Beth Cavener Stichter

"Tangled Up in You" with Allasandro Gallo

"Tangled Up in You"

"Tangled Up in You" detail

"The Adoration (from Van Eyck)"  Stoneware based mixed media sculpture
168 x 36 x 16 inches

"The Adoration (from Van Eyck)"  detail

"The White Hind (The Bride)"  Stoneware based mixed media sculpture
68 x 50 x 18 inches

"The White Hind (The Bride)"  detail

"The White Hind (The Bride)"  detail

"L'Amante"  Stoneware with Ceramic Glaze
45 x 60 x 44 inches

I've included a lot more images in this post than usual because the detail shots really matter. Everything about Beth Cavener Stichter's work is exquisite, from the concepts to the energetic grace of her compositions. The deft gestural surfaces of her work demonstrate the fluid grace of her hands at work and echo the fluid grace of her animals. But of course there is a tension in that grace as well. It requires the muscular tension of a dancer in peak physical condition to make dramatic motion look effortless. But it's not just physical tension that I'm talking about here. There is a psychological tension. Because her animals are not just animals. They are us. They remind us that we are animals and that more than 90% of what we do and how we act, our obsessions, our fears, desires and weaknesses, are not controlled by conscious thought, but are governed by millions of years of evolution. We are at the mercy of the animal within and no matter how much we may try to dress it up in the veneers of civilization we betray our origins every moment of every day with a tilt of the head, a gesture of the hand or a subtle shift of the eyes. And yet we seem to live in denial of all of this. Perhaps we must deny it. Perhaps the animal within requires us to constrain it with our rational cages (though it can and does escape whenever it really wants). The tension between out instinctive selves and our self-conscious selves and how it plays out in complex human behavior is the subject of her work. Though it can sometimes be grotesque or sorrowful, lonesome or bitter, it always moving, and it is always beautiful, because it is life.

You can see more of her work at her website: www.followtheblackrabbit.com
Or at Claire Oliver in New York City

"Tangled Up in You" was done in collaboration with Allasandro Gallo and was featured recently in High Fructose where you can see more detailed images of it including the process of its creation.

Deborah Simon

"Ursus Americanus" (Black Bear)
polymer clay, faux fur, linen, embroidery floss, acrylic paint, glass, wire and foam,
22”H x 25”D x 19”W, 2013. Photo by Dan Wonderly

Black Bear - detail

"Ursus Arctos Horribilus"  (Grizzly Bear)
polymer clay, faux fur, linen, embroidery floss, acrylic paint, glass, wire and foam,
22”H x 25”D x 19”W, 2013. Photo by Dan Wonderly

"Ursus Maritimus" (Polar Bear)
polymer clay, faux fur, linen, embroidery floss, acrylic paint, glass, wire and foam,
22”H x 25”D x 19”W, 2012. Photo by Dan Wonderly

Coyote Puppets
30”L x 15”H x 6”W each, polymer clay, epoxy, fake fur, wire, glass eyes, and foam.

Deborah Simon's "Flayed Bears" series is just one aspect of an artist whose work ranges from sculpture and installation to performance and painting.  Inspired by evolutionary thinking and fascinated by western science's obsession with collecting, cataloging and labeling she creates extraordinary creatures as lifelike as she can make them, but always slightly off, or out of place, jarring us into that state of wonder that is the province of the arts. In the "flayed bears" series, the initial image is a slightly grotesque one, but closer inspection reveals that the anatomical structures are rendered in exquisite needlework. It is such an odd choice but it gives the work an intimate feel of handcrafted care so at odds with the cold objectifying nature of dissection and vivisection evoked by the imagery. Her coyote puppets (above) were part of a multi-media presentation called "Coyote Pursues" in which the two central characters explore "an austere world newly bereft of people". I would simply love to see video of these two in motion, but alas, that is not available on her website. Plenty of other images are however, so go take a look at www.deborahsimon.net

John Grade

La Chasse

Capacitor

Seeps of Winter

Host

Elephant Bed - fabrica

Starting with the suggestion of organic forms, then blowing them up to enormous scales, often inserting them in architectural settings, John Grade creates juxtapositions that catch you off guard, stop you in rapt wonder. And that seems to me to be one of the important tasks of art, to catch you unawares so that you are, for a moment at least, transported outside yourself lost in thoughtless wonder. But ideas matter too or the art is not worth returning to even when it manages to catch you in this fashion. His work is about more than the snapshots you see here. Much of the work has a lifespan. They aren't often meant to last and so often the nature of their destruction or decay also becomes part of the process of the art. In addition to pictures there are short videos on his various installations. They don't always stay in one place either and the simple act of transporting the creations from one environment to another has a way of changing your perception of it. Which is all just to say that this is really fun, really cool stuff, and what more could you want from art anyway?
Go check it all out on his website: www.johngrade.com

And thanks to folks at www.booooooom.com for posting it before me

Jason Borders

"Ram #4"

"Blesbok"

"Blesbok" detail

"Scapula #5" Buffalo

"Tryptich" Harte-beast (center) and Springbok

Skunks

There is something very primal about our response to skulls and skeletons. Drive through any part of American ranch land and you're bound to see cow skulls placed conspicuously here and there on people's property. Walking in arid lands you may happen upon the sun bleached remains of some predator's prey, and if you're like me, you'll almost certainly stop to examine it more closely. If there's a complete skull there's an almost overwhelming desire to DO something with it. Why? Of what use is it? Such a practical consideration cannot get at the answer. Skulls stripped of all flesh and fur are like totemic objects imbued with a curious magic for the human mind. Portland, Oregon artist Jason Borders is drawn into this magic and then draws it out, heightening its effect with meditative scrollwork designs dremeled into the bone which is then stained and polished. The designs remind me of Maori face tattoos and Australian aboriginal art. There was a time in our ancient past when the difficulties of daily life demanded a kind of sequestration of thought. One might labor intensely for hours or days at an important task, not wrestling with the ever present possibilities of death or injury or the gnawing exigency of an empty belly. The task at hand must done with absolute concentration to ward these things off. This same kind of focused yet free-form unselfconscious energy was also brought to their art. Jason Borders has found a way to replicate this kind of creativity and remind us of roots that go very very deep.

His work is currently on display at Antler Gallery in Portland, unfortunately for only one more week. The walls displaying the work have also been subtly painted by the artist with the same style of line work adorning his skulls and bones. If you get a chance you really must drop in and check it out. If you can't make it on the weekend, the gallery is conveniently open until 7pm every day of the week.

You can see more images of the artist's work on his website: www.jasonborders.com (but be warned, the images are large hi-res files which can take take a while to load if your connection is slow). You can also see images online at: www.antlerpdx.com/jason-borders.html

Judy Onofrio

"Reveal"  mixed media wall sculpture  40"h x 19"w x 14.5"d  2012

"Twist"  mixed media wall sculpture  43"h x 27"w  x13"d  2012

"Hydrangea"  mixed media  42"h x 28"w x 16"d  2009

"Hydrangea"  detail

"Wrap" mixed media  10"w x 25"l x 13"d  2012

Judy Onofrio's work with bones speak so eloquently for for itself that I'm almost at a loss for words. I will keep my usual micro-review even shorter than usual. Bones are potent reminders of mortality, and her work, undeniably beautiful, even elegant, contrasts with our more usual associations with death and decay. Even in a strictly materialist sense, death is a transformative process upon which life depends. Such ideas inevitably lure us into more philosophical musings that border on edges of religion. But even a non-religious skeptic like myself can easily grasp and appreciate what the artist means when she says, "To me, they feel like prayers".
There is plenty more to look through at her website: www.judyonofrio.com
Her work can be seen in person in Minneapolis at Thomas Barry Fine Art.

Matthew Picton

"Dresden - burnt"

"Dresden" - detail

"Dallas"

"Dallas" - detail

"Venice"

"Venice" - detail

I love maps. I love art. And so of course I love art maps and map art. Matthew Picton's work has involved maps for quite some time and his most recent pieces are beautiful sculptures that also incorporate text and sometimes imagery. These city maps portray some cultural or historical aspect of the particular place that will no doubt be familiar to most viewers. Dresden was notoriously fire-bombed in World War II resulting in horrific civilian casualties, and the artist recreates the scene meticulously scorching his model to reflect the scale of the damage. In Dallas John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The artist lines the route of the ill-fated motorcade through the city with images from that very day. His portrait of Venice uses pages from Thomas Mann's class novel "A Death in Venice" as well as the musical score for an opera based on the book by Benjamin Britten. Each piece is carefully layered with meaning, often referencing painstaking research. These details enrich the work without being required for immediate appreciation. There is something incredibly enticing about the three dimensionality of the maps that would no doubt make one want shift about over them, casting back and forth for different angles that subtly change one's perspective, and possibly to peer into the narrow roads and alleyways to get glimpses of fragmented words or images. It makes me glad that he provides at least one detail shot of each piece and usually more. There is plenty more of these maps on his website as well as many other bodies of work all worth looking at on his website: matthewpicton.com

Lyla Duey

Bathroom (2011) • oil on wood • 6" x 8"

Doubleroom (2011) • oil on wood • 9" x 12"

Kitchen (2011) • oil on wood • 11" x 14"

A Nice Wall Piece (2012) • oil on wood • 11" x 14"

Broken Chair (2012) • oil on wood • 14" x 18"

Lyla Duey's recent work has a tremendously enjoyable premise. She makes simple line drawings of various places and objects in her home. Then she cuts out the objects in the drawings and reconstructs the scene in three dimensional models. The paper models reflect the distortions of perspective in her original drawings. Then she makes a painting of the model. So she starts by looking at three dimensions, re-interprets it in two, then re-interprets that back into three, and finally re-interprets that into two dimensions once more. It is a fairly unique exploration of what the illusion of depth in two dimensional art means, how it communicates to us both accurately and inaccurately about the real world in which we live. But it is an exploration of such ideas without pretension or self-importance, a relieving balm amid innumerable artists trying to make profundities out of inanities. Here we are simply witnessing an enthusiastic meditation on and fascination with the act of observation. She has other work as well which she tackles with the same careful attention to detail and amusing wit. You can look through it all on her website: www.lyladuey.com
Thank you Lyla! And congratulations on being included in 104th issue of New American Paintings.

(just a warning though; her images are hi-resolution files so if you have a slow connection they may take a little time to load).

Michael Beitz

"Dining Table"  wood

"Dining Table"  wood

"It's no Picnic Table"  wood

from "Body/Brick"  cement

from "Body/Brick"  cement

Michael Beitz enjoys a visual joke. But the humor is not just silliness. He's playing with the ideas of organic and man-made form, juxtaposing the two in a variety of ways in order to reconsider their meaning. When a table is no longer a flat surface is it still a table? What if the walls really did have ears? Or noses? The artist seems less driven by consistent intellectual inquiry than by whim and whimsy, turning what-if doodles into realities. This is not a criticism. Artist's sometimes get a little too full of themselves, believing that the rigor of their intellectual thought can sustain the aesthetic of their creations. It usually does not. Better to explore with open wonder and see what profound ideas emerge from the chaos. That is the real wellspring of art. Craft, discipline, intelligence, and critical thinking are all important tools for any artform, and if undeveloped the art will fail. But they should never control the art. They should become like muscle memory, acting to realize the artist's playful imaginings. In this sense Michael Beitz's work occasionally succeeds brilliantly. There's not a whole lot of work on his website but there is a tree with hinged branches, a house frame that gently folds up,  a pair of giant hands operated by bike pedals that will slap the operator and more, so it's worthwhile taking a look. I look forward to seeing what he does next.
www.michaelbeitz.com

Luke Jerram

Avian Flu - H5N1

Entovrus 71 (EV71) - Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

Smallpox

SARS corona Virus

E. Coli

Lately I've posted quite a few more successful artists. Sometimes it is difficult to tell just how successful an artist is even if I knew what constituted success for an artist. The point of an artist's website is to promote the artist, and that means highlighting successes. But when an artist can feature a photo of themselves shaking hands with the queen, I'm ready to concede that they are probably doing pretty well for themselves. Having pieces in the permanent collections of museums around the world is another good sign. Anyhow...

Luke Jerram does a lot of different kinds of work: installations, live art, sculpture. It's the sculpture that caught my attention. Actually just a single series of work; these giant glass microbes. I love it when science and art sidle up to each other and get cozy and occasionally share some koodies. I think art generally benefits more from these trysts than science and I'd say that's the case here as well. But Mr. Jerram does make some excellent scientific points concerning the work. Images of microorganisms are derived from electron microscopy and are usually enhanced with color. The color is generally arbitrary and used primarily to help distinguish the various elements of the image. But in fact most viruses are smaller than the wavelength of visible light, so they can't really have a color. His glass sculptures of these viruses, made in consultation with virologists using a variety of images and models, thus have a lot of merit as scientific illustrations and have been used as such. Beyond that, they're just really really cool.

Luke Jerram is an idea guy. It needs to be pointed ou tthat he did not make these sculptures himself. They were in fact produced in collaboration with glass blowers Kim George, Brian Jones and Norman Veitch.

There's plenty more viruses to look at and a lot of other cool stuff on his website: www.lukejerram.com