Vignette: Clare Hirn

"Guest View Epic" by Clare Hirn, 2018

Although Clare Hirn has been a working artist pretty much her entire life, she had never been to an artist’s retreat or had a residency experience. “Raising two kids was one of the reasons,” she explains, “it always seemed so difficult to get away.”

But she has just returned from a month spent at Rancho Linda Vista near Oracle, Arizona. The retreat was established 50 years ago by artists who were teaching at the University of Arizona and Hirn found it to be a very welcoming artist community. 

Hirn's studio at Rancho Lindo Vista

Hirn was given a guest cabin with studio space in which to live and work, and describes the experience as, “so rejuvenating! It was just what I needed!”

“My stay was a mini-sabbatical that allowed me to concentrate on painting and drawing for 30 days.  Because I was “dropped” into an amazing landscape so new to me, and literally right outside my kitchen window, I allowed myself to just focus on that as subject matter.  I took paper and a few other painting supports that fit in my borrowed luggage, and ample drawing and painting supplies. I bought canvas and some other materials in Tucson, about an hour south of Oracle.”  

Hirn has a strong reputation as a landscape artist in the Ohio River Valley, and the change in terrain provided opportunity for discovery: “The distances can be deceptive. The landscape would dip and roll more than you realize. After I did a drawing, I would go walking into what I had just drawn, only to find that there were steep inclines. The ground would open up a whole other space.”

She found unexpected inspiration in in the chain fruit cholla, which grows in abundance in the area. It appears in the drawings that we see here, but it also became a part of the work itself when Hirn filtered the desert soil through the physical openings of the porous bark onto paper coated with medium. The result was "Cholla Triptych".

"Oracle Egg" by Clare Hirn, 2018

Even though the hand of an artist is evident in the marks of the drawings and paintings, Hirn’s proportion and sense of light are still realistic enough to suggest photography, but no filter would capture the same understanding of how color defines space that we detect in this work. 

Clare Hirn received a significant scholarship to attend the New York Academy of Art – Graduate School of Figurative Art, located in Manhattan. The curriculum continues to focus on strong foundational skills for working “realistically” from life and the figure.

After graduating with her masters in painting and drawing in 1990, Hirn worked for a mural design firm in NYC, learning the techniques of working large scale. Upon returning to her hometown of Louisville, KY she pursued both mural work and her personal painting, participating and receiving awards in many regional shows. Hirn’s fine art murals and paintings grace many homes, businesses, and public spaces and have appeared in numerous publications.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BA (Individualized Major Program), Indiana University in Bloomington; MFA in painting and drawing, New York Academy of Art - Graduate School of Figurative Art.
Website: http://www.clarehirnstudio.com

 

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Clare Hirn at Rancho Linda Vista.

"Live Oak Wash" by Clare Hirn, 2018

"Oracle Postcard" by Clare Hirn, 2018

"Cholla Triptych" by Clare Hirn, 2018

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Zed Saeed

"Loreen Suleiman (Kurdistan") by Zed Saeed, Settled in Louisville by Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services, Gelatin Silver Print, 20x24in, NFS

Some of the faces look like they could be from Louisville. Maybe the man grew up in the Russell neighborhood instead of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Other faces are wrapped in a hajib or other fabric head covering, so that we immediately assume that they have come here from another part of the world, even though we know America has a large Muslim population. Yet others show something about the features, or the set of the eyes, or maybe an expression of uncertain humility that feels unfamiliar to anyone born in the U.S.

Zed Saeed is an art and documentary photographer currently working with recent refugees and immigrants that have settled in Kentucky. In Louisville, he connects with these individuals mostly through the Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services. Saeed believes strongly in the power of photography to create connections and to alter perceptions about people, places and things.

There is incongruity in the idea that a recent arrival from Somalia wears a Twilight: New Moon hoodie, and mistrust in the face of one girl, a distinct wariness that is missing in her sister, whose open and peaceful countenance peers out from with a hajib. Their family has fled the Syrian Civil War, traveling halfway across the globe, to a place entirely foreign to them, not by choice, but simply to survive – to live.  

"The Suleman Family" by Zed Saeed, Settled in Louisville by Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services, Gelatin Silver Print, NFS

Saeed captures these people with stark simplicity that refuses to overlay any agenda except to witness them in all of their humanity. Most Americans cannot easily fathom the danger of their treacherous journey, or the heartbreak of having your community devastated by the horrific violence of modern-day warfare. If we ask ourselves whether or not we could find the courage, how would we answer - yes or no?. Perhaps this family never imagined that they could either, until there was no other choice. Can we accept such perseverance as anything less than heroic?

Saeed is currently featured in Looking Up: Heroes For Today – An LVA Exhibit at Metro Hall, which is on exhibit through January 11, 2019 at Louisville’s Metro Hall, 511 West Jefferson Street.

His photographs have been featured in Louisville magazine and shown at local galleries. Saeed is a grant recipient for his photographic work from the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project and the Kentucky Arts Council. Saeed has also taught photography for many years around the country. He is currently a student at the Hite Art Institute at University of Louisville in the Masters of Fine Art program.

Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Education: BFA in Film Studies from Hampshire College, Amherst, MA; In his second year (of 3) at U of L's Masters of Fine Art program at the Hite Art Institute.
Website: www.zedsaeedphoto.com

"Parveen Suleiman (Kurdistan") by Zed Saeed, Settled in Louisville by Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services, Gelatin Silver Print, 20x24in, NFS

"Montgomery Street School (Trophy Room)" by Zed Saeed, (Light painting photography), Photo: 20”x30”. Frame: 32”x42”. Metallic Print, $750

"Montgomery Street School (Men's Room)" by Zed Saeed, (Light painting photography), Photo: 20”x30”. Frame: 32”x42”. Metallic Print, $750

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Brianna Harlan

“I am not what you think I am. You are what you think I am.”
-Unknown

"The Divided States of Americans (1)" by Brianna Harlan, Graphic Art, 16x20in, 5 Posters

We speak of our common humanity; that what connects us as Americans is greater than what separates us. Important words that few would argue, yet what is the action plan for rediscovering that commonality? In her Artist’s Statement for The Divided States of Americans, Louisville artist Brianna Harlan offers an action plan for the crucial first steps:
 
“The current, divisive political climate is causing increased self-awareness, especially among millennials who have been called a generation for activism, and marginalized groups. As false stereotypes are used to fulfill harmful political agenda, everyone’s realities are influenced. We are encouraged to draw lines, determine the worth of humanity, and demonize differences. The Divided States of Americans attempts in red, white, and blue—mirroring propaganda posters—to advocate for a different message: get a little closer to one another to see the greatness of diverse identity.”  

The Divided States of Americans are an example of social practice art, a series of five posters in red, white, and blue colors, with images that are autobiographical but also reflections for the viewer to witness their own role in unifying the communities in which they live; both a challenge and an invitation. Each Poster has "They Say" statements on the left vs "I am" Statements on the right. All five are currently featured in Looking Up: Heroes For Today – An LVA Exhibit at Metro Hall, which is on exhibit through January 11, 2019 at Louisville’s Metro Hall, 511 West Jefferson Street.

Harlan describes herself as, “a mixed media artist that creates Radically Vulnerable art to invite transformative dialogue. Themes of her work include identity, social/cultural dynamics, intimacy, oppression, and self-suppression. Brianna works primarily with participants, inviting them to share and unpack sensitive topics through questions and actions. The discoveries that come from these mindful investigations shape the concept and inform the work's medium. She creates with people, not just about them, and views the process and resulting work as a tool for a moving experience and constructive conversation.

Photo: Festival of Faiths

She was a member of the first group of Hadley Creatives, a 6-month learning and engagement experience for local artists who are at a pivotal point in their careers developed by the Community Foundation of Louisville in partnership with Creative Capital, a New York-based nonprofit that supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country. An exhibit showcasing the work from this group opens June 1 at the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft in Louisville.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BA Studio Art, Hanover College, Hanover, IN
Website: briannaharlan.com

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"Oasis" by Brianna Harlan, Mixed Media Interactive Installation, 27x19x8ft, KY Center for the Arts,  April 2018

"The Divided States of Americans (2)" by Brianna Harlan, Graphic Art, 16x20in, 5 Posters

"inside Out" by Brianna Harlan, Printmaking: Relief and Mono-type, Clear Wax, 12x15in

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved

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Vignette: Teri Dryden

"Chopsticks 1 (diptych)" by Teri Dryden, Mixed media, 11x14in, 2018, $1000

“Chopsticks” as a musical piece is a simple but clever composition for piano that highlights the foundation of harmony and the structure of piano technique. In two of the paintings we see here, Teri Dryden adopts the title, and it appears she is recognizing a similar idea in her painting. The abstract compositions feel immediate, spontaneous in the very active and vigorous application of medium, as if the artist almost didn’t give herself time to think. The raw emotion captured goes to the heart of Abstract Expressionism, so that the images academically capture the foundation of the movement while also being very pure visual communication.

The effectiveness of that communication is a priority for Dryden: “The more I’ve traveled and ventured out, the more I’ve come to recognize the tissue that connects us as humans no matter where we live, how we speak, what we eat and drink, how we love or what we find beautiful. I mine that rich tapestry of experience and attempt to create a universal language on canvas that can speak to everyone.”

"Chopsticks 2 (diptych)" by Teri Dryden, Mixed media, 11x14in, 2018, $1000

“My work is informed by extraordinary life experiences that have shaped my aesthetic and worldview. I have an intense curiosity about places and the ways in which they connect, divide or define us. As an artist, I don’t simply “see” visual stimuli—I absorb them, and they become a part of my psyche. As a young woman, I traveled with Ringling Brothers Circus for two years, lived on a train, performed in every contiguous U.S. state, and gathered thousands of indelible impressions from garish to gorgeous that often find their way from my memory to my brush. I’ve experienced the exotic cultures of China, India and SE Asia, swum with stingrays in the Caribbean and paddled through a Mississippi swamp.”

In August and September, Dryden will be in residency in Onishi, Japan at the Shiro One Studios, which was founded with the philosophy that while most artists produce much of their work on their own, nurturing creativity through community, collaboration, and quiet reflection could enrich the development of ideas. She has received a Professional Development Scholarship from the Louisville Fund For the Arts to help fund this residency

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland
Education: Towson University
Website: http://www.teridryden.com
Gallery Representative: B.Deemer Gallery (Louisville) Brandt-Roberts Galleries (Columbus), Contemporain Gallery, (Baton Rouge) and Robert Kent Galleries (Marietta)

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"Samurai" by Teri Dryden, Mixed media, 34x40in , 2018, $2175

"Birds In Flight" by Teri Dryden, Mixed media, 34x36in, 2018, $2000

"Voices Carry" by Teri Dryden, Mixed media, 36x48in, 2018, $2200

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Student Spotlight: Abigail Munger

"Pregnant Woman 2" by Abigail Munger, Ceramic, 3x6in, 2017

In her sculpture “So fake you want to eat them” Abigail Munger shows meticulous craft in carving foam into convincing replicas of sushi, so when we are presented with the primitive forms of “Pregnant Woman 2”, we must consider the artist’s choice to work in such a rough, unfinished manner. The figure clearly references ancient sculptures such as “The Venus of Willendorf”, with the full rounded shapes of the historical fertility symbol and carved in geometric patterns. 

Munger states that her goal is to show the complexity of darkness and fear. “Darkness and Death is not always meant to be ugly or scared. Sometimes the darkness can be what shines a light at the end of the tunnel. My solo senior show is focused on that Beauty found in Darkness.” 

"So fake you want to eat them" by Abigail Munger, Carved foam, 7x8in, 2016

Munger has also exhibited two-dimensional works in conjunction with the annual Evening With Poe theatrical production at the Frazier History Museum. The stark and simple graphic images point to the artist’s interest in more macabre subjects.

“Overall my goal is to tap into a world that not many people focus on. Rather that darkness comes from the "freaks" hidden under a circus tent, or the dead body under the floor boards that you still hear the beating heart of.” 

Munger exhibited, "Pregnant Woman 2" in the Carey Ellis Art Show at the University of Kentucky. The piece was recognized with a Theophilia Joan Oexmann Award under the category of Ceramic. 

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BA, Brescia University, Kentucky, 2018
Website: Abigailmunger.wixsite.com
 

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"Woman in Relief" by Abigail Munger, Fired clay, 5x9in, 2017

"Painted Paper Flower" by Abigail Munger, Acrylic painted paper, 13in, 2015

"Quoth the Heart... Nevermore" by Abigail Munger, Acrylic print, 11x14in, 2017

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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