Page 16 - the NOISE November 2014

BONeS OF DANCe, WIt & WRY
the proCession of a soul unBared
FROM leFT: Ms. Gardner’s Peligro, BY sarah gianelli Earth Girl, and Luna
october and November are busy months for artists whose work incorporates Día de los Muertos imagery, and the same holds true for emma Gardner, whose paintings in the Mexican folk art vein — as well as newer pieces which have
taken a different direction — can be found this season at a variety of venues across town, and across the state.
Day of the Dead art is immediately recognizable to most by the ubiquitous Calavera Catrina or “Elegant Skull,” a fig- ure deemed iconic in the early 1900s by José Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican printmaker who created an eponymous- ly named, quickly infamous print as a parody of a Mexican upper-class female. Posada’s depiction of a costumed fe- male with a skeleton face has been associated with the Day of the Dead ever since.
Inspired by its origins in Posada’s political satire, Flagstaff painter emma Gardner has created her own modernized spin on “the elegant skull” in multiple, evolving series that began with a body of work she calls “Under the Skin of His- tory,” in which she placed skeleton faces in famous classical compositions, such as in the profiles of The Duke and Duch- ess of Urbino by Renaissance painter Pierro Della Francesco and Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. Ms. Gardner then moved on to a series of “skeleton pin-up girls,” in which skeleton di- vas pose and toss their hair in stereotypical pin-up fashion; and finally, an especially evocative group of paintings called
“Skeletons who Won the West,” in which brazen, brassy and sassy skeleton figures are bedecked in Wild West regalia, symbolism and scenarios.
“I started doing skeletons one October specifically for a show in MartAnne’s,” says Ms. Gardner, who has shown her work in the café’s original location and now, in its much more palatial digs, since 2002. “I think the smell of delicious spicy enchiladas informed some of that early work. The fearless use of colors that Mexican folk art embraces was compel- ling to me. That first skeleton show was definitely inspired by the Calaveras of José Posada. I worked with his images and added color to give them a new dimension. After that first show I started doing skeleton pin-ups. Color is what at- tracted me to Mexican Day of the Dead art, but it was the human element that kept me intrigued after that first show, with no flesh to covet.”
Ms. Gardner’s skeletons are alive with attitude, movement and expression, and the figures demonstrate a feminine strength and irreverence that trumps the macabre under- tones — so much so, that the eye almost involuntarily fills in the gaps where flesh would be.
“Some people would think a bunch of skeletons in a place could be a little odd but I feel like mine are colorful and happy — they are always smiling,” she says. “I think women are predominate in my work because I paint what I know — I grew up with four sisters and I am a woman, so for me it seems most natural to speak from a feminine perspective. Someone said all paintings are self-portraits, right? I’m not sure that women have just one role in contemporary soci- ety. I think the average modern person needs to wear several hats on a daily basis.”
Ms. Gardner’s women flaunt cowgirl hats, top hats and feather headdresses. Her most recent body of work called
“Portrait of a Planet: The earth Girls” is on display at Crio- llo latin Kitchen through November 4 and then will move around the block to MartAnne’s, where the girls will be ce- lebrity guests of honor November 12 for a fundraising event to publish a calendar of the images. MartAnne’s also has a variety of Ms. Gardner’s work on permanent display including her rendition of a skeleton bike parade, Hawaiian-themed Ca- laveras, her Year of the Horse painting, and a four-foot tall Diva.
The Earth Girls are a departure from her skeleton-centric and Barbie doll-inspired series; they are more suggestive of Renaissance/Victorian nature goddesses whose petticoats are made of rivers, forests and hills; and closest companions are the stars and the moon.
Adorned with land features — hills and rocks and man- made trappings of progress like power lines and railroad tracks — another recurring symbol is the Bee Crucifix, which the girls wear like jewelry. For Ms. Gardner, it speaks to the dangerous decline in the bee population due to unregulated neonicotinoids linked to colony collapse disorder. She refer- ences Albert Einstein’s ominous statement that if bees were to disappear from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.
Encouraged by her mother and a third generation painter, Ms. Gardner has been painting for as long as she can remem-
ber. She works in acrylics on a variety of surfaces from can- vas to salvaged wood, often using vintage frames to accent and embellish the images, which tend to be a combination of tightly detailed realism and pop illustration. Whether she is working on a skeleton painting, a commission for a client, a mural, stage set, or a marionette, her process starts with re- search, and looking for the back story.
Of her most current body of work, Ms. Gardner says, “I feel like the Earth Girls combine my fascination with history and the archaic symbolism of ancient societies with the modern icons that are evolving in our present. I think it’s important to remember the knowledge gained from our ancestors ... I think that’s another reason I connect with the Day of the Dead so much ... it celebrates the lives of those who came before us. Isaac Newton said, ‘If I have seen further, it is for standing on the shoulders of giants.’ I hope my work makes people laugh or smile or think about something new, and it might bring up more questions than answers. But to be honest, I can’t say it’s not at all about dressing up woman in fabulous outfits.”
On Saturday, November 1 Ms. Gardner leads Flagstaff’s 2nd annual Day of the Dead procession with La Muerte icons and the sounds of Sambatuque commencing at the Green Room at 7:30PM, with Calaveras face painting beginning at 6:30PM and a live painting performance after the procession.
Ms. Gardner will also be participating in the Heard Mu- seum’s 12th annual Mercado de las Artes on November 8 & 9 from 9:30AM-5PM at 2301 North Central Ave in Phoenix. heard.org
Ms. Gardner’s paintings, prints and greeting cards can al- ways be found at Arizona Handmade Gallery at 13 N. San Francisco Street. #100. 928-779-3790 AZHandmade.com; and on her website EmmaGardner.com .
sarah gianelli is, interestingly enough, one of the souls born of all souls day, some many (but not too many) moons ago. happygianelli@hotmail.com
16 • november 2014 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us >> Continued on 22 >>