Page 17 - April 2016

creaTion Through coMMuniTy
FLAGSTAFF ChooSeS ThIS yeAr’S LoCAL CoLor
FROM LEFT: The functional ceramic art of Erin Gooch and the nude paintings of Amorell Demmert are featured in “Local Color 2016.”
STory By
clair anna rose
While often times art is chosen for a show by a curator or a jury, “Local Color 2016” at Coconino Center for the Arts, is an exhibition of works by artists chosen by the Flagstaff community.
The process for the selection of artists is interesting in itself. An initial six “core” artists were chosen for the show, two by nomination and community votes, two by the 24 artists from “Local Color 2014,” and the last two by the Arts Advisory Council, a group of volunteer artists
who advise the Center on art and exhibitions.
each of the six “core” artists then selected three artists to display work in “Local Color.” There
were only two guidelines for choosing artists: they needed to be local and they couldn’t have been in “Local Color 2014.” The Flagstaff Arts Council didn’t even have a say in the selection of artists. Instead the show demonstrates the connection between artists within our community.
One “core” artist chosen for this year’s “Local Color” is painter Kayley Quick, also known by the moniker Kayley Monster. Over the years, Ms. Quick has been an integral part of the arts community — a founding member of Circus Bacchus and the Circlet sisters, she also helped begin the Indigo Arts Collective, a group dedicated to promoting local art and “creating a hopeful and viable future through art-based programs, community outreach and artistic collaborations.” Once a month Ms. Quick and other Indigo Arts Collective artists hold the Indigo Art Market at the Green Room during the First Friday Artwalk, giving artists a space to show their work and be introduced to the community.
In her senior year of high school Ms. Quick became interested in painting. she had been drawing since she was a small child, but found a new challenge in painting. “Painting is such a different task for me than drawing with a pen and pencil,” she describes.
Ms. Quick’s versatile style of painting, and talent for live painting projects may be attributed to the flexibility she finds in experimenting with as many mediums as possible. “I’m constantly inspired by other’s work and it’s really hard not to incorporate all of the fantastic work out there into my own,” she shares. “I use a variety of 2D mediums depending on the type of work I’m currently creating. These include watercolors, acrylics, oils, pencils, illustrating, collage and graphic programs like Photoshop and Illustrator.”
As a graphic design teacher at Flagstaff High school, Ms. Quick demonstrates her support and love for the arts to the next generation. “I take the approach from a variety of angles,” she says of her teaching. “At a young age I think technique is a super important topic. self- expression is wonderful, but it’s really hard to self-express without the tools (or technique) to choose how to express. I try to create assignments involving a lot of choices for them. every assignment given to them involves their own artistic choices. This allows a lot of very distinct styles to begin to evolve from my students. watching their styles mature over the year (or sometimes years) is really amazing.”
Chosen for “Local Color” through public nomination, Ms. Quick says she is flattered to be chosen, and grateful for the support shown by friends, family and the community. “It gave me a lot of confidence as an artist to see people valued my work enough to share it with others andvoteeveryday,”Ms.Quicksays. “Therewasoneotherartistselectedthroughpopularvote
— her name is Natalie Reed-Goehl. she’s a very inspiring ceramicist and I’m glad to share the public nomination with her.”
On display in the show Ms. Quick will have two of her Betta fish paintings. “I’ve been enamored by the way fish move for a while now, specifically Betta fish,” she says of her subjects. “They move so freely and gracefully. They flow in the water with an abundance of color. It’s
really hard not to want to paint them.”
As a painter Ms. Quick tells me she’d like to further explore topics of movement and story
in her art. “Two-dimensional work is completely static, but paint has such a unique way of capturing motion and time if done correctly,” she describes. “I would like to dig deeper into these ideas and explore how far I can take them.”
As a “core” artist Ms. Quick had the gift of choosing three additional artists for local color. “They are all strong artists and I am constantly amazed and moved when watching them create,”
A California native, Ms. Gooch moved to Flagstaff to study ceramics at northern Arizona University, and like many before her, fell in love with the town and has decided to stay. she recently got accepted into the Master of Fine Arts Program at northern Arizona University and will begin her studies in the fall.
Her bold colors and fun shapes make Ms. Gooch’s pottery unique. she finds inspiration for her pieces in different textures and patterns seen on fabrics, in magazines and in day- to-day occurrences.
“I first began working with my hands when I was very young. From play dough to porcelain I have grown to love making fun and functional pieces,” Ms. Gooch says of her art. “I was inspired by my mother from a young age and my artistic style stems from her graphic design background. when I sit down to make a piece, I simply work with the clay and adapt to the form I’ve made when decorating. no two pieces are decorated the same, which is a fun quality I think keeps my work new and exciting.”
The pieces Ms. Gooch will be showing at “Local Color” feature some of her functional work Sassy Salt & Pepper Shakers, and Green Bowl and Plate Set. “They are more intimate and can be enjoyed in the home more easily,” Ms. Gooch describes. Also on display are decorative works.
“The Wall Pillow Whimsy piece is a new transition from functional to decorative work,” she describes. “It is a series of slipcase porcelain ‘pillow’ forms, which are hung on the wall to create a pattern within themselves. some are solid in color, while others are ornately decorated to provide an interesting focal point. The scale of this piece is also exciting to me, as it has broken my boundaries of smaller functional pieces.”
Though she prefers to work in oils, Amorell Demmert is currently working in pastels. she grew up in the Midwest and received her baccalaureate after attending University of Dayton, new York University and Kent state University. At nAU she received a second degree in nursing and is currently working towards a master’s degree in science.
A realist painter, Ms. Demmert often has received commissions for portraits, but when painting for herself she always comes back to the nude female form. “Art is traditionally a male- dominated profession, and we live in a patriarchal society,” she says. “Between art and media, women have been taught to accept and conform to the epitome of femininity defined by men for centuries. My work with the female nude is an effort of reclamation of the female nude for women. It critiques expectations of the female form, referencing contemporary ideals while speaking within an art historical context.”
A project Ms. Demmert has been forming in her mind is a series of strong women in Flagstaff, and the selected pieces for “Local Color” are the first in this series, which she hopes to grow. “I interview the women posing about what makes them feel strong, confident, powerful and beautiful,” Ms. Demmert says. “I try to work this all into the piece. In essence, I’m ‘subjectifying’ the model for work that is, by definition, an objectification of the female form. This creates a duality in the work. I also really enjoy the juxtaposition it creates — the expectation of the female nude is to see a submissive, demure female model, but instead, I’m showing you feminine strength and confidence.”
“Local Color 2016” will show a broad spectrum of the art being created in Flagstaff. Art educators Janeece Henes, Alan Petersen and Candice Methe Hess are chosen artists in the show, along with Rena Hamilton, William Ambrose, Billy Fefer, Leancy Rupert, Robert Dalegowski, Chip Thomas, Geoffrey Gross, Jason Bohnert, Chelsea Tinklenberg, Steve Schaeffer, Brian Painter, Bruce Aiken, Bruce Horn and Emma Gardner.
“Local Color,” opens with a public reception saturday April 23 at Coconino Center for the Arts from 6-8PM. The exhibition will remain on display through May 28. FlagArtsCouncil.org
she says of the artists she selected: Erin Gooch, Amorell Demmert and McKenzie Dankert.
| Clair Anna rose is resplendent with Betta splendens. clair@thenoise.us
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • APRIL 2016 • 17