"Chapter 134: destination manifestation" - an installation by Leah Violet

This coming First Friday, August 6th, 2010, Denada Gallery will open the door to Leah Violet's imaginative world of personal narrative. Inside this room, guests will find themselves embedded in a tapestry made of the objects and artworks that have collected in her world over the past 2 years.

Chapter 134: destination manifestation is a cumulative response to the cross-country trek that landed her and a backpack, in Portland during early 2008, and the discovery process that followed. The story extends over two years spent living in a SE house known as 134. It begins with graphite drawings and progresses through a multitude of media including paint, handmade paper, textile, photo-transfer and found-object sculpture. Her work infuses post-consumer, recycled folk aesthetics with high-art sensibility to create deeply personal reflections of the physical and spiritual space she inhabits daily. The result is a quilt of coded metaphor in psychedelic tones that sound like the echo of Frida Kahlo heard by visionaries of a future time.

As a complete work, Chapter 134 displays Leah Violet's story of self-actualization with everyday objects and images through the kaleidoscope of hind-sight. Nurtured within her home space, each piece in the room resonates with her energy and vibrates with the ordered chaos of an exploratory life. She shares it now, as she vacates that home for a new journey that has what remains of her belongings filling a veggie-oil school bus. That is the next chapter. For now we have the pleasure of reading this installment to discover our own meaning between her prismatic lines.

More information on the work of Leah Violet and some images of the pieces in progress are available at her blog: http://thisisgettingup.blogspot.com

Chapter 134: destination manifestation
Installation by Leah Violet
Opening First Friday, August 6, 2010
Denada Gallery
1212 SE Division
6-9pm

Mikael Kennedy on the come-up

The homie Mikael Kennedy is getting his propers these days - solo show of 500 polaroids at the Chelsea Hotel, blog write ups, plus this random occurrence. Us VT expats are damn proud of our boy.

Amidst it all he has found the time to deliver a new book collecting Polaroids from 2008. "Passport to Trespass Vol. V - Come Home" documents his journey from New Mexico, back to the East coast, and out to the Northwest during the astrological time of his Saturn Return. We see many familiar faces from the mythos he has built since his first published collection "Still, Not Dead" (2005 interrupt/nine37), but the focus here seems to be on the landscapes he ventured through. Vast scenes in the faded light of instant development, from city nights to mountain roads, offer open ended reflection. Mikael offers little definition for the images until the end of the book where he titles each section to narrate his year of exploration. The images are nostalgic and fresh, memories of right now that remind me of the importance of passing moments.

You can see more images from the collection and purchase this limited edition (100 copies, each signed and numbered by the artist) at mikaelkennedy.com


Also check out this interview which came up about a month ago and I just got around to sharing.

Thirty Days NY Artist Series: Mikael Kennedy from Thirty Days NY on Vimeo.

Recent arts by Madelyn Hampton

Mady has been busy this summer adding to her emotive visual personal narrative. What do you think the pink one is? The cat is a next level version of a style she developed a few years ago, drawing the patterns and circles over found animal photographs. Now she is filling in her own image - i really enjoy this expressive style of characterization. It brings to mind Pacific Northwest Indigenous Culture's art patterns, perhaps she is drawing upon a similar energy to find these designs. The cat and the one below it are both Linoleum prints - I like that the middle one describes so much about Mady's personality and interests - the cosmos, the books, the animals = a telling self portrait.

you can keep up with mady's work at her blog: buyanewbrain.blogspot.com
and see new work here as well.