Page 18 - the NOISE September 2014

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ART OUT OF THE BOX
& POPPING UP SOON Pop Up Gallery at FireCreek Coffee Co. this month.
BY SARAH GIANELLI
FROM LEFT: Stephanie Peters’ Fish; one of Scott Sweebe’s
copper pieces — both artists are part of Flagstaff Art Council’s
Members of the inaugural class of the ArtBox Institute — the paintings can be rearranged and, in some cases, hung in are the hammer, the tongs, the anvil and the forge. There are
a nine-month Flagstaff Arts Council program designed to assist artists in the business aspects of art — are presenting a temporary “pop up” gallery for the month of September at Firecreek Coffee Company. The theme of the exhibit is wa- ter and will feature at least 22 works of art and performances by the graduates of the program with an intention to bring awareness to water-related issues in Northern Arizona.
Artist & Executive Director of Camp Verde’s White Horse Gallery, Stephanie Peters is among the artists spearheading the event.
“We chose the theme of water because we felt it was a uni- versal theme all of us could relate to and express artistically,” says Ms. Peters. “Water is an important topic, especially in the Southwest, where there is a real concern for the future of our water supply. The theme encourages artists to use water either as a subject or part of the piece, but it does not have to be traditionally used. For example, some of the artists are exhibiting pieces that share their experience at a beautiful waterscape, and other artists are exhibiting pieces that just happen to have water in them. One artist, Helene Stolzen- berg, is creating an installation about the human figure that uses water as a tool, and it’s not reflected in the subject.”
Although Ms. Peters typically works in a more abstract style, keeping in line with the water-themed show and her tenden- cy to create art that brings awareness to a pressing contem- porary issue, she will be showing her more representative fish paintings, which explore the behaviors of fish and how their habitats change due to climate changes such as an increase in water temperature, or lack of water due to changes in weather patterns with a focus on the fact that most fish in Ari- zona are now raised in fish hatcheries due to the last 100 years of mismanaged land use surrounding the water shed areas.
Working from the traditional form of the desert sucker fish farmed at Page Springs Hatchery, Ms. Peters’ loose Zen-like renditions of fish are depicted in such a way that they are abstract enough to represent any river fish that gathers in schools, but representative enough so they are universally recognizable, without the distraction of portraying an obvi- ous singular species. Her panels of fish in blues, yellows and oranges are set against solid, often neutral backgrounds meant to represent the seamless, all-encompassing medium of water in which fish swim. Created on multiple long panels,
as many as six configurations.
“It was important the fish still appeared to be swimming
together and not look‘upside down,’”she says. “The flexibility of the compositions was also important because it embod- ies the flexibility the schools of fish have when they maneu- ver around. The schools swim up, down, around, backwards, forwards, etcetera. So these canvas can be hung up, down, around, backwards, forwards, horizontal too.”
Last summer, during a trip to Sycamore Canyon, Ms. Peters noticed rainbow trout gathering around her, and was inspired by their coloring and movements. She started researching and creatively exploring the native and non-native fish living in the Verde River and their behavior and habitats.
“I started to go to the fish hatchery in Page Springs quite regularly last fall to learn about the fish and where they are deposited throughout the state,” says Ms. Peters. “And to pho- tograph them. The fish are raised in large narrow pools, and when people stand around the pools, they school out of fear. Due to their restricted area, they end up schooling in large circles and creating infinity designs. It’s sad, but beautiful to see. I found it amazing that they form these beautiful ephem- eral designs out of fear in order to look larger. Fear creates beauty, and beauty gives protection — it’s kind of an interest- ing paradox; largely, because fear is not an attractive attribute to have. These beautiful shapes and the way the fish moved in schools, ended up inspiring me to map and shadow their flow within the fish paintings.”
Representing a different medium in the exhibit is Flagstaff metal artist Scott Sweebe. Mr. Sweebe discovered his call- ing to be a blacksmith while taking a medieval history class in
1970 as a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (a medieval recreation group).
Studying the pages of art history books, he was entranced by the artistry of ironwork — its flow, delicate strength and superior craftsmanship — and set about learning the craft through intensive independent study and experimentation until finding a community in the Arizona Blacksmith Associa- tion. Today, the medieval influence comes through his tech- nique more so than in the aesthetic of his finished pieces.
“Most of the techniques and equipment I use would be fa- miliar to a medieval smith,” says Mr. Sweebe. “The basic tools
only a handful of techniques and everything is a combina- tion of these. There’s drawing or thinning an area; upsetting which means thickening an area; bending is causing a devia- tion from a straight line or plane; twisting is rotation along the material’s axis; piercing is putting a hole in the material; cutting is cutting all the way through the material; and forge welding is a fusion joining process.”
Working in steel and copper with temperatures up to 2000 degrees, Mr. Sweebe primarily makes accents for the home or garden, decorative as well as functional pieces such as hooks and bowls that range from gunmetal gray to coppery hues.
“As an artist, I work to create pieces that evoke shared mem- ories and experiences,” he says. “A shared experience is one where everybody or at least a lot of people have had similar emotions about a similar experience and it resonates with them on some level. A simple example might be the joy that was felt when you learned how to tie your shoes by yourself. Everybody has had that thrill.”
For the pop up exhibit, Mr. Sweebe will be displaying a new piece inspired by the Slide Fire, a more serious example of an event that evoked a collective emotive response and for many artists, a creative one. Slide Rock Reflections is a bril- liant, shallow copper bowl gently punched with the image of a dragonfly and grass. Faint flames created by a thin col- ored wax wash flicker on the edge of the bowl.
“I see it as dragon fly living life when the fire started to over- run its home,” says Mr. Sweebe. “This is the moment when the fire is just starting to be reflected in the water that surrounds the dragonfly. On May 21, 2014, the lives of thousands were changed. Most of the lives changed were not human. Every- one, even if they weren’t directly affected by it, will remember it for generations.”
Nearing retirement, Mr. Sweebe signed up for the ArtBox Institute to garner the necessary tools to turn a hobby craft into a viable business.
“The ArtBox Institute provided in condensed format infor- mation on all sorts of aspects of a business, tailored to the unique needs of an artist,” he says. “There were classes on business plans, taxes, insurance, business law, setting up a show, marketing, branding, use of social media, software that would be of use, jurying a show, photographing and videoing art, submitting to print media and so on. None of it was super
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