“I understand the rules that have been presented to me, take the previous results into account, then more-or-less throw them out.” – Bailey Roman
Artist, Bailey Roman
Looking at the work of Bailey Roman raises a question: are these faces, with their contorted, lopsided visage, a deliberate deconstruction of conventional beauty? They are certainly distinctive and full of character, personalities that feel pulled from the fringe of society, malformed outcasts demanding our compassion.
Roman juxtaposes self-awareness and subconscious feelings against modern societal standards. “I also tend to take a lot of idioms way more seriously than their original intent; for example, in the past I have used the phrase ‘the lights are on but nobody’s home’ and used it as commentary for society’s various criticisms and standards for intelligence.”
"It's Only The Second Semester and I'm Already Emotionally Exhausted; Maybe I Should Eat a Burrito" by Bailey Roman, 24x24in, oil on canvas (2017)
“I draw influence from German Expressionism, Post Impressionism, contemporary media and, most importantly, the greats from stop motion puppet fabricators such as Francesca Berlingieri Maxwell and Henry Selick. More recently, I have been stretching the boundaries of what my chosen mediums. I understand the rules that have been presented to me, take the previous results into account, then more-or-less throw them out to see what new two dimensional effects, tactical textures, and interactions the viewer can have with my work.”
“In ‘Logan’, I use the polygons as a tool to highlight the first things the viewer would typically notice from the piece. I also take the liberty of using influences from both Pop Art and Golden Age comic book art. I use the two periods and place them into a more contemporary anatomical study.”
"Anubis, The Dragonfly and the Warrior" by Bailey Roman, 15x7x10in, ceramic and glaze (2017)
Roman is featured in From the Sculptures That Look Like Drawings series at The Tim Faulkner Gallery, and she will be included in Louisville Artisan Guild's 44th annual exhibit From the Soul of the Artist that will be held at Kore Gallery July 5 through July 30. There will be an Artist Reception July 13th, 6 – 8 pm.
Age: 19 Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky Education: Ballard High School (honors program graduated 2016) Murray State University (Studio Art major, currently working on my Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in art history) Gallery Representation: The Tim Faulkner Gallery Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/RamRenard/
"Touch Of Death" by Bailey Roman, 14x14x14in, ceramic, acrylic, plaster (2015), $315 | BUY NOW
"Logan" by Bailey Roman, 22x28in, ceramic and glaze (2016)
"GPF" by Bailey Roman, 9x9.5x11in, ceramic and glaze (2017)
"Day N Night" by Bailey Roman, 11x14in, ink on paper (2017)
“Beauty in nature is everywhere you look!” exults Cheryl Buhrman. “That is where I get my inspiration, and through the use of color and composition on my canvas I hope to portray my connection with all living things.”
Burhman has explored a wide range of subject matter, but has recently been working on a floral series. Like so many artists who explore such imagery, she finds the power of flowers as symbols for life and reproduction, finding these inherent qualities not through overt or pretentious awareness, but through a concentration on the delicacy of the form, petals enveloping the stamen, pistil and ovary of the plant. The idea of a flower representing femininity has long since entered the realm of cliché, but there is truth in every trope, and if the balance of strength and vulnerability expressed in “Orange Delight,” “Georgia On My Mind, or ”White Rose” is any indication, Buhrman has discovered that truth for herself.
"Georgia on My Mind" by cheryl Buhrman, 18x24in, acrylic on canvas (2017), $275 | BUY NOW
“Although I taught art for several years, life got in the way and after working for 30 years in a job that wasn't my dream, my dream became a reality in retirement when I decided to start painting! I hope my paintings will fill some people with the joy that it's given me!”
Buhrman studied under Wine Kemple Harrison, Elizabeth Dawn Johnson, and Susan Tolliver, is a member of LVA, and in 2016 became a juried member of the Louisville Artisan Guild in acrylics. She just appeared at the Butchertown Art Fair in June, and will be at The Highlands Festival Sept 9, and Holiday Showcase in November 2017.
“You must open yourself to communing with the desires of the paint and flow with it.” — Susan Dworkin
"Tangled Up In Blue" by Susan Dworkin, 32x24in, vinegar paint (2015)
Susan Dworkin has been experimenting with colonial painting techniques for fourteen years. Her current endeavor is adapting vinegar painting from its traditional use on flat wooden surfaces to other mediums. Historically used as a means of making common and inexpensive woods appear to be more valuable materials, such as metal, Dworkin experiments with the technique to create unique abstract compositions.
To date, she remains one of the pioneers in this venture, continually exploring and adapting the technique via artist board, foam core, metal, paper, glass, and mirror. “The nature of vinegar paint produces a multilayered spectrum of color that combines elements of impressionism, surrealism and lyrical abstractionism, explains Dworkin. “To work with this medium you must open yourself to communing with the desires of the paint and flow with it.” Her paintings are suggestive of rich landscapes and fantasy realms that allow the viewer to formulate their own personal vision. In one of her previous lives, Dworkin was a private estate gardener in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and finds color inspiration from those gardens and settings, as well as her many travels. She has lived in Lexington, Kentucky since 1989.
"Joy" by Susan Dworkin, 15x12in, vinegar paint (2017)
2017 has been a busy year for Dworkin, with solo exhibits at The Bar Complex, and the Hunt Morgan House, Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation, both in Lexington, Kentucky, and for the month of September she will have another solo show at the John G. Irvin Gallery, also in Lexington. In April 2018 she will be part of a group exhibit at ArtConnects in Lexington.
Dworkin has work in private collections in Lexington, KY, Chicago, IL, St. Petersburg, FL, and Tryon, NC.
As The Eyes Close We Lose Sight – from Michael McCardwell’s “The Death Snake.”
"The Death Snake" by Michael McCardwell, 18x24in, ink and colored pencils (2017), $350 | BUY NOW
Michael McCardwell’s drawings are dense in their collective linear construction yet loose enough to clearly communicate the fantastical imagery. The artist plays with our expectations by drafting forms that are highly suggestive of spaceships – science fiction forms from a bygone era in which stalwart heroes with bulbous ray guns occupied the galaxy. His forms conjoin to form larger, interconnected spaces, and at times, a long, snake-like shape. It all seems very playful.
Yet can we be absolutely certain of what McCardwell has on his mind? The use of clearly defined line and shape in virtually every square inch of the field is also a formal academic exercise in composition, and in “The Death Snake,” his statement considers mortality in stages reminiscent of Shakespeare or Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. Either way, there is an almost giddy emotional quality to these pieces, and perhaps the one certainty is that, even in the darker themes, this artist seems to find joy in his work.
"Orange Cross" by Michael McCardwell, 18x24in, ink and colored pencils (2017), $350 | BUY NOW
Besides being a studio art and humanities teacher for 27 years at Henry County High School, McCardwell has taught art at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System campus in Shelbyville, Spalding University in Louisville, at the former Shelbyville branch of Lindsey Wilson College, and taught basic skills such as reading, math and English at the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange. He was twice a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow.
McCardwell has work in private collections in the United States, Europe and Japan, and has been accepted into juried shows in California, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Hometown: Shelbyville, Kentucky Education: BFA Murray State University, Kentucky, 1971; MA (Drawing), Morehead State University, Kentucky, 1974
"Shadow" by Michael McCardwell, 18x24in, ink and colored pencils (2017), $350 | BUY NOW
"YHWA" by Michael McCardwell, 18x24in, ink and colored pencils (2017), $350 | BUY NOW
"Picture" by Michael McCardwell, 18x24in, ink and colored pencils (2017), $350 | BUY NOW
"Wabi-sabi is the quintessential Japanese aesthetic. It is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional..." — Leonard Koren
Photographer, Steve Squall
Photographer Steve Squall’s images luxuriously embrace old school Black & White tonalities and the now-rare use of nude models in nature. As an artist, he is seeking to reconnect to the fundamentals, an intention driven by a specific, almost spiritual motivation.
“My current body of work focuses on the female form with an emphasis on the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of Wabi-Sabi,” explains Squall. “The images focus on simplicity in execution, embracing spontaneity - the ‘happy accident’, and finding the beauty in imperfection. It's largely a reaction to the highly produced work that I do for a living that often requires an entire team of creatives, heavy attention to detail, and a sizable amount of equipment to create.”
"Kasho" by by Steve Squall, 20x20in, photograph (2016), $350 | BUY NOW
“Allowing myself to simply walk into a setting with nothing but a camera body, a single lens, a model, and just exploring while stopping to shoot when we find interesting scenes or stunning natural light has been quite a freeing experience. The work has helped me to rediscover the simple joy of just taking a photo without having a jumble of variables running through my head. It's reminiscent of the feeling I got so hooked on when I first picked up a camera and would just point it at whatever I thought looked interesting without worrying about too much else.”
"Wabi-Sabi Portfolio No. 1" by by Steve Squall, 810in, photographs (2016), $350 | BUY NOW
Squall’s images are classic in their juxtaposition of the soft human flesh against the stark and harsh textures of the elements. A woman stretched out across a large rock, her hair spread across the surface, is a formal study in contrasting textures, but also a suggestion of humankind in relationship to the environment, the artificial raiment of society discarded but the exposed flesh separated from nature by a vulnerability that cannot be so easily erased.
“I liken the experience to the famous quote attributed to Picasso: "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." Well, it took me more than four years to photograph like a pro, and now I'm learning how to photograph like a child.”
Hometown: Shively, Kentucky Education: BA in Graphic Design, Indiana University Southeast, 2009. Website: www.stevesquall.com
"Cassandra No. 1" by by Steve Squall, 20x26in, photograph (2016), $350 | BUY NOW
"Enso" by by Steve Squall, 20x20in, photograph (2016), $350 | BUY NOW
