Mixed Media Magic from Artist Nancy Ward

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Mixed media artist Nancy Jo Ward creates rich, emotionally resonant figurative art using a hybrid approach that includes digital drawing, painting, and the use of gold and silver foils. The approach is an intimate and evocative one that blurs the lines between pixels, paint, and algorithm, she shapes unique images that dive deep within the minds and hearts of her subjects.

Working in a lush color palette, the artist offers archival prints on aluminum which are each hand-finished using acrylics, oils, and pastels. The dreamy, vibrant result is alchemic and graceful. Ward manifests poignant, vivid portraits that speak powerfully to the inner depths of her subjects’ spirit while inviting viewers to partake in an intimate and profound dialog with her subjects. Her passion for color, texture, and movement mesh with a fusion of digital and analog techniques that push beyond conventional artistic boundaries.

Her robust intersection of mediums results in hauntingly lovely work, whose delicacy and depth shape a profound, light-filled grace, one which encourages exploration and transformation within subject and viewer alike. Her images form compelling visual narratives based on contemporary female identities that express emotions ranging from loss and grief to comfort and contemplation.

Frequently working in a rainbow-like palette, she often uses female subjects to create her fluid, lustrous works. Ward has appeared innumerous exhibitions internationally and within the U.S.  Her experimental video Aura won an award at the 13th Concorso d’Arte Donne in Rinascita in Milan, Italy in March of this year. Most recently, she’s joined 57 other talented artist in an exhibition held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan, which ran June 15-20th.

Watch for more from this artist who successfully merges the human spirit with technologically driven as well as analog processes to create a fresh new world of portraiture and personal exploration.

  • Written by Genie Davis; images provided by the artist

When Art Is Magic – The Arcade of Hypermodernity

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“Oh Sandy, the aurora is risin’ behind us/ This pier lights our carnival life on the water…” – Bruce Springsteen

Now at Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Camarillo through, July 27th, curators Jason Jenn and Vojislav Radovanovic create a new kind of carnival life, one that offers its own bright aurora, an interactive world that morphs technology into magic and the rush of modern life and angst into a spiritual and sensual experience.

Exhibiting artists CARLOS LUNA JAMES,  CHENHUNG CHEN, CHRIS TOWLE, EDWIN VASQUEZ, EUGENE AHN, GIRLACN, GREGORY FRYE, IBUKI KURAMOCHI, ISMAEL DE ANDA III, JASON HEATH, JASON JENN, JEFF FROST, JENNIE E PARK, JODY ZELLEN, JOSEPH CARRILLO, KAREN HOCHMAN BROWN, LESLIE FOSTER, LIBERTY WORTH, MATTHEW PAGOAGA, R SKY PALKOWITZ, and VOJISLAV RADOVANOVIĆ each shape a miraculous exhibition that invites viewers to partake of a literal art arcade, touching, playing, dancing, and yes, even inhaling the scent of the art.

It’s a pure wow of an exhibition, one that vibrates with energy, a passion for perfromance, romance, the ridiculous, and the sublime. Just as I struggled to decide where to start when wandering through this treasure trove of an exhibition, I also struggle now with how best to describe an experience that is meant to be – experienced.

The curators aptly describe the show as a “vibrant playground of ideas, focusing on the intersection of art, technology, and imagination….it explores the limits of human capability and what is now possible and in a state of major change within this new era of life globally connected online, and the evolution of artificial intelligence.”

And does it ever explore. Equal parts fantasy and futuristic window, the show is visually dazzling but also robustly meaningful. What does it mean to be human? To feel, enjoy, experience? What does it mean to think without being told what to think or how to behave? What does it mean to feel one’s humanity without conforming to political or social structures that limit or lie? How will technology change us, how has it already? Where are we going, and where have we been?

It’s a carnival of art, and a circus of ideas.  Some works are sculptural, as are Chenhung Chen’s flowering burst of wire and cable and found objects, “Currents.”

Some are sculptural forms that move, changing in multi-colored lights, mixing a traditional toy that evokes a carnival kiddie ride with fantastical portraiture, as does Vojislav Radovanovic’s take on car culture, “Phantom Traffic I (The Collectors), Phantom Traffic II (Library Girl), and Phantom Traffic III (West Coast Vibes).”

There are steampunk extravaganzas that twist and turn from Chris Towle, whose five elaborate and engaging works here include a silicone film prop, “Kraken,” and a crazy cool clockwork-type piece, “Teatime Movement.”

Edwin Vasquez offers an interactive, mixed media “Shooting Range” that also serves as a trenchant commentary on American gun fetishism.

Gregory Frye’s dazzling fiber optics and mixed media work, a freestanding fortune-telling creature called “Frank Fortune” seems ready to walk out of the gallery, even as it dazzles the eye and the spirit.

Girlacne’s “Body Électrique” wall art is a sinuous mix of LED, wire, and zip ties that undulates with light and shadow.

Ibuki Kuramochi’s ” Eggscapes” gives viewers a mystical VR metaverse to plunge inside – and then rehatch from within.

At the June 1st opening, we were also able to view a stunning performance art and dance from Kuramochi, performed outdoors to a rapt audience.

Her sense of visual poetry embodied themes of birth, rebirth, loss, and revival, all relevant to the exhibition itself.

 

Presenting a terrific, riveting series of altnerating images, Ismael de Anda III & Eugene Ahn use video projection, AR, and a vinyl dance floor to spin their “Dancing Wu-Li Masters.”

Jason Jenn’s lush, fecund “Ye Ol’ Factory Station (Homage to Sir Joseph Paxton),” includes elements scented with essential oils that conjur up forests and fantasies.

Karen Hochman Brown’s “Circuitry” offers a geometric display of digital frames and cords that resemble luminous eyes.

SKY Palkowitz’ “ALIEN ARCADE UFP Unidentified Flying Pyramid – Classified: Pleiades Starship 444 – Codename: Elohim,” invites viewers to stand beneath this mysterious shape, and view its black-lit and transportive interior.

There are mysterious and magical video works from Leslie Foster, and the vivid palette of Jeff Frost…

…a motion-activated low-tech piece from Jennie E. Park…

a thought-provoking digital “film strip” from Jodi Zellen.

Viewers also get to explore Joseph Carrillo’s musically driven “The Arcade Fantasy,” as well as Mathew Pagoaga’s exciting video game-centered, multiple installation “Trust.”

Carlos Luna James superb and transformative “OPTIMUS” AR activation,  one of two dynamite pieces the artist has here, is an innovative mind-blower. Take a look below:

And these are by no means every piece on display. Each work and each artist offers something quite wonderful, strange, special, and unique – you will not see these works elsewhere. If you saw the DTLA-recreation of Luna Luna Amusement Park, originally created in Germany by seminal artists of that time,  you could easily imagine The Arcade of Hypermodernity as such a revered classic of the future. It’s spectacular, and just a whole lot of fun.

While this exhibition pays tribute to the idea and reality of arcades and midways, it also serves as an homage to this quintessential moment in time, one in which our creativity, our humanity, our playfulness, are all on the verge of great change. There is the expansive possibility of technology, and conversely the dulling of our capacity for connectivity and intimacy through its remoteness.  Can we embrace great change without it forever changing us? How much have we changed already, and become hybrids of the human and the inhuman as the price of simply staying alive? How can our creativity, the root from which our humanity springs, still define us?

Walk through this arcade and you’ll find hope, happiness, and as many questions as answers. You’ll find the magic that makes art live and the art that makes the magic. Now go wave a wand, or get on the freeway – whatever works for you – and go see this show. “Frank Fortune” is waiting to tell your future.

Studio Channel Islands Art Center is located at 2222 Ventura Blvd, in Camarillo. For hours, schedule of artist’s talks and other activations, as well as directions, click here.  

  • Written by Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

 

Mixing It Up: A Vibrant Palette of Memory at Shockboxx

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Buzzing with lively energy,  the group exhibition Mixtape, now at ShockBoxx Gallery in Hermosa Beach brings the invigorating result of an international open art call to life while stirring up some good ol’ B-side nostalgia. Remember years ago when you carefully and painstakingly curated a mix of your favorite songs and recorded them on cassette tapes? Such a task was executed with the hope of eliciting the perfect mood to match the handwritten titles scribbled onto their plastic cases with a ballpoint pen.  Artist Laurel Meister’s linoleum block print illustrates this nostalgic fun when “Sexy Time” and “Songs to Cry To” were in rotation along with “2 Good 2 B True” and “Fresh Crush Mix.” It was about the journey, not just the destination.  

 Laurel Meister’s Mixtape inspired print,  “A Love story as told from the passenger seat of an 88′ Mustang.”

But what does Mixtape really mean for this exhibition? Is there just a bunch of art with boomboxes and portraits of famous musicians? There is some of that, yes. Like Meister; Ariel Cohen’s painting “Skanktuary;” and James Frost’s “Little Mermaid (Lady Gaga),” each of which lean into the more literal understanding of the theme. 

 James Frost with his lush and lovely painting, “Little Mermaid (Lady Gaga).” 

Ariel Cohen with “Skanktuary.”

But what the jury happily stumbled upon when culling over 400 submissions, was that most artists had their own interpretation of what Mixtape meant to them.

“Ice Cream Girls” by photographer Alain Bali. 

Punk rock had a big impact on French culture and fashion photographer Alain Bali,as he documented musicians touring Europe in the 80s, from The Clash to the Sex Pistols. It was a time where street photography was minimally edited and imperfections on film were celebrated. Here, Ice Cream Girls catches some mid-lick side eye in a grainy black and white double portrait.

Eileen Oda’s intricate and delicately rendered pencil drawing “Soul Food” also captures  a street scene in black and white. Her warm urban scene gives viewers a look at a tableau that gets to the heart and soul of a specific place, and moment, in time.

Zoe Blackman’s oil on canvas work, “Hereditary,” places a nude self-portrait holding hands with her childhood-created character, Heartman, in front of every youngster’s favorite fast-food icon, McDonald’s. The play on American culture, personal life experiences and fictitious characters create a narrative that teeters somewhere between light-hearted and possibly grave circumstances that makes this an intriguing mix all its own.

The curation of the selected works is a mixtape in its own right, flowing with bold color waves, texture and 3-dimensional storytelling . “Summer Dreaming,”  a vibrant scene using acrylic on a ceramic plate by Theodosia Marchant sets this tone with a black female figure dynamically placed amid the clouds, a rainbow and floral accents. This sunshine-y work hangs over a playfully tactile ceramic sculpture by artist Karl Hauser.

Alison McMahon with her life drawings at the ShockBoxx Mixtape opening.

Hermosa Beach native Alison McMahon, a staple in the ShockBoxx community of artists, took the mixtape theme to the next level with a whole slew of unframed life drawings and watercolor paintings featuring musicians who performed live in the South Bay.  McMahon’s ability to capture the soul of artists like Zeal Levin, V Torres, Steve Aguilar, and Emily V among others, covers a single wall and plunges viewers into a recognizable rock n’ roll past.

Somaya Etamad [left] standing next to her sold work on opening night alongside myself [center] and Mike Collins. [right]

The diverse and vibrant works in this exhibition may recall the past, but they also ably reflect the future with what gallerist Mike Collins describes as “the ever growing community of artists and art patrons that call ShockBoxx home.”

Mike Collins [right] discussing his work with guests at the Mixtape opening.

Above: While nostalgia for a mixtape rings true across the board for most Gen Xers, these tiny humans are way too young to have experienced such a thing. It was fun to watch them take in the artwork and make some summations of their own.

Jennifer Nerio, “Can of Snacks.”

Above all else, Mixtape is about memory, and the ways in which a personal recollection can also be a universal one.

This exhibition reminds us not only of a moment in time where movies, fashion and big hair were breaking the rules, but a time when a musical compilation was a source of identity, a snapshot of our drive to create something soulful, emotive, meaningful or just plain fun. It’s a representation of something that was put out into the world and into the hands of someone you loved, or better yet, into your own hands. And this tape won’t unravel at your favorite song, as ShockBoxx thumbs through the archives, remastering and continuing the anthology. 

Mixtape runs through Sunday, July 7th at 636 Cypress Avenue, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. See the gallery’s instagram for open hours or email info@shockboxxproject.com for appointments. The exhibition can also be viewed online via Artsy here.

Written by: Aimee Mandala

Photos: Aimee Mandala, ShockBoxx, Matthew Alceves, Kelly Capouya, Theodosia Marchant, Genie Davis.