All photos by Esther Cuan and Emily Rogers.
Mark and I were just in Reno for two weeks making and installing all the work for my current solo exhibition Will Have Been at the University of Nevada, Reno via a Gallery-as-Studio Residency. Many students an gallery staff were involved in the installation process. We met so many great people while there. Here are some images of the show being installed. Many thanks to all who helped out!
My good friend Fiona Short traveled from New Zealand via Glasgow where she is currently based to spend two and a half weeks with us preparing for our upcoming two-person show To Arrive Where We Started at 2739Edwin in Hamtramck in Detroit. We’ve been enjoying working steadily in the studio together in anticipation of the show.
To Arrive Where We Started | Amy Sacksteder and Fiona Short
18 August – 15 September 2012
Exhibition Public Reception: Saturday August 18 from 7 to 10pm
Regular Hours: 1pm – 5pm Saturday. Other hours by appointment
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We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. T. S. Eliot
The exhibition “To Arrive Where We Started” grew out of conversations between Ypsilanti based Amy Sacksteder and New Zealander Fiona Short about common themes in their artistic practices. The title, a quote from T.S. Eliot, can be read as a summing up of their respective global wanderings or as a shared tendency of returning to earlier work to see what more it can reveal with time. Either way it indicates awareness of balancing new experience with reflection and looking again.
Sacksteder’s work is rooted in painting and drawing, but for this show might also include installation. Combining source material from her surroundings, life experiences and historical context, and often incorporating landscape and natural imagery, she constructs documents of time and place that are both beautiful and complexly referenced.
Short’s subtle and enigmatic photographs are grounded in the ordinary and are as much about the process of looking as about what is being looked at. Her images reveal a sense of place and order, engaging the viewer in the way that a quiet voice may command attention. One senses that for Short, each image is a small lesson, a discovery of unexpected delight, and that each photograph is an opportunity to communicate this discovery.
Biographies
Amy Sacksteder received a BA in English from the University of Dayton in 2001 and an MFA in painting from Northern Illinois University in 2004. She currently lives and works in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where she is an Associate Professor of Art at Eastern Michigan University.
Fiona Short completed her MFA at The Glasgow School of Art in 2009 and has since travelled to New Zealand, Iceland and the US to participate in residencies and exhibitions. She currently lives and works in Glasgow, and teaches in the Continuing Education Department at The Glasgow School of Art.
The two artists met at the SÍM Residency Reykjavik in June 2010.
Usually I try to keep my posts to art-related things in my life, but I have been working on this little project to surprise my husband, Mark for some time now and wanted to share it here. I think it’s justified since there are some studio images there. It’s a cool story. Enjoy!
This last week, 12 artists (of the 22 in the show) descended on the Ypsi/Detroit area to install work, conduct crits and attend the openings and lecture surrounding this exhibition, curated by myself and EMU’s Gallery Director Greg Tom.
Island has been a year in the making and the week involved group dinners, lazy European breakfasts, tours of galleries, museums and other sites in Ypsi, Ann Arbor and Detroit. It was a wonderful reunion for those artists who were all at SÍM together last June and a great opportunity to meet new people for everyone else. Thanks to all who were involved and attended!
If you’re in the area, the shows will be up through December 12. Check EMU’s Art Department website for hours and contact someone at ‘CAVE for an appointment to view that exhibition.
Land Blindness (for R. Smithson)
ink, gouache, salt, gold leaf and correction tape on paper (not pictured: accompanying rock from the site of Spiral Jetty)
drawing 30″ x 22″, installation dimensions variable
2011
Mark & I gave my website a pretty substantial face lift, courtesy of his amazing new artist website software, Schmolio. He needs beta testers (it’s free right now! and really cheap after that) so head on over there if you’re interested in switching or starting an artist’s (or musician’s) site.
In other news, I just finished installing work at Butter Projects for their upcoming four-person exhibition Non Native. Details are below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Feb 15, 2011
BUTTER PROJECTS
Alison Wong Kelly Frank Jacklyn Brickman Elizabeth Boyd Hartmann butter.projects@gmail.com www.butterprojects.info
WELCOME TO MICHIGAN, STAY A WHILE….
Royal Oak, Michigan.
BUTTER projects presents the first exhibition of our 2011 season titled NON-NATIVE. The exhibit runs from March 5 – April 1, 2011 with an opening reception on March 5, 2011 from 7-10pm. Free and open to the public.
NON-NATIVE brings together a group of four Non-Michiganders who are currently living and working in the Metro-Detroit area. The exhibition highlights the role community and sense of place plays in work that addresses varying cultures, techniques, traditions and methods. Featuring works in fiber, painting, photography and sculpture.
Participating artists include Kyohei Abe (Anjo-shi, Aichi, Japan/Ferndale), Chido Johnson (Mutare, Zimbabwe / Detroit), Katie Phillips (Louisville, KY / Bloomfield Hills) and Amy Sacksteder (Augusta, GA / Ypsilanti).
In conjunction with the exhibit, a panel discussion with the artists of NON-NATIVE will be held on March 20 at 2pm. Guest moderators Vince Carducci and renee c. hoogland will lead the discussion regarding the unique framework of Metro-Detroit; what draws artists here, where does our location fit in the contemporary art world and how it’s played a role in the panelists work.
About Butter Projects
BUTTER projects is a studio and exhibition space founded in October of 2009. Housed in a storefront built in 1915, the space was conceived to be flexible and open to a multitude of creative endeavors. Our mission is to engage with the community and participate in the promotion of the arts in the Metro-Detroit area by providing a place to make, discuss and exhibit artwork. Butter Projects is run and operated by Alison Wong, Kelly Frank, Jacklyn Brickman and Elizabeth Boyd Hartmann.
Butter is located at 814 West Eleven Mile Road, in Royal Oak, Michigan. Parking is available behind the building. For more information visit www.butterprojects.info or contact butter.projects@gmail.com
Hours are by appointment only with the exception of special events and receptions. ###
The opening of Fixing the Sky on Thursday night was well attended. People really seemed to like the work and there were two entrancing sets of music by Brett Hool, half of the singer-songwriter duo Hool, managed by our new friend Yannick. They brought a video of Brett’s that played in the background, which added another dimension to the exhibition/performance.
There was a lot of wine, new friends, and a fun kaleidoscope to play with (see the amazing image of Yannick below). Nicole and I were both surprised when old friends from grad school showed up. My childhood friend Meghan, now an attorney in Manhattan, also trekked down to Brooklyn for the festivities and was kind enough to host me for the five days I was in New York. Brick & Mortar (Helen’s loft) was a perfect setting for the event.
Helen, me and Nicole in front of the Island Projects installation Fixing the Sky. Check out my and Nicole’s site for more images of the installation.
Saturday morning, we hosted a brunch. It was wonderful to see the show in the daylight. We had a good crowd at that event as well, including friends from Michigan, Jen and Walter. Jen had video work in the Media Lounge at the concurrent College Art Association conference. Walter was pleased that a childhood friend, who lives only a train stop away in Brooklyn, was able to make it to the brunch.
Thanks to Nicole for flying in from Iceland, Helen for hosting and organizing, to Hool and Yannick for lending their talents and to everyone who came out. It was great to meet and see so many wonderful people!
My work: Out of the Blue and Into the Black 5.1 and 9.1
My work: Out of the Blue and Into the Black: 2.2, 12.1 and 1.1
Above images: Nicole Pietrantoni
Above images: Helen Dennis
Installation: Island Projects
Thursday night was our opening for the three-person exhibition Fixing the Sky, which took place at Brick & Mortar in Brooklyn. The turn-out for the opening Thursday and Brunch Saturday were great. I’ll post images of those events soon.
FIXING THE SKY
An exhibition featuring artwork by Nicole Pietrantoni, Amy Sacksteder, Helen Dennis, and Island Projects
Viewing Dates: February 10-12, 2011
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 10, 7-10pm, featuring music by HOOL
Brunch:Saturday, February 12, 11-1pm
Location: Brick & Mortar, 54 Knickerbocker Ave. #4B Brooklyn, New York
Contact: For more information contact Helen Dennis at (646) 319-7035 or Nicole Pietrantoni +354 588 7576 or nicole.pietrantoni@gmail.com. High resolution images available upon request.
FIXING THE SKY
This exhibition brings together the work of Nicole Pietrantoni, Amy Sacksteder, and Helen Dennis, as well as the collaborative work of Island Projects (Nicole Pietrantoni and Amy Sacksteder). Fixing the Sky reflects the artistsʼ experiences traveling in Iceland. Iceland is often perceived as a remote location covered with lava fields, volcanoes, and glaciers. While this sublime landscape attracts thousands of adventurous tourists to the island every year, it also attracts a large group of international artists interested not only in the islandʼs natural beauty but also its unique geo-political and ecological situation. The work in Fixing the Sky uses Icelandʼs beauty as a jumping-off point to explore humansʼ interaction with nature. In each of the works, one finds a heightened awareness of our effect on the natural environment and the environmentʼs effect on us.
ABOUT THE WORK
Nicole Pietranoni’s Build Your Own Landscape series uses cast shadows created by screenprinting onto acrylic panels combined with found objects. This body of work examines the complex relationship between human beings and nature, particularly the layers of narratives and histories that shape the way in which one pictures and frames the natural world. Combining digital and traditional printmaking techniques, these investigations culminate in installations, works on paper, and site-specific art.
Amy Sacksteder’s paintings, drawings, and photographs are incorporated into installations that reconcile vitality and mortality. She distills momentous experiences found in nature (e.g., the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland) into and through the artwork, which in turn offers a place for mourning and celebration – a platform to explore and engage the tension between vitality and mortality.
Helen Dennis uses a combination of drawing and photography, creating images by holding back light through layers of drawings. Experiencing long summer days and an unfamiliar orientation of the sun in Iceland, Dennis’ awareness of natural light became acute. Using light on photo-sensitive paper, she reflects on the vastness of nature and the fast-growing natural changes in the landscape, which are echoed in rapid developments of the man- made world.
Island Projects is Nicole Pietrantoni and Amy Sacksteder. The two artists met in Iceland in 2010 while attending artist residencies in Reykjavik. Their collaborative work stems from common themes in their individual studio practices, which mutually examine human interaction with nature. With Pietrantoni’s background in printmaking and Sacksteder’s background in drawing and painting, the artists employ an array of media to create installations that incorporate everything from digital prints and inkjet transparencies to cyanotypes and drawings.
www.islandprojects.org
ABOUT THE BAND
HOOL is Brett Hool and John Kibler. HOOL has played in office parking garages, shipping containers, hospital rooms, industrial lofts, haylofts, storm drains, abandoned covents, in the quiet canyons of California, under the autumn leaves of western New York, and on sheep farms in the green heart of Holland.
www.hoolishness.com
ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES
Nicole Pietrantoni is an American artist working in Reykjavik, Iceland, where she is a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of a Leifur Eiriksson Foundation Fellowship. She is creating work at the Icelandic Printmakerʼs Association, a studio in Reykjavik, and will also be traveling to several artist residencies across the island including SÍM, Gamla Skólí Residency in Hrísey, and the Akureyri Artists Studio. She received her MA and MFA with Honors in Printmaking at the University of Iowa and received her undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University. She is the recipient of a Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Fellowship, a residency from the Ora Lerman Charitable Trust, and a public art commission from the University of Iowa Hospital. Her works have been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad.
www.nicole-pietrantoni.com
Amy Sacksteder’s recent paintings, drawings and installations examine ephemerality and transience. She often incorporates the landscape, individual histories, and current events to depict ambiguous icons and narratives. Her work has been cited on contemporary art websites, published in journals such as New American Paintings, and has been featured in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. She has attended artist residencies in Illinois, Newfoundland, Southern France, Philadelphia, Budapest and Reykjavík. Sacksteder is part of the collaborative team Island Projects with Nicole Pietrantoni, who she met and began working with in Iceland in 2010. Sacksteder received her MFA from Northern Illinois University in 2004. She lives and works in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where she is an Assistant Professor of Art at Eastern Michigan University.
www.amysacksteder.com
Helen Dennis is originally from the UK and now resides in Brooklyn. She earned her BA (Honors) at the University of the Creative Arts in Canterbury, UK and received her MFA from Hunter College, NY. She has been awarded a fellowship from Aljira Center for Contemporary Art and a photographic fellowship from The International House, NYC. Helen has traveled to art residencies in Beijing, Cyprus, and most recently Iceland. She has participated in various exhibitions worldwide and in the US with the support of Queens Council on the Arts, Kent County Council, New Jersey State Council on the Arts and South East Arts UK. Helen’s public art installations have been commissioned by the Downtown Alliance of New York, and NoLongerEmpty.
www.helendennis.com