Page 16 - the NOISE August 2013

Magritte’s Dreams by cover artist Greg Mason, whose workshop is a stop during Flagstaff Open Studios.
BiRd iS the WoRd
The home studio of artist Gregory Mason is an assemblage artist’s playground. On every surface and every wall are a spatter- ing of antique and collectable treasures, and some good old-fashioned junk. Compasses, a tin Ferris wheel, plastic statues of saints and many different things with eyes in unex- pected places, are a few of the objects that catch my eye as I wander around, taking ev- erything in.
“I grew up in Anthony, Kansas, a little farm- ing community southwest of Wichita,” Mr. Ma- son tells me about himself and his upbring- ing. “I raised wheat and cattle there until I was 40. From 1991-2000 I lived in Santa Fe, NM. During that time I was involved with a couple of galleries, serving as the director of one. In 2000 I re-met a friend whom I had dated in high school; it had been 30-plus years since we had seen each other. A whirl- wind romance ensued, and Judy and I were married three months later. After a brief interlude in Wichita, Judy was offered a po- sition with Flagstaff Medical Center, and we moved here in 2001.”
“My folks, besides being hard working farm- ers, dealt in fine antiques,” he tells me about his family. “Growing up around beautiful fur- niture and objects gave me an appreciation for fine arts and crafts, and also served as the catalyst for my becoming a collector.”
Mr. Mason tells me how he first began cre- ating assemblage art. “I have always had a knack for creating tableaux from my various collections of cast-offs and whimsies,” he says.
“But I guess I made my first assemblage art 30- some years ago on my farm in Kansas. It was a sculptural fire pit welded together out of various machinery parts. I didn’t realize it was
found-object assemblage art. I was just mak- ing do with what I had in my scrap pile. Later, I became interested in “real” assemblage art when I discovered the artist, Joseph Cornell in an art history course.”
“I had a desire to create functional art, clocks and lamps primarily, and I had been collecting cast-off treasures for decades,” he continues. “Found-object assemblage was a serendipitous fit. Over the past few years I became more interested in collage and be- gan incorporating it in my assemblages and clocks, until finally in the last year I began cre- ating collage for its own sake. I like the free- dom afforded by collage, the ability to tell a story, no matter how far-fetched.”
His most recent series featured very hand- some looking birds in old-fashioned finery, superimposed over recognizable works of art. He tells me how this series unfolded.
“This series originally began as cabinet photo portraits from the late 19th century collaged upon icons of contemporary art,” he says. “That idea turned out to be utterly bor- ing and I was about to scrap the project when I decided to incorporate a bird head into the mix; it registered fairly high on my eccentric- ity meter, and I decided to go with it. I have been drawn to the idea of the Birdman for many years. Many cultures speak of a bird- man in their myths and folklore. The birdman strikes me as an enigmatic figure, slightly scary in its alien-ness, yet seemingly benevo- lent. How could a goldfinch be dangerous?”
The artist tells me about one of his newer pieces in particular, DeChirico Sensed an Enig- ma. “A very dapper birdman leans upon a ter- restrial globe while gazing towards the stars. He appears to be experiencing a contem- plative moment, perhaps he feels he traded
too much for the trappings of civilization, or maybe he merely wants to head south for the winter.”
The new collages of Gregory Mason can be seen through August 31, at the Coconino Center for the Arts, “Flagstaff Opens Stu- dios Tour Prelude,” and also at Brandy’s Res- taurant where a sister “Prelude,” show is on display. On August 24 and 25, Mr. Mason takes part in the Artists’ Coalition of Flag- staff’s Flagstaff Open Studios Tour. He’ll be opening his studio, located at 4387 Burning Tree Loop, for the public to visit and see his art. SurrealTime.net
flagStaff open StudioS touR
Every summer the public is invited to take a self-guided tour through the town of Flag- staff, and even out to the far-flung edges of it, to visit the homes and working studios of artists. Many of the artists written about this month are involved, and a total of 83 artists are participating.
At many locations across town, and at the Artists’ Coalition of Flagstaff’s Gallery, 111 E. Aspen, there are brochures describing the art you will find at the different locations, and readily pinpointed on an easy-to-read map. On August 25 and 26 from 10AM to 5PM, the public is invited to create the route to the stu- dios they want to visit and at their own pace, travel from site to site, getting to know the artists of our community. The brochure even provides a key to help you plan your tour.
At the same time, and through August 31, “Prelude” at the Coconino Center for the
Arts, displays work from all of the artists in- volved in Flagstaff Open Studios. Brandy’s Restaurant, 1500 E. Cedar Ave, is showing a
“Prelude,” as well through the month of August.
Flagstaff-Arts.org, CulturalPartners.org .
auguSt featuRed thRee
This August at the Artists’ Gallery, the feature window will be filled with the art of Dawn Sutherland, Tom Williams and Kelly Wirtanen.
Mr. Williams will be displaying bells from recycled glass cylinders and encourages visi- tors to play them.
Mr. Williams has always been creative, he says. “It started with writing and was quashed for a while by a bad creative writ- ing instructor. I have enjoyed making things, but color-blindness limited my options. Then, while creating a mobile bicycle repair busi- ness, I watched a good friend take a pile of metal and, in a few hours, create something useful. I had to take a welding class.”
That was the catalyst that opened the gates of creativity, and spurred on the desire to further develop his art. In his art he incor- porated the use of old horse shoes, since he and his wife had many to spare from their horses.
Moving to Arizona presented Mr. Williams with the opportunity to take a blacksmithing class. As a mechanic for the Flagstaff Unified School District during that time, he had ac- cess to the steel “waste” that usually would go to the garbage dump. Instead, Mr. Williams took it and began to make his art, entering pieces into the ACF’s Recycled Art Show at Coconino Center for the Arts.
His art led him and his wife to open the successful Gallery in Williams, part of the Second Saturday ArtWalk in Williams. Still wanting to have his art somewhere in Flag- staff, Mr. Williams joined the Flagstaff Artists’
16 • AUGUST 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us