation" explodes the boundaries of her pieces, we are left in awe of nature's beauty, power, and resilience.
5. SIRGV1_160908_043.JPG: Jennifer Trask Encroachment 2013
6. SIRGV1_160908_055.JPG: Jennifer Trask October Necklace 2002
7. SIRGV1_160908_063.JPG: Jennifer Trask Cornacea Pedicilia 2008-2009
8. SIRGV1_160908_068.JPG: Jennifer Trask Asteracea: Posey Brooch 2007
9. SIRGV1_160908_080.JPG: Jennifer Trask Revival Neck Object 2012
10. SIRGV1_160908_085.JPG: Jennifer Trask Germindate Necklace 2010
11. SIRGV1_160908_098.JPG: Jennifer Trask Acanthus Neckpiece 2011
12. SIRGV1_160908_110.JPG: Jennifer Trask Nest 2011
13. SIRGV1_160908_119.JPG: Jennifer Trask Suture 2014 In Suture, Trask sewed the skulls of four deer together with gold wire to form an undulating disk that resembles an embroidery hoop, mending and redeeming her forsaken materials.
14. SIRGV1_160908_128.JPG: Jennifer Trask Skeleton Keys 2011
15. SIRGV1_160908_139.JPG: Jennifer Trask Effloresce 2013 bone, antler, teeth, gesso, quartz, found 18th- and 19th-century wall sconces Trask finds poetry in the chemical properties that inform her process. To render bone soft and supple for her creations, she soaks the pieces in a vinegar bath for weeks or months on end, and the acidic solution leaches out the bone's calcium, which settles on the bottom as white crystalline structures. In works like Effloresce, these mineral clusters become glistening reminders of bone's basic chemistry. Courtesy of Jennifer Trask and Robert Chester
16. SIRGV1_160908_157.JPG: Jennifer Trask Tulipa 2012-13
17. SIRGV1_160908_172.JPG: Jennifer Trask Burgeon 2012
18. SIRGV2_160908_018.JPG: Steven Young Lee born Chicago, IL 1975; resides Helena, MT Steven Young Lee got hooked on the potter's wheel at an early age and eventually followed his passion to Alfred University in upstate New York, where he received his BFA and MFA. After college, Lee participated in a cultural and educational exchange fellowship in Jingdezhen, China, and traveled throughout Asia, observing centuries-old ceramic traditions. An American-born artist of Korean heritage, the experience profoundly affected Lee and spurred a deep and abiding interest in the nature and cultural construction of identity. Today, he continues to investigate these themes, working in Helena, Montana, where he is the resident artist director of the Archie Bray Foundation. Lee's works are at times humorous, at times elegant, bringing together such elements as traditional Korean forms and inlay techniques, Chinese imagery, Western motifs, and popculture icons in a joyful postmodern pastiche. In one, a flock of cranes appears to flee the break in the vessel, and in another, American buffalo graze in Asian fields. As varied as people, each of Lee's gentle interventions injects a bit of "self" into an otherwise traditional composition. Lee's "deconstructed" works achieve an effortless grace that balances countless hours of studying and perfecting form with the spontaneity of collapse. To create these pieces, Lee throws the vessels, then tears them apart with his hands in their leather-hard state, and allows them to sink under their own weight in the fire. Though many traditional forms and decorations recur in his work, this process gives each piece its own personality, foregrounding the sensuality of materials. At a time when we've grown accustomed to glancing at objects and moving on, his work invites us to look more closely and linger a little longer, to delight in the details and "flaws" never to be repeated.
19. SIRGV2_160908_044.JPG: Steven Young Lee In the Name of Tradition 2007 porcelain, salt-fired glaze, mortar, gold leaf "Spirit vessels" such as this were among the first works Lee created after his return to the United States from China in 2005. The pieces reference traditional Chinese hunping jars, funerary vessels with high, swelling shoulders and pagoda-like architectural projections, but recontextualize the form to create a sacred place for contemporary spirits to reside. With In the Name of Tradition, Lee memorializes his move to Montana to become the resident artist director of the Archie Bray Foundation. It features butterflies, a symbol of transformation, alighting atop the Bray's iconic brick beehive kilns. Collection of Jon Satre and Paulette Etchart
20. SIRGV2_160908_066.JPG: Steven Young Lee Red Panel and Blue Panel (from Red, Blue and White) 2013 porcelain, cobalt inlay, glass, aluminum In these Rothko-like color fields of cups, Lee explores a multitude of variations in the smallest details, achieving homogeny and a sense of community, while at the same time exploiting the individual character that makes each cup unique. The red, white, and blue of the original display is an oblique reference to the United States, but Lee has disrupted this association by showing the panels out of order or allowing them, as here, to be shown separately. Collection of Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
21. SIRGV2_160908_074.JPG: Steven Young Lee Octopus Jar 2013
22. SIRGV2_160908_080.JPG: Steven Young Lee Jar with Dragon 2015
23. SIRGV2_160908_105.JPG: Steven Young Lee Elegy 2004 porcelain, cobalt inlay, glaze, decals, kiln mortar Elegy marks one of Lee's early forays into sculpture, and features figurative imagery inspired by Asian porcelain and brush painting. The piece was part of Lee's master's thesis at Alfred University, and reveals his burgeoning interest in Asian traditions and the growing importance of process and chance in his practice. These early experiments in working and reworking to achieve an ancient appearance became a touchstone for Lee on his return from visiting Asia, eventually leading to his "deconstructed" vessels. Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred, NY
24. SIRGV3_160908_007.JPG: Norwood Viviano born Royal Oak, MI 1972; resides Plainwell, MI Norwood Viviano's blown and cast works float like icebergs on an invisible sea, with a wealth of understanding hovering just beneath the surface. Through the numerical data he brings to life, he attempts to make visible the human rhythms of our world and reminds us of the fragility of our man-made environments. Viviano grew up near Detroit, Michigan, and observed firsthand the effect of the city's singular reliance on automobile manufacturing. He watched as the industry foundered and outbound migrations, high unemployment, and economic uncertainty became the new norm in a once-thriving metropolis. In his Detroit Population Shift series, Viviano began to document these changes through a unique blend of cutting-edge technology and traditional sculptural methods. With each subsequent series, Viviano has further examined notions of place and displacement, mapping fluctuations across time, as industry and other forces exert pressure on populations. In his ongoing Mining Industries series, Viviano layers cast glass 3-D renderings made from topographical scans of urban areas atop vintage maps of the area at the peak of its industrial past. Through these he connects a city's current skyline to its historical roots, and offers a glimpse into how industry has shaped the landscape. In Global Cities, his most recent work, Viviano has collected population data from cities around the world, translating it into elegant blown glass plumb bobs, which together tell the story of changes and migrations across time and national borders. In dialogue with these recent works, Viviano's earlier First Generation Artifact series reflects on the personal nature of those movements, on histories and hopes for the future.
25. SIRGV3_160908_011.JPG: Norwood Viviano Recasting Michigan: Detroit Population Shift 2010
26. SIRGV3_160908_022.JPG: 1945 WWII Ends 1492 Christopher Columbus Lands in the New World 476 CE Roman Empire Falls 37 BCE Roman Empire Founded
27. SIRGV3_160908_050.JPG: Norwood Viviano Mining Industries: Planned Industrial Community (Lowell) 2015
28. SIRGV3_160908_090.JPG: Norwood Viviano Mining Industries: Houston 2014
29. SIRGV3_160908_097.JPG: Norwood Viviano First Generation Artifact: Tatted Lace Collar 2004–2008 cast bronze Viviano's longing to connect to his Italian heritage inspired his series First Generation Artifact. Since his own relatives never recounted tales or kept heirlooms from their immigration, he sought to author his own family history by casting possessions brought to America by other Italian immigrants, which could "embody the Italy and culture the immigrants left behind, but also contain many of the hopes and dreams for a future in the New World." Though the century-old objects Viviano selected serve to represent the story of any third-generation Italian American, they also retain evidence of the maker's hand and owner's use, even in their cast forms, suggesting more intimate, personal histories. Grand Valley State University Art Gallery, Allendale, MI
30. SIRGV3_160908_101.JPG: Norwood Viviano First Generation Artifact: Needlework Tools 2004-2008
31. SIRGV3_160908_107.JPG: Norwood Viviano First Generation Artifact: Lace Pillow 2004-2008
32. SIRGV3_160908_111.JPG: Norwood Viviano First Generation Artifact: Prayer Book / Journal 2004-2008
33. SIRGV3_160908_114.JPG: Norwood Viviano First Generation Artifact: Tatted Lace Collar 2004-2008
34. SIRGV3_160908_159.JPG: Norwood Viviano Making Way 2010 rapid prototyped pattern and cast bronze Viviano created Making Way for Grand Valley State University to honor the oldest tree on campus, which was being cut down. To make the sculpture, Viviano combined a 3-D scan of the tree's stump with a map of the area where it once stood, and cast the composition in bronze. While the work functions as a memorial, it also retains a critical stance, drawing attention to what has been lost in the name of progress. Grand Valley State University Art Gallery, Allendale, MI
35. SIRGV4_160908_001.JPG: Kristen Morgin born Brunswick, GA 1968; resides Gardena, CA Kristen Morgin‘s illusionistic sculptures appear weathered by time and the elements. She has never been interested in pristine objects, but instead is attracted to things with histories, real or imagined, that transform them into something more potent. This keen sensitivity to the detritus of modern life has led her to investigate age, nostalgia, and value in contemporary culture, themes deeply rooted for the artist in the California mythos and the American Dream. Curious visitors to Morgin's exhibits often assume her pieces are found objects, and find themselves lulled into lengthy reminiscences, overlooking the essential detail that the works are in fact not found objects at all, but raw, unfired clay. Morgin became fascinated by clay in its "potential" state as an undergraduate at Alfred University, and it has become vital to her work both as a material and metaphor. Substituting painting and collage for the gloss of glazed ceramic wares, Morgin achieves a dirty garage-sale aesthetic, in which thrift-store heroes like Popeye and Mighty Mouse preside, and vintage records, books, and games find new meaning. Morgin's work has developed over the years from full-scale artfully decayed cars and instruments, propped on armatures, into compositions of vintage toys made entirely of raw clay and pigment. These assemblages, more delicate and understated than her previous works, express an innocent, childlike quality and playfully invite the audience to puzzle out their meanings. Yet whether her early works, which seem frozen in time and unearthed, or her newer works, which appear as though children at play were called to supper and never returned, Morgin's creations probe the fading warmth of human presence and the inevitable slide from childhood to the grave. By drawing attention to their own vulnerability, they become a poignant investigation of the value of the old in a world intent on the new.
36. SIRGV4_160908_012.JPG: Kristen Morgin Greetings from the Queen Mary 2006
37. SIRGV4_160908_024.JPG: Kristen Morgin Mighty Mouse 2006
38. SIRGV4_160908_029.JPG: Kristen Morgin Captain America 2005
39. SIRGV4_160908_037.JPG: Kristen Morgin The Brave Little Snowman 2013
40. SIRGV4_160908_048.JPG: Kristen Morgin Sweet and Low Down 2005 unfired clay, wood, wire, cement, glue Sweet and Low Down is a lowered 1951 Mercury (with "salvaged" parts from other cars) loosely based on a car driven by James Dean in the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause. Complete with flames and with the names of friends and family members inscribed on its dashboard (inspired by low-rider culture), it is the quintessential California car. Collection of Kristen L. Morgin
41. SIRGV4_160908_058.JPG: Kristen Morgin Snow White and Woodland Creatures 2012
42. SIRGV4_160908_065.JPG: Kristen Morgin Stickman Wearing Upside Down Heart Pants 2012
43. SIRGV4_160908_071.JPG: Kristen Morgin Popeye vs. Popeye 2008
44. SIRGV4_160908_078.JPG: Kristen Morgin 150 Ways to Play Solitaire 2010 unfired clay, paint, wood, wire 150 Ways to Play Solitaire draws its title from a paperback book that appears in the work, and evokes the loneliness that overcame Morgin at the estate sale where she found it: "As is true with many estate sales, there were clear signs that the person who had once lived there had lived alone, and perhaps had been neglected. In every room of the old house the decor hadn't been updated since the '60s, and it was filled with mementos and bric-a-brac from happier times. . . . The person who lived there had long since given up on enticing grandchildren to visit by buying up toys and games, and they were all neatly tucked away. . . . I got the real sense that this person had resigned themselves [sic] to finding things to do by themselves [sic] to stay busy until there was no need to be busy anymore." Collection of Akemi Maegawa
45. SIRGV4_160908_098.JPG: Kristen Morgin Monopoly 2007 unfired clay, paint, ink Morgin created Monopoly as a transition from her large-scale work. Originally, fashioning the board pieces was more a distraction than an intentional direction, but she became invested in the meticulous, intimate work, and found herself absorbed in the game's history and lore. Soon, she began reproducing other objects found in her studio and scouring garage sales for golden-age toys. Collection of Kristen L. Morgin
46. SIRGV4_160908_105.JPG: Kristen Morgin Third of May Playset 2006 glazed ceramic Morgin was eight when she first saw Goya's masterpiece The Third of May 1808 in Madrid on a family vacation to Spain. The visceral, politically charged painting had an immense impact on her, and she frequently alludes to it in her work. Collection of Kristen L. Morgin
47. SIRGV4_160908_142.JPG: Kristen Morgin The Bradys (left to right, top to bottom) Marcia Brady, Carol Brady, Greg Brady, Jan Brady, Alice Nelson, Peter Brady, Cindy Brady, Mike Brady, and Bobby Brady 2015
48. SIRGV4_160908_151.JPG: Kristen Morgin Still Life as the Alphabet 2013 unfired clay, paint, ink, graphite, wood In Still Life as the Alphabet, Morgin sorts objects to create a visual alphabet, but not necessarily one that corresponds to letters. Regardless, one can't resist the temptation to make sense of her pairings. If D is for "dwarf," what could a pack of cigarettes insinuate about N? The work encourages personal interpretation, affording the piece a light, conversational tone. Collection of Akemi Maegawa
49. SIRGV4_160908_171.JPG: Kristen Morgin Piano Forte 2004
50. SIRGVI_161013_16.JPG: Norwood Viviano Making Way, 2010 3-D scan of the tree's stump with a map of the area where it once stood.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].