Page 23 - the NOISE September 2012

Waikiki Bay by Caryn Bopp is exemplary of the artist’s new work at the ACF Gallery this month.
NATURAL BEAUTY
I first met photographer Gina Dazzo at the Bookman’s Café, where she has made me many a good cappuccino. It took me by surprise the other day when I was at Gallery One13 when shewalkedinandtoldmethephotographyon the wall I had been admiring, and wanting to write about, was taken by her.
I ask Ms. Dazzo about her process that goes into capturing a photograph. “I go to a new or familiar place and just look around and if some- thing catches my eye, I photograph it. Later, when I get home I play with the photo in terms of cropping it and enhancing the color, but I don’t Photoshop my photos. I try to let the im- age speak for itself. I also talk with other pho- tographers and artists and recently I started collaborating with another artist, Andrea Bag- don. That is really fun and exciting and pushes me to be more creative. When photographing people I try to let them just be themselves and take photos of them and see what comes out of the process.”
Ms. Dazzo and Andrea Bagdon combine photography and paint to create haunting Mexican folk-art style images that are also on display at Gallery One13. “I met Andrea Bag- don at my coffee shop and we started talking about art and photography,”Ms. Dazzo tells me.
“Andrea saw some of my photos on display at Bookman’s and suggested we collaborate on a project since she is a painter. So, we went to an antique store and purchased some old cabinet doors and then started working with my pho- tos and her paintings. It has been a great col- laboration and fun.”
“I am inspired by natural beauty of the South- west,” Ms. Dazzo tells me. “I love the outdoors and hiking, nature, my three dogs and Flag- staff. It is fun as a photographer and as barista to meet new people and learn more about them and their lives. I also love to travel and, of course, take lots of photographs. I love the Southwest — especially Zion, Grand Canyon, Southern Utah, and Colorado. I love exploring new places and am excited for opportunities to go beyond the Southwest.”
Gina Dazzo’s collaborative art with Andrea Bagdon and her own photography of nature can be found at Gallery One13, located at 111 E. Aspen. GalleryOne13.com
PAINTINGS BETWEEN THE LAYERS
Originally from Massachusetts, Artists’ Co- alition of Flagstaff member and September featured artist, Caryn Bopp moved to Flagstaff in 1999. She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston with a BFA in Sculpture and later got her teaching degree from NAU.
She then went on to teach at NAU, and is cur- rently teaching art to grades 6-12. At the same time, she is a productive and versatile artist in her own right.
Her aptitude for art is evident, with works that reveal an outstanding array of textures and hues that create depth in her pieces. Be the medium Conte, oil, water color or mixed media, Ms. Bopp’s paintings are bold and re- freshing, with fearless strokes of color filled with movement that cannot help but stir the observer. Her self-portraits reveal a glimpse into the soul of the subject, these paintings show movement and flight into another realm; the world of the artist.
When asked about herself and her art, Ms. Bopp responded, “I had been a figurative oil painter for years, before I started combining media relatively recently. I paint self-portraits in strange scenarios and work on a larger scale. I also work in encaustics and make handmade paper. The mixed media thing started when I began to paint with wax onto my handmade paper, collaging other handmade paper on it, then drawing over that with conte and markers, and building up layers. I have been combining media for about two years.”
“When I work with mixed media, I start with transparent layers, and end with heavy opaque ones,” she explains. “I like to start with washes of color. These inspire the next layer. I will draw on top of that paint layer with pencil, finding recognizable objects in the shapes and colors. Maybe then I’ll transfer some images using matte medium, and then draw or paint over that to integrate it cohesively into the work. Basically, it’s many, many layers of images, with drawing and painting in-between each layer.”
Inspired by Urban landscapes, bright colors, decay, natural processes, traditional materials, birds, the future, music, the forest, love, and pain, the depth of Ms. Bopp’s artistic observa- tion is expressed in her work.
I asked if she had a favorite piece she might like to share something about, “I have a few favorites, but I really like Flies in the Honey. It mixes media made with watercolor, image transfers, house paint, pastel, pencil, ink and markers. What I was thinking of is sometime in the future, after the humans are gone, all of our stuff will remain behind and become reclaimed by the other living things. A few of the other pieces in the show are based on this idea also.”
The name of Ms. Bopp’s show is “Future and Traps,” on display at the ACF Gallery, with an opening reception during the First Friday Art- Walk from 6 to 9PM. CarynBopp.com
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thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news magazine • SEPTEMBER 2012 • 23