TASIMJAE 2012 Wrap Up

TASIMJAE

THE ART STUDIO,INC.MEMBERS JURORED ART EXHIBITION

Amy Faggard, above, earned first place in TASIMJAE 2012 for her piece, “Fragmented Forms #3.”

THE ART STUDIO,INC.Member Jurored Art Exhibition opened April 7. The show traditionally showcases the best of the members’ work. This year’s juror was Branden Morris, gallerist and art of culture director at the Museum of Cultural Arts, Houston.

Morris selected 58 works for the show.

The following is a breakdown of those pieces that placed and Morris’ critique of each.

FIRST PLACE: AMY FAGGARD “FRAGMENTED FORMS #3”

This piece had an immediate impact on me. It’s an attention grabber in the way that an optical illusion makes you stop and examine closer. This piece has amazing depth and lots of detail that pushes your mind to wonder how the artist brought this piece together. The colors are vivid and the detail is exquisite. I truly enjoyed looking at this piece and I feel that Amy has done a great job of stretching the imagination!

SECOND PLACE: KAILEE VIATOR “GOLD DUST WOMAN”

I’m not from Texas. However, I can appreciate a good animal skull every once in a while. I thought this piece was a playful type of morbid that allowed me to deduce my own meaning from its content. The artist did a good job with her use of symbolism showing a familiar contemporary artistic style. I can appreciate her use of texture to add to her story and the background colors are subtle with the use of the gold as a nice contrast.

THIRD PLACE: ALLISON REHO “SUNKEN SEAT”

If you’ve ever gone through a bad break-up, losing your job, or some other manic-depressive event in your life, you can appreciate this piece. This artist does a great job portraying a scene of good ol’-fashioned misery and the healing process that ensues. The person and the armchair have become one as the cats gather to try and comfort. The ability to effectively bring this across through sculpture shows the skill level of the artist. Looking forward to see what other emotional chords this artist is able to strike within me!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: CALEB SIMS “WINE PARTY”

This piece has very clean lines and good color contrast while depicting a realistic scene. The introduction of the NASA astronaut in full spaceman attire is a fitting theme for this general area. In a time when our national space program goes through budget cuts and restructuring, the irony speaks volumes!

SARAH VONKAIN “3412”

This piece was a mild combination of old world art nouveau with a pop art feel that I felt would be a nice addition to the exhibition. It’s a nice blending of colors with a familiar technique that I can really appreciate.

JODI HEBERT “MIRROR DRAWING (WOMAN BATHING)”

Iloved the concept in this piece. The skewed visual of a woman taking a bath brought back images I’ve encountered in my past. Things like the reflection in the faucet handle added necessary detail to help bring the image together. I like the medium and canvas selections as they really play well off of each other. I’ll be very interested to see where this artist takes us next!

Jodi Hebert’s “Mirror Drawing (Woman Bathing),” right, earned honorable mention in TASIMJAE 2012.

Kailee Viator, below, earned second place for “Gold Dust Woman.”

Sara VonKain earned honorable mention for “3412,” below right.

Allison Reho earned thrid place for her ceramic, “Sunken Seat,” far left, and Caleb Sims earned honorable mention for “Wine Party,” center left, in TASIMJAE 2012.