R E S O U N D Joan Arrizabalaga, Edw Martinez, Jim McCormick, Robert Morrison, Elaine Parks, Nancy Peppin, Fred Reid, Michael Sarich December 15 - January 8, 2016 at the Holland Project Gallery 140 Vesta St. Reno, NV
Resound highlights work by eight artists whose influence has shaped the art in our region. They are our chosen teachers, whose work ethic and continuous practice have set high standards, and whose presence in our culture and lives is cherished. We have learned from them while taking classes at UNR, hanging around Raku firings, reading their essays, and viewing their work at the City of Reno, UNR, the NMA, and in a double-wide gallery just outside of Eureka. Resound seeks to convey the importance of this work in our community as well as in a larger scale of contemporary artwork. As curators, we wish to bring both the artists and their work to the Holland Project Gallery so that they may continue to inspire young artists and resound through our community. -Alana Berglund, Megan Kay, and Michelle Lassaline
Joan Arrizabalaga How does your creative process begin? Inspiration comes from everywhere: walking down the street, history, standing in the shower....and I’d like to steal from Micheal Sarich. What influences your work? I build the basic structure and then I gather together way too many possible materials and eliminate them one by one while taking advantage of any unforeseen occurrences. What is your favorite place you’ve traveled? London, Morocco, Venice, Turkey
Edw Martinez What influences your work? As an artist, everything around you, all your experiences will influence your work. It is just that sometimes, we may not realize it-or admit it. And then, bingo! …there it is! I like to use the term, “interests”. Many of the things that I have a long term-short term interest in, and there are lots of them, will often find it’s way into what I am doing. And, folks looking at my art can probably see what those general or specific interests are. “The direction of my work is self-referential and reflects many varied life, work, travel and visual experiences, mostly good, a few bad. Most of my objects have a story to tell and usually have a figurative reference, melding the past, sometimes the primordial or archaic) with current conditions, references, and connections.” How does your creative process begin? Today, I do not know how it begins. Whether it is a mental image, a little idea in your head or what. In the past, it was the work itself. Looking at what I had done, would suggest the next step, then something else. Now today, maybe it is a little of both. In any case, one thing leads to another and then another. I think I am fortunate in that I never run out of ideas. Of course, many of those ideas are not that great. (as Bob Morrison and I would joke, “two bit ideas instead of a silver dollar idea”) I do not think I have ever experienced that infamous “writer’s block” that we read about. There is always something you think about doing, but a lot of it never gets done because of time, or that there is always something more, another two bit idea.
What is your favorite place you have traveled? Because it is a place I keep mentioning in my so-called self-styled legend, telling the same story over and over again, I will say for now, Oaxaca, Mexico. It was in Oaxaca in 1960, sitting on a iron bench in the central plaza (the bench is still there) that I made the momentous decision that when I returned to the United States, I was going to make art (or what do you want to do when you grow up?) I did not get back to Oaxaca for another twenty years, but now try to go there every Oct-Nov for the Day of the Dead celebrations. In fact, for the last 16 out of 18 years I have returned. The two exceptions, were when I went to Venice Italy for the occasion of the Art Biennale. Although I must admit that because of changes over the years, Oaxaca has lost a little of it’s appeal for me. So, if multi-return trips might indicate a favorite foreign place, then Venice. And Istanbul. And Seville. And Barcelona. And do you want to know my least favorite place? Barstow, California. DO NOT ever spend a night there. So there you have it. Check out my website, although I have not updated it in years. Plus, Joan and I have a recent 100 page catalog published by the Churchill Art Council after our last exhibit there.
Jim McCormick How does your creative process begin? When I’m not thinking about the creative process. I find water to be a promising catalyst; ideas begin to flow, so to speak, when I’m standing in a shower, listening to rain splattering on a window or in other moist hangouts. Can’t explain the phenomenon. Don’t really want to. Can’t teach it. The curious thing is fifty-five years ago I settled on the perimeter of the Great Basin, a decidedly arid region. What influences your work? I don’t work as if I’m peering into a mirror nor relying on a shopping list. In the past when a mentor, a teacher, an artist has been close by, I have felt the privilege of that association ~ yet I have tended to move away sooner rather than later, lest I pale in his or her shadow. I have occasionally been saddened when I’ve had to finally admit that an influential artist or imagery is no longer serving me well ~ break and move on. What is your favorite place you’ve traveled? I drove across Reno one night many years ago to catch a performance by Ella Fitzgerald at John Ascuaga’s Nugget. She had an annoying head cold, yet sung her heart out for the full set. I held up for a month in a small trailer in the near-ghost town of Darwin, California, near Death Valley ~ and absorbed the din of silence, drew and quit smoking in the process. My wife, Loretta, and I took a boat out of Guilin, China, and up the Li River. During the journey, I finally understood that the painters of that region were not exaggerating when they depicted the spikey limestone peaks on either side of the river in their atmospheric watercolors. Perhaps, the totality of life can be a favorite place to travel.
Robert Morrison How does your creative process begin? The real question is “How do you get the creative process to stop?”As an artist it’s almost impossible to shut down the creativity once you take the path. Sometimes just having a conversation with someone becomes almost impossible because of the persistence of “brilliant ideas”. My friend and colleague Edw Martinez claims to need a foil cap to fend off his creative thoughts. In many respects creativity can resemble ADD (attention defeceit disorder) put to good use. I suppose the most important aspect of creativity comes from the process of developing the work and solving the problems that arise in the making process. I think I inevitably find myself asking “what if?” at the beginning of a project. What influences your work? Honestly, it’s probably the work of other artists. I am a real fan of the art world and often find the paths others have followed too puzzling or strange to be inspirational. I’m sure that environment, materials and history play a role in what ideas I pursue in my work. Most of my work has been based on collecting cultural connections and autobiographical events. I ususlly turn these thoughts in to big, expensive, labor intensive projects. Recently however, I have been working without big project ambition. My artwork isn’t really like work. It’s more like art play.
What is your favorite place you’ve traveled? Denmark. I spent 6 months in Denmark. While there I was connected with my Danish heritage. I spent much of that time not speaking. This affected my interest in sound as a sculptural element. I then spent the next thirty years exploring sound installation sculpture.
Elaine Parks How does your creative process begin? My ideas are usually generated by materials. I am inclined to pick up natural and discarded objects and keep them around until there is a connection to something I’ve been thinking about. I am attracted to all manner of natural matter and man-made objects that are sculpted by the same forces that shape the l andscape. Sometimes I don’t find the kind of thing I’m looking for, so I make it in clay - the ultimate chameleon material. I try not to have a predetermined idea, especially if I’m starting a new series. I let one thing lead to another and the inherent quality of materials drives the idea until formal and symbolic concerns become evident. What influences your work? The natural landscape is a big influence on my work, particularly the hybrid of natural and man made environments, where landscape is neither entirely natural nor entirely generated by the processes of “civilization.” This grey area in between natural and man made is fascinating to me. I am currently working on a series that has to do with family history and reforming memories to be new and possibly made up. I am using objects accumulated through out my parents’ lives - some that reflect actual family history and some random materials, collected for a possible future use. These hoarded finds are directing the flow of my new series.
What is your favorite place you’ve traveled? There is a tie of three, Ireland, Greece and Japan. Outside of the cities, in Ireland and Greece here is a sense that the land/water dominates. It has been a number of years since I was in any of these places, but at that time, the traveler’s convenience was not paramount. I was grateful to have to adapt to whatever structure was in place and be able to slow down and take in the breathtaking scene in front of me. Japan has such a time honored reverence of the landscape that it comes through in their cultural production. I appreciate this quality, as I try to live that way, especially in Los Angeles, as a way to cope.
Nancy Peppin February 9, 1945 - June 22, 2015 The curators of Resound wish to honor Nancy’s life and work in this exhibition. We have been influenced by her as students at TMCC and UNR, during community events, and while hiking through the hills behind Rancho San Rafael. We miss her and wish that we could have interviewed her in person. Below is a short excerpt from a 2013 Huffington Post article, “Nancy Peppin, Twinkie Artist Chronicles FourDecade Obsession.” Her Audubon series on the “North American Twinkie (twinkopus hostus)” includes illustrations of three important subspecies: Creambellied Twinkie, Strawberry-throated Twinkie, Golden-backed Twinkie, as well as writings describing the “birds” and explaining their migration patterns. “Twinkies radiate out from the spring St. Louis breeding area to the summer nesting habitats throughout the world. Populations are heaviest in the North American 7-11 meridian.”
Fred Reid How does your creative process begin? I go to the studio and go to work. What influences your work? Music and memory. What is your favorite place you’ve traveled? Black rock desert (without flaming assholes) and on to the high rock canyon.
Michael Sarich How does your creative process begin? Keeping an active studio practice. “Rule 7. The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things.” - John Cage and Sister Corita Kent What influences your work? I am basically a storyteller telling stories through layers of marks and imagery. My work is influenced by life, religion, popular culture, and my own personal experiences. What is your favorite place you’ve traveled? Köln, Germany