Last summer I had the privilege of directing an artist residency, sponsored through By/For and hosted by Regent College, that turned into The Vancouver Project. I am happy to say that, after a lot of hard work from a cast of dozens, a second residency got underway earlier today. Six artists have come to Vancouver where, for the next two weeks, they will live together, work together, eat together, pray together, and play together. The participating artists include Roger Feldman, Ginger Geyer, Kathy Hastings, Shannon Newby, Nancy Rebal, and Matt Whitney. I'm so privileged and excited to see this great group of artists come together. Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting more information here about each of the artists. For now, here is a brief introduction to each of the artists in their own words.
Roger Feldman – Co-Facilitator (www.rogerfeldman.com)
Beyond Malibu by Roger Feldman
“My large scale installation work creates situations that result in experiences associated with previous kinesthetic and visual memories. The architectural scale of the work is meant to encourage physical interaction to arrive at experiential metaphor. Smaller maquettes (scale models) help to envision the larger works while drawings and digital works continue the conceptual development of larger themes. At the core of all of these works is a theological premise, which allows experimentation, probing, risking, and the production of a range of works in different mediums. Theological discourse is continued through these interactive pieces.”
Ginger Geyer – Co-Facilitator (www.gingergeyer.com)
Fight Fire with Fire by Ginger Geyer
“Realistic porcelain sculpture combined with zany storytelling is the form of my work. Since 1990, I’ve unabashedly dealt with the paradoxes of religion and the human heart, exposing foibles from the left and the right, and testing the “nevertheless factor”—that despite it all, God’s love surpasses what humankind has wrought. Big themes erupt and require the viewer to dig through associations gleaned from art history, theology and pop culture. Neither willful ignorance nor cynicism will help one’s experience of my work. However, comic relief will, and you’ll find plenty in these juxtapositions of the sacred and the profane. Using the technically demanding medium of porcelain, I allow flaws to co-exist with dazzle—this reveals the truth that pain and joy mingle. In a piece that has been through the fire (literally) and thus has warped or cracked, we see that mistakes do not render us unworthy, and that faith is costly: it goes beyond personal salvation and fellowship, into the sticky area of Biblical justice where compassion trumps retribution.
As a former art museum professional and seminary graduate, I find that the arts are always a vanguard into new eras. I’m exploring the collective transformation that is required for us to be good global citizens. Grappling with materials and ideas exposes these challenges and points to the crucial dynamic of hope—that it must be grounded in reality while it stretches toward the divine. There is a “much of muchness” in my work; to me that says that the world is open, love is lavish, and we are all in this exuberant, incarnational muck together.”
Kathy Hastings (www.kathyhastings.com)
Blue Moon by Kathy Hastings
“Water-related images have intrigued me since my student days at Art Center Design in California. On calm days you may find me in a kayak paddling around Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle or around the sloughs of nearby Everett. In the winter I spend time in the Turks and Caicos scuba diving and photographing conch spirals.
It has only been in the last few years that I’ve left the arena of art education and spiraled back to full-time studio work.
Sometimes the images are photographs. Sometimes they’re paintings. Sometimes they’re a combination of digital photography and classic watercolor and oil painting methods.”
Shannon Newby (www.newbyart.com)
For All It's Worth: Beauty by Shannon Newby
“Our suitcase hearts are stuffed with fragments and treasures we've picked up along the way. We carry these around with us everywhere. And when we take the time to unpack our suitcases with each other, we discover beauty for all it's worth. My work explores this process of self and communal discovery. In most of my work, I use collage elements and beeswax to build up depth. My work showcases the layers of tender moments, timely lessons, unforgettable people and adventures that have been jam-packed into our suitcases over time. These layers help give substance to the collages that make up each person's narrative.”
Nancy Rebal (www.nancyrebal.com)
Stations: Dallas Page by Nancy Rebal
“STATIONS is an interactive public artwork traveling the world to create the collective voice of forgiveness, a sound never before heard. Stations One traveled the US and to Ireland and includes the voice of Desmond Tutu. It will reside in Dallas, TX, site of one wound of the US -- the Kennedy assassination. Stations Two is in Kigali, Rwanda at the Genocide Memorial, where we hope to return each Genocide anniversary to help in the healing.
This is an idea whose time has come: enthusiastic response has been universal. As a neutral receiver of an essential healing gesture, Stations has important work to do. We have many requests for a Stations appearance. We are scrambling to find the time and money to work on this nonprofit venture. We are eager to brainstorm with other artists who push the edges of what can be done, and have a variety of skills to bring.”
Matthew Whitney (www.matthewwhitney.com)
Blue In A Happy Way by Matt Whitney
“I paint to visually meditate on the brokenness and beauty in life, creation, and faith. When I consider the world, with all its poverty, injustice and evil, I see it and cling to a belief, a notion, a truth, that there is here still beauty to be discovered, seen, and experienced. In our age we blissfully devour our natural resources for fleeting comfort, while media bombards us with so much content that our senses become duller still. In my work I seek to slow down and search for beauty that seems to grow ever more scarce, or corrupted by our selfish means, or made irrelevant in our teachings. I seek in my work to brush back this surface level of our current existence to find the spiritual and mysterious elements of reality, always seeking Truth, and thus hoping to communicate that our collective story is to struggle with answers to the great questions of life. I have always been drawn to medieval religious icons, the imaginative paintings of Marc Chagall, and the spiritual work of the Northwest Mystic painters.
I primarily work in oil paints, applying successive layers to the canvas, using brushes and knives to scrape, poke, and roughly manipulate the wet paint on the surface while revealing the layers underneath. The finished surface is crusty, smeared, and messy. At the same time I work to contain some of this messiness within the context of bold lines, shapes and space, thus working to create something that in the end, has a sense of balance and order.”
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