Bradd Skubinna with items from the homes of fellow local artists.
visual art
young kwak photo
Bits and Baubles The Saranac Gallery shows off the things that inspire its own artists By Leah Sottile
I
t’s 10 o’clock in the morning on a Tuesday, and Bradd Skubinna and Larry Ellingson are standing in the bathroom. It’s hardly your average john: there are no tubes of toothpastes or bars of soap in sight. The walls of Ellingson’s bathroom are covered in Peruvian retablos, demonic masks, and just off the corner of the tub, a fullsized terra-cotta warrior from China. Skubinna, a fellow member of the Saranac Art Projects, a local nonprofit artist cooperative, has stopped
by to paw through Ellingson’s house. He walks in and out of the bedrooms, meanders through his living room. It’s something Ellingson has agreed to for the purposes of one of two art exhibits happening this month at the Saranac — a show called ARTifacts. The idea behind the show is to offer a glimpse into the minds of the artists of the Saranac, but this time not through the work they do. Skubinna, as juror, walks through the homes and studios of each of the co-op’s
21 artists, picking interesting objects that they surround themselves with. “Doing another show of our work seemed kind of boring,” Skubinna says. “It would be more interesting to choose things people have around them.” In some cases, the objects are “creative touchstones”: things that inspire each artist. In others, it might be an object they look past every day that simply jumps out at ...continued on next page Skubinna.
JULY 4, 2013 INLANDER 25