Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Congratulations to Our Juried Show Artists!

This summer we opened up a call-to-artists for our very first juried show, curated by guest juror Haley Morris-Cafiero. Haley runs the Masters of Fine Art program at Memphis College of Art, and is an accomplished photographer herself, seeing international success with her series "Wait Watchers." (you can see some of Haley's work here) Submissions came from all over the mid-South throughout the months of May and June, artists were selected and announced in July, and the opening reception celebrating the selected artists' work will be held Friday, August 1st from 5-8pm at Gallery Fifty Six, 2256 Central Ave., Memphis, TN. Take a look at who was selected, and please visit us as we announce the Best in Show during the opening reception! 

Steven Adair

Steven Adair

ARTIST STATEMENT

As an artist working under the influence of Post-Modernism I am constantly merging the old and new in my work. I wish to create a connective dialogue between the past era of found materials and the color sensibilities and juxtapositions of the current age.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Steve Adair is a visual artist living and working in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He is a graduate of Arkansas State University where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Art Education. His work has been exhibited on numerous occasions in Colorado, Illinois, and Arkansas. Most recently his work was featured in Small Works on Paper, a touring exhibition that travels across Arkansas. His work can be viewed at the M2 Gallery in Little Rock, AR. In addition to exhibiting, he works in Distance Learning for Virtual Arkansas, where he teaches K-8th art.
            
Timur Akhriev

Artist Statement

As a result of my early training in the Russian academic 
tradition, coupled with my studies in an American University’s 
Art Department, my studio practice and work blends elements 
of Realism from my formal training with contemporary principles 
and aesthetics and conceptual theories that I have learned while 
studying in the U.S. 

From the latter -- one might say from Modernism and 
beyond-- I have embraced more formal elements, compositional 
freedom, a love of complex surface qualities (“painting as paint”), 
and a realization of a freedom to break rules. However, continuing 
an attachment to the Russian tradition which formed my early years 
of becoming an artist, I have a preoccupation with “observed 
reality”: of nature, of structural forms that make up land formations, 
of the nuances of culture and how they can be read in a face. 
Travel has become an element that, more recently, has informed 
my work; with that has come a realization of changes in light, color, 
texture, atmosphere that depend on my personal encounters with 
a sense of place and cultural identity. Similarly, my awareness of 
different cultural characteristics affect what I see and, in the end, to 
what happens in the studio or on-site. 

When my work involves portraiture, I seek to portray the 
character of the sitter, defined as I see and experience it, by the 
person’s life, and my awareness of her or his internal psychological 
thoughts and experience; all of this related to the sitter’s life, 
environment, and culture. The resulting painting, through it’s surface, 
coloration, and mood is intended to convey that to its viewer. 
In all of my work, I strive for complexity: of the subject 
being painted, of my own response to that subject translated into 
“painting as paint”, of blending observational reality with touch 
and mark and color of my brush (what the Anglo-Canadian artist 
Tony Scherman refers to as “notational painting”). Collectively, this 
leads to a labor-intensive methodology in my studio practice that 
continues to evolve.

Biography

Born in Vladikavkaz, the territory where Southern Russia meets 
Chechnya in 1983, Timur lived with his family until moving from the 
region during the conflict of 1991. After moving to St. Petersburg, 
Timur began attending the St. Petersburg Iagonson Fine Art School at 
the age of twelve, where many of the professors studied at the Repin 
Academy of Fine Arts. While living in Russia, Timur also received 
private tutoring from Nikita Fomin, son of well known Russian artist 
Piotr Fomin.

After graduation, Timur immigrated to Chattanooga 
Tennessee to live with his father, Daud Akhriev and stepmother, 
Melissa Hefferlin, who are also Russian trained artists. In Chattanooga 
Timur attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, studying 
in the Fine Arts program. To further his education Timur moved to 
Florence Italy in 2005 to study at the Florence Academy of Art and 
Charles Cicel Studios of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture for two 
years. 

Though still early in his artistic career, Akhriev has completed 
many commissions for private collectors and participated in a 
number group shows throughout the country.
Today, the twenty-nine year old, splits his time between the 
US and Europe. He has become well-known for his paintings of the 
fishing industry in New England as well as various subject matters in 
Italy. He is skilled in painting all genres of work.


Georgann DeMille

Georgann DeMille

“The past is hidden somewhere outside the realm, beyond the reach of 
intellect, in some material object (in the sensation which that material object 
will give us) which we do not suspect. And as for that object, it depends on 
chance whether we come upon it or not…” Marcel Proust from Remembrance of Things Past

Nostalgia was originally diagnosed as a mental disorder attributed to homesick soldiers fighting in foreign wars. The definition eventually evolved into the concept of reminiscing or wistful affections for past experiences. It is mystifying how distant memories can be triggered by random contact with ordinary objects. A fragrance, a touch or a glimpse of color has the ability to convey specific moments in time. I find that contact with materials used in everyday activities can cause my mind to be enveloped by my deepest memories. One memory leads to another and then another and slowly becomes a narrative of my past. Daily mundane tasks such as laundry, dusting or purging of unneeded items can instigate the recollections. My artworks are born from my direct contact with items used to accomplish these tasks. Dryer sheets, paperback books or even adult diapers are materials that give form to bittersweet images from my past. Christening gowns, 1950’s inspired dresses and kimonos are fabricated using consumer goods which elicit the remembered object and its importance in my life. These unimposing materials are thus transmogrified into the memories they evoke.




David Diodate


Scott Dickinson

Time pause. I want a moment to last a lifetime. I want that moment to 
have its own life, changing and evolving over the course of its existence. I 
have this immense desire because it is in moments that I can begin to 
understand my place in the world. 

I primarily work with postcards and photographs because they are alive 
with the scent of purpose for the moment. Unique individual experiences 
have been captured through image; they are inextricably connected to 
person, place, and time. Over the years however their messages and 
meanings change just as the world has changed, they have lived. 
With intent to unite the material with myself and add to their story, I cut 
through them, create fragments, and fit them in to new forms and 
realities. There are no layers, no longer a feeling of what happened 
before or after, the moments are inlaid along side one another, forced to 
work together in defining their new direction. 

The final images pursue moments that I find most peace and reason in. 
They are formed from long walks through neighboring forests, fields, and 
along bodies of water, where I can find focus and clarity, the ability to 
pause time.



Alisa Free


Bio

Alisa Free began expressing her creativity as a child growing up in the Mississippi Delta, and since then, the practice has taken many forms. After graduating from Delta State University with a degree in fine arts, she pursued graphic design and marketing for much of her professional career. She counts some of the South’s best artists as influences in her life and creative work. She currently lives with her husband and two cats in Collierville, Tennessee.


Artist Statement

My paintings are purely expressive and each begins instinctually. A mood, a place, a color, a shape or a found object are all things that might stir this intuitive process. I then use color, layering and texture to find my way through to artistic resolution. In this resolution, each painting has a distinct language. The names of my paintings are gathered from various human languages to provide an unencumbered visual experience.
       

Maria Ferguson


Desiree Mitchell

Centering on my experience of losing a loved one, my work tells the story of loss, grief, 
and acceptance; feelings that are all experienced personally and shared universally. Music was a 
character during this time as I felt most compelled to self-reflect on the situation at hand. I want 
my work to have a narrative journey. For some pieces, I select the song that embodies the 
emotional content; for other pieces the song itself sparks the imagery. A single song can have 
many different meanings to different people. The same song could also have different 
implications for a single person. Music has an omnipresence of shifting connotation and I want 
to illustrate this idea by the use of homophones to incorporate the audible subtext as well as the 
written significance that the title provides-again linking it to sound, meaning, and perception. 
 As a person changes, the meaning of a song can change-a song that you once thought 
was melancholy can become encouraging and a song that you once viewed as uplifting can 
become dismal. It all depends on time, mood, and perception. The music begins to mimic the 
attitude of your life and it can evolve just as your emotions do upon attaching a song to your 
most prominent memory. The meaning may shuffle but the song and memory always remain the 
same. 



      
Jeff Muncy

Artist Bio
My name is Jefferson Muncy and I was born in Dallas, Texas. I Attended Booker 
T. Washington, High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. After I graduated in 
2010 I moved to Memphis, where I attended Memphis Collage of Art. In 2013 I was 
featured in University of Memphis's “Best of Memphis” Exhibition. I graduated from 
MCA in 2014 with a BFA in painting and minor in Art history. After graduating have 
show work in MCA's Best in Class exhibition, and began working as an instructor in 
Memphis collage of Arts Summer camp where I teach drawing and painting.

Artist Statement
The theme of spirituality is fascinating to me, particularly in Tibetan Buddhist 
culture. In my paintings I strive to represent the core feeling that people get when they 
experience something spiritual or enlightening. Putting the figures or objects in an area 
lacking any implication of environment creates an immediate spiritual experience. In this 
emptiness the figures or objects becomes something holy. A balance results within the 
contrast of putting a tangible figure or object, this is representative of the Buddhist 
concept of “emptiness.” For just as a cup cannot be empty if there is no cup, the tangible 
figure painted within this intangible space are interdependent on the other. It is through 
this balance that I believe the core feeling of spirituality radiates from.

DeeAnn Rieves




Lake Newton

Artist Statement

I consider a work of art illuminating whenever an artist’s view of reality does not double my knowledge of the world, but a difference between our respective perceptions occurs. The smaller the difference, the more intense is its effect on me. Thus, it’s less about a precise representation of reality than the formulation of the representation of the world. From this viewpoint we can talk about the artist as an author who- on the basis of facts and by means of a minimal shift of perception- creates a fiction in close proximity to reality. In the best case, an artist describes not only the situation and objects, but endows them as well with a deeper meaning and lets them transcend themselves with a disturbing and visceral force. This is a powerful trait of art as it deprives us of convictions and poses more questions than it answers. 
In 2012 I began a project titled “On the Surface of Things.” The work is generated using a flatbed scanner and found objects. The process explores my interest in combining the aesthetics of photography, painting and sculpture with that of the chance encounter. The results reveal both identifiable and transformed pieces of everyday life- a rusted tin can taken off an abandoned mining camp in Nevada; the plastic mesh used to protect an Asian pear; book packaging material; a discarded birthday balloon; burnt food stuff from the bottom of an oven, etc.
Bio
Lake Roberson Newton lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2009. Newton has exhibited both nationally and internationally, most recently at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta; Artisphere, Washington, D.C.; Loyola University Maryland; Donna Beam Fine Arts Gallery, Las Vegas; and Staple Goods Gallery, New Orleans.


Cassie Shaver

Biography


Cassie Shaver was born and raised in Northern Illinois and the suburbs of 
Chicago, before moving to Kentucky to go to school and be with her 
family. As an artist, Cassie works towards pushing the boundaries of what 
can be done with printmaking, mixed media, and graphic design, and is 
striving to change peoples perceptions of the craft, as well as focusing on 
an Eco-friendly studio practice. Currently she has just completed her dual 
concentration BFA in Printmaking & Graphic Design, from Eastern 
Kentucky University and is working as a Graphic Designer for the 
Lexington Art League, while exhibiting her artwork nationally.

Artist Statement

LOST is a series that revolves around the idea of someone losing 
their senses. The sense of sight, sound, touch, even the idea of someone 
losing their sense of self. It is the idea of a person being so ashamed of 
their own identity and disability that they try to hide who they are in 
silence, masked; as the world around them continues to thrive. Lost 
within themselves.

In order to portray this idea I’ve created layers of different 
printmaking techniques, collaged items, and digital type, to build the 
pieces into emotional stories. All of the works are starting with a one of a 
kind monotype “under painting” that gives a hint at a braille-like language 
as well as the thriving environment around the central character. Built on 
top are figures, guarded in draped masks built with different folded paper 
or feathers, muffling their senses, but highlighting their disability in an 
idea of self-awareness. In essence it is about embracing a sense of self 
that is lost, and identifying with reality.


Meredith Olinger

My paintings are directly related to the environment in which I live and work. I generally 
work with material that is relevant to my home and city. These are trivial papers mostly: 
ads that get delivered to my house, old newspapers I haven’t thrown out, the yellow 
book that I never looked at, etc. I am troubled by this everyday waste and seek to give 
these items a new life. My process is simple: paint, collage, paint, rip away old collage. 
This process allows older painted areas to resurface and also creates a more organic 
form. I work to give the paintings a sense of history, growth and decay that mimics the 
ever-changing city around me. 
I am also exploring what constitutes a “finished” painting. I am interested in different 
kinds of representation and varying levels of finesse. The paintings are quickly and 
roughly painted. The collage is layered and peeling from the surface. These elements 
become important as they question the nature of craft and the concepts of skill. Process 
is the heart of my work, but I am always looking for beauty in ugliness, meaning in 
chance, and poignancy in the irrelevant. 





Mary Michael Ryan

Bio 
Mary-Michael Ryan is currently working towards a Masters of Fine Arts in 
Painting at Memphis College of Art. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting 
from Christian Brothers University. She has lived in Memphis all of her life. Her work 
is about herself portrayed in various mental states. The issue she focuses on is inner 
turmoil. The paintings are painted in oil paint onto decorative fabric. 

Artist statement 
My work is a statement about psychological illness. I paint nude self-portraits 
with oil paint on fabric. Decorative fabric gives structure to the exposed figures. 
Genitals are shown in a descriptive manner suggesting abuse and sensuality. The gaze is 
heavy and frozen as though crippled by helplessness and depression. Effects of mental 
illness take visual form thru my self-portraits. Disordered thoughts and behaviors become 
believable when figures are stripped down to bare skin and vulnerability is physically 
clear


Tesibius

Artist Statement
   For many of my paintings, I utilize a combination of traditional brushwork with a hands-on screen-printing process in order to reveal how the human experience is the main driver of socially defined beauty. The process I use creates slight deviations in each piece in the same way that nature creates human individuality. This provides me with a result that is both mechanical and organic.

   Highly influenced by advertising, fashion, and street art, I find myself dissecting the image of beauty into its individual parts so that each part by itself could be seen as both abstract and beautiful. I then bring those individual parts together and arrange them to form an image full of lines and rhythms that the eye cannot help but follow. It is this junction between the eye, the brain, and the social construct of beauty that I explore in many of my paintings. In others, I add an element of mathematical code and patterns to the mix for a heightened experience and hidden narrative.

   My color palette is influenced by the eye-catching nature of street art but I strive for an even balance, not allowing the viewer to be distracted by the background or the foreground but allowing the viewer to be fully immersed in the painting. It is during this immersion that I believe the true power and emotion of each painting is revealed.

Biography
   Born in Memphis, TN in 1986, Tesibius cultivated a sense of creativity at an early age through a specialized creative learning program lasting nearly all of his pre-college years, experimenting in various artistic mediums and styles while also becoming a nationally published and award-winning poet at age 11. After moving to Washington, D.C. in 2010 and having worked briefly in politics, he decided to go back to his true love, art. Deriving his name from the Greek inventor, Ctesibius, who created the standard of time keeping used for over 18 centuries, Tesibius got back into artistic mediums by designing clocks. His exploration of clock design, however, was short-lived as he began experimenting more and more with the silkscreen process he used to create the clock faces. Gathering much of his inspiration from the advertising industry, he eventually began creating large pieces with a focus on how the eye and brain work together to perceive beauty as defined by society. This interest in perceived beauty led Tesibius to tear down the normal constructs with precision, leaving behind a flow of lines and rhythm that is both recognizable and abstract. Tesibius believes the canvas then becomes a narrative of the human face, where the viewer can both easily recognize the forms together as beautiful while also seeing the beauty in its individual parts. 

  Originally just painting and printing in his spare time, Tesibius would give his paintings to anyone who vowed to hang them in their house. One day, a friend with several of his pieces pleaded with Tesibius to go public with his paintings after receiving numerous requests for information about the artist. That was put on hold, however, after a motorcycle crash left Tesibius unable to walk for several weeks and led to months of recovery. He was only able to paint one piece during that period of “recovery”, frantically working 8-10 hours a day for over 3 weeks to finish “Pi #1”. The painting, which was painted with his fingers, consists of 610 numbers of Pi read top to bottom, left to right, with numbers 1-9 each assigned their own color, resulting in patterns of color and form that speak to the soul. Something truly changed with Tesibius following both the crash and the fervor of work resulting in “Pi#1” as he began producing paintings like never before, now dedicating every second of every day to art.



Bonnie Gravette

Biography 

Bonnie Gravette is a native Memphian, born in Memphis, Tennessee, home of 
the Blues, on March 2, 1976. As a child, she was drawn to the piano, playing 
and enjoying classical music. In her teenage years, her love of music 
transformed itself into a love for the visual arts. She attended Memphis College 
of Art training in photography, drawing and painting. She graduated in 2004 with 
a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with an emphasis in painting. In the early years 
she studied the classical masters such as Michelangelo, and Leonardo DaVinci 
later striving to duplicate the Impressionist painter Monet. Toward the end of her 
college career, she was pushed to explore her own individual style becoming 
influenced by painters from the Abstract Expressionism and Letterism 
movements. As a result, realism no longer appealed to her taste except through 
the lens of a camera. She was an abstract painter, only capturing the essence of 
her subject. Using her travel studies, including ancient cultural hieroglyphics, the 
strata of the earth, and urban landscapes she found the voice within and her 
subjects began to reflect in intricate layers of mixed media. Bonnie’s art can 
currently be viewed at multi-state law firm Baker-Donelson and at the Uptown 
Apartments in Memphis, TN. She has shown her work in over 20 galleries 
throughout the mid-south. Bonnie is a young, up and coming artist who is 
looking forward to continuing to discover herself through her art, travels and 
much more. 

Artist Statement

Discovery is the spirit of my paintings. The way I create my paintings is 
similar to that of an archeologist. There is an essence of discovery within 
every layer that I add, take away, and reassemble. The work itself 
resembles an artifact, revealing something new within each layer. Just as 
an archeologist finds fragments of an object in the layers of the earth, 
each layer of my painting provides me with a hint of what the next step will 
be in my process. 

Referring to landscapes, ancient maps, hieroglyphs, typography, geology, 
and cultural writings, I create my paintings by layering the paper for 
texture, and then add washes and linear elements to create an abstract 
landscape. When I add earth tones and lines more is revealed, which 
opens doors to new possibilities. I take away by sanding or covering with 
transparent washes, allowing the under painting to show through. I create 
abstract paintings to convey the essence of an object or landscape that 
represents the way something feels when I look at it - its energy field. 
Painting is my form of communication, a way to make better sense of the 
chaotic world around me. 


Claudia Tullos-Leonard

“If you see the world as beautiful, thrilling and mysterious, as I think I do, then 
you feel quite alive.” — David Hockney 

I am enthralled by nature. I am fascinated by the variety of shapes and colors and the fact 
that nature is constantly changing. What attracts me initially is usually a beautiful flower or 
butterfly, but then I find myself pulled into the surrounding space by a decaying leaf, a 
spent seed pod or a new bud. These contrasts captivate me. 

My recent work depicts water lilies, lotus and other plants that thrive in the lakes, ponds 
and marshes of the South. A variety of factors including specific features, shapes, color 
variations or contrasts in lights and darks can influence my decision to paint a particular 
image. However, once engaged in the painting process, I pay as much attention to the 
deepest space or what is under the surface of the water as I do to a brilliantly lit leaf or a 
translucent bloom. The initial attraction gives way to the process of looking intently and 
painting the colors, shapes, light, patterns, complexities and abstractions that I find. 

Painting for me is about the pleasure of looking at things; and, being in nature literally feeds 
my soul. With my paintings, I am attempting to share my experiences in nature with the 
viewer. I hope the viewer feels pulled into the space to explore as I have. 



D'Angelo Williams

I was born and raised in Jackson, MS. During my sophomore year of high school 
I became very serious about making photographs of people. Currently, I am a senior 
Photography major at Memphis College of Art and will be graduating in May 2015.

Artist Statement: 
Many males are faced with challenges while growing into adulthood and 
sometimes feel the need to change something about themselves. Change is common. 
Natural. Unnatural. My work focuses on the dilemmas that some males have with 
conformity, body image, and identity. Dealing with these issues personally has not been a 
walk in the park. At times, I have felt the need to change, mentally and physically, due to 
the differences between myself and other males. In this body of work I was able to do so. 


    

Meghan Vaziri

 Artist Statement 
The foundation of this work lies in white lines sewn symmetrically into tulle 
fabric. This process is undertaken by hand—the lines sewn in rows of two so that 
they can be pulled taut and tied off. This results in a gathering of the fabric. After the 
entire surface is covered with these lines, it is ready for an image to be sewn onto the 
gathered tulle with colored thread of wool, cotton, or silk. I allow the medium to 
guide my process, often experimenting with a thread or mark and later removing it. In 
a medium-sized piece, there are more than one hundred white lines, and the process 
usually takes between three and six months. 

The pieces are generally displayed on hand-made lightboxes, but can also be 
displayed and viewed in other ways: on an unlit lightbox, in a window, or hanging 
from the ceiling. 

The sewing of the straight white lines creates irregularity in the fabric. Tension 
between these two contrasting things is essential as both a literal and figurative 
support for the work. The disorder in the fabric created by the lines makes the surface 
move as I work upon it—creating something akin to a living thing. The way it changes 
under different lights also adds to this illusion. 

I work both abstractly and figuratively. My figurative work features imagery 
from literature and myth along with some personal history. Abstract works are the 
result of the medium guiding my way. 

An example of a figurative work, Rangda depicts my mother and myself with a 
statue of the Balinese witch. I started sewing the Rangda imagery because of the 
power of the topless, threatening statue. I had not closely examined my relationship 
with my mother when I began the piece, nor did I intend to express anything personal 
– but the queen Rangda, turned into the personification of evil by a patriarchal 
society, with her womanly attributes (vagina, sagging breasts) now perceived as 
shameful and frightening, had deep implications both for what my mother presented 
as ideal womanhood and what the reality was for our family. I am grateful to the slow 
and forgiving nature of the medium for allowing much to be mixed into it—often 
resulting in revelations. 


           

Zach Underwood

Memphis-based painter Zack Underwood earned his B.F.A. from the University of Alabama in 2007 and his M.F.A from the University of South Carolina in 2013. His work was recently published in New American Paintings and Studio Visit and can be seen in the upcoming Red Clay Survey at the Huntsville Museum of Art. 

My figurative painting involves the manipulation of found photographs to generate a narrative that addresses my uncertainty about what defines masculinity and adulthood and how photographs can document these questions within time. My recent still lifes are an exploration of the evocative nature of various mundane found objects. 


Amanda Wood

Form to formula
I am deeply inspired by the linear nature of structures and the negative spaces 
created in between them. This work resulted from studies with the interplay of 
lines, intersections, and the negative spaces that resulted from these 
combinations. 

These scaffolding forms appear in my work and serve as reminders that the 
formulas we use as human creators are the same “building blocks” used by 
nature. 

The more I continue to elaborate and express these forms, the more I want to 
express and reinterpret them, and deepen my understanding of the inherent 
formula of form. 




Kaitlyn Stoddard

This collection of photographs is an exploration of the dynamics in varying 
relationships – person to person, animal to animal, and even human to animal. The 
relationship between subject and photographer was just as significant as the 
comparisons made between images. 

 The ambiguity of the images allows them to be relatable to a broad audience 
while questioning the typical perspective. In a time when figures are idealized and 
limitations are put before us, the subtle imperfections and obvious abstractions 
contradict these norms. 

 I discovered in the challenges of this series that the images are as much about 
healing and the process in healing as it as about changing points of view. These 
photos become something that they are not – a refuge in a sense. Vulnerable, we 
seek comfort in another person, therapy in the rhythm of an animal’s heartbeat, or 
even freedom in a new landscape. I believe it is when we are most honest with 
ourselves that we are able to accept our imperfections, change our perspective, and 
truly be the most intimate. 
     

               




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