ART SPACE Corey Ake
Story by Brenda Baugh / Ponca City Monthly Contributing Writer Photos contributed by Artist
The artwork of Cory Ake is dreamlike, mystical and surreal. Even though he takes his craft and apprenticeship extremely serious, that does not translate to the canvas or in the subject matter. An octopus in a wine glass. Flowers floating through a sky of stormy clouds. Pirate ships navigating fluffy white clouds. His artwork is a place where a person can get lost for hours.
How would you describe your artwork? “I would describe my artwork as filled with symbolism. A painted biography of my life. One giant story,” stated Ake. All of his oil paintings are related to one another and are in chronological order of his life. Each painting’s subject matter includes current events in the world along with the events that
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Artist Cory Ake On the second floor of the Royalty Building is a space that is not like any other office throughout Kay County. The waiting room has a couch, end tables and a television. Seems normal? However, the walls of this waiting room are covered from floor to ceiling with action figures still in the original packaging and the TV. is connected to a gaming system. This waiting room is not full of children’s toys, but full of a collector’s prized possessions. While taking this all in, there is a faint buzzing sound coming from just behind another door on the other side of the entrance. This is the waiting room for Studio 205. The door opens and a man with a mask walks into the room. The mask covers his mouth, but his eyes are smiling and a feeling of being welcomed encompasses the entire room. The man with the smiling eyes is Cory Ake and he takes social distancing and public health very seriously.
“Sheng De” October 2020
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