Aomi Kikuchi

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"I am an artist who earnestly learns various knowledge and techniques of textiles, digests them, and takes a unique approach to conventional thinking and methods for creating innovative works."

Shape of Mind - Drawing, Gold Sumi Ink, Canvas 7.62 cm square each

Aomi Kikuchi is a textile artist based in Kyoto, Japan. She holds a BFA from Kyoto University of Art & Design (Japan) and an MFA from Pratt Institute (USA) and is currently an artist in residence at the Textile Arts Center (USA). Aomi has exhibited her work throughout the world including at Today’s Silk Road Exhibition (China), LA Art Show Modern + Contemporary (California), and the annual Japan Contemporary Art and Craft Exhibition (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum).

With over 30 years of practice, Aomi has dedicated extensive and immersive practice to Japanese Kimono Haute Couture, Yusen dyeing techniques, and silk fabrics after becoming a fashion designer. This background inspires her artistic exploration and her artwork utilizes various textile materials and techniques including extremely thin fibers, goose down, and cotton flower along with knitting, weaving, embroidery, and other craft techniques.

Aomi’s figurative dyeing, textile installation, and soft sculptures exemplify her intentional selection of materials that are defined by delicacy and brittleness. With this, she aims to express Buddha's philosophy of impermanence, insubstantiality and suffering of all life. Aomi is currently working on a series of large scale installation pieces and sculptures that explore impermanence through the use of biology and nature with textiles. This new work will be on view at the Textile Arts Center in Fall 2020.

 

Chasm - Original Dye Method inspired by Traditional Japanese Yuzen Kimono Dyeing, Layered Silk Organza, Acid dye, Pigment 90 cm square
Transition - Knitting, Embroidery, Linen Yarn, Silk Thread, Goose Down 208 x 218 cm
Female Mosquito - Embroidery, Painting, Silk Gauze, Wire, Pigment, Cotton, Bamboo Hoop 16 cm round
Trace - Embroidery, Silk Thread, Goose, Down, Cotton 68 x 28 cm

This review was published by Circle Foundation for the Arts © CFA Press ∙ Images are courtesy of the artist

 

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Cristina Corvino

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"In the past two years, my production has focused on the creation of a number of works from the "Time Machines" series that investigate the social role of women throughout history, these works belong to the style of Conservative Art, a term coined with a registered trademark."

Nonnità - Mixed media 140 x 160 cm

Italian artist, Cristina Corvino attended the Liceo Artistico Renato Cottini as a pupil of Antonio Carena, an established painter known for the "Heavens", and of the designer Giorgio Ceretti, known for the creation of the "Pratone" sofa. The teachings of these masters gave Corvino an aptitude for research and a passion for art that will grow and become expressed in a variety of visual languages: painting, installations, fashion, theater; experimentations which over time will give life to mixed media series of works, independent of the will of the client.

With a Degree in Architecture and a career as architect and restorer, Cristina Corvino continues her artistic activity in parallel. In some cases inserted as an integral part of the workspace and in other cases as a continuous comparison with ancient works and various executive techniques.

#Io Resto a Casa - Oleographic printing and mixed media 56 x 70 cm
Rinominata COVID19 in Italy - Mixed media 112 x 140 cm
Creazione - Mixed media 140 x 160 cm
Rinominata Distanziamento Sociale - Mixed media 140 x 160 cm

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Bernd Reichert

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"I have always been interested in surrealist art and magic realism. The figurative aspect is important there. Coming from printmaking, I started out with using existing imagery, but more and more I have been combining collages with painted elements up to the point where the painting takes full control."

La Belle Machiniste - Acrylic and collage 70 x 70 cm

“I was born behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany. I am now living on the surreal shores of Belgium. I studied printmaking in Germany (Berlin, Magdeburg) and Ireland. After many years of producing limited edition prints in all forms, I stopped for a few years my art production and traveled the world extensively. Now I have moved my area of interest to collages and paintings. I like to see myself as a kind of surrealist artist in the tradition of Leonor Fini, Eileen Agar and the likes.

My collages are a juxtaposition of elements, images, and objects incoherent to each other, thereby exercising a de-contextualizing form of violence on language and image alike. They contain a kind of strangeness, a disturbing element disquieting the spectator/reader who is confronted with a series of elements taken from one's everyday life which, being put one next to each other, provoke, suddenly, an incoherent situation, a source of obscurity and vagueness. Working with text and images, I like to encourage the viewer to oscillate between reading and looking. It is about reusing, recycling and re-contextualizing the over-abundance of images and information we can choose from Time, the various cultural influences of the placed I traveled to and a Babel-like plethora of different languages are recurring aspects of my work.

The artwork is telling stories, influenced by my travels, but also often containing autobiographical elements."

 

Select Solo Exhibitions

Gallery Kaire-Desine, Vilnius (LT), 2005

Gallery Meno, Cultural Centre Jonava (LT) , 2005

Musée de l’Art Spontané, Brussels (BE), 2008

Gallery 89, London (UK), 2010

Kunstwerkstatt, Magdeburg (GE), 2010 and 2013

Gallery ORT, Birmingham (UK), 2012

Cultural Centre, Minden (GE), 2014

L’Apparition - Acrylic and collage 70 x 70 cm
Merz N°2 - Collage 15 x 10 cm
Waiting - Acrylic 70 x 70 cm
Heize Elektrisch! - Collage 30 x 21 cm

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Brigitte Kratochwill

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"When I paint I embark on a journey into my subconscious. I integrate sensory experiences into the painting process. What emerges is a confrontation with something like a reflection of my soul. I search for suitable forms, structures, colours, hues/shades, and sensitive surfaces."

Verstecktes Juwel (Hidden Jewel) - Mixed Media on paper 21 x 29 cm

Austrian Artist, Brigitte Kratochwill was a music, art, and German language teacher in Salzburg until 1999. She led art projects for various institutions and became Headmistress of the Secondary Modern School Bürmoos, Salzburg (1999-2013). Kratochwill actively exhibits since 1988 in  Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, Great Britain, Czech Republic, South Africa, Spain, Finland and China including at the Galerie Artlet in Salzburg, BOS,  Berlin Open Studio, Galerie M Beck, Saarland, Galerie der Zülow Gruppe in Linz, Galerie ARTtime in Udine, Palazzo Ca' Zenobio in Venedig (Biennale Venedig), Galleria La scala d'Oro in Rome, Royal Arcade Opera Gallery in London, European Museum of Modern Art of Barcelona, Galleria KOOKOS in Helsinki, Klebelsberg Cultural Center in Budapest, Art.Fair Köln, Luxembourg Art Week, ART Innsbruck, Luxembourg Art Fair, Art Karlsruhe.

In 2018, Kratochwill received the Audience Award "Il Premio Borgo" at Galleria La scala d'Oro Roma and the same year she was the winner of ArtConnection 2018 Münster, Germany. In 2019 she received Woman Art Award at Venezia Biennale and in 2020 the Artist of the Year title by World of Art, London.

Donauwalzer (Blue Danube) - Mixed Media on canvas 20 x 20 cm
Umarmung (Hug) - Acrylic on canvas 100 x 100 cm
Träumen (Dreaming) - Acrylic and ink on canvas 50 x 50 cm
Die Seele Sanft Berühren (Gentle Touch) - Acrylic and ink on canvas 50 x 50 cm

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Katie Wild

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Born in: 1989, New London, Connecticut USA

Lives in: Newton, Massachusetts USA

Media: Painting, Illustration, Installation, Mixed media, Collage, Drawing

Describe your work in 3 words: Narrative identity politics

See More Work:  https://www.katiewild.com

Going Green - Oil and acrylic on insulation foam board App. 36 x 75 in.

"We all put on facades and are pushed to conform to ideals of the society around us. My work focuses on series of narrative figures in oil or acrylic, usually with mixed media, on various surfaces. My series, 'Color Buy Number' uses color theory and symbolism in life-sized self-portrait installations."

What themes does your work involve?
Each series is different. In 'Color Buy Number', I have envisioned myself as the heroine or victim of constrained and perplexing narratives. These color-driven alter egos directly and un-apologetically impact the viewer’s space due to the lifesize scale of their cutout installations. Mimetic oil paint renderings combined with found or constructed three-dimensional elements demand viewers to look more closely at the details of these self-portraits to decipher the truth of the artifice.
Describe your creative process.
My process is concept-driven and often begins through experimentation that occurs during an artist residency. I typically have two or three ideas floating around in my head for series that I would like to expand upon. It is during these artist residencies once a year that I have had the studio time to explore different materials and methods for executing a concept in order to settle on something that works. In order for me to fully express an idea, I work through 5-10 pieces per series.
What influences your work? What inspires you? Why do you make art?
My artwork evolves and changes according to my influences and life experiences. I look to a variety of other artists; Cindy Sherman, Kehinde Wiley, and Alexa Meade just to name a few, for inspiration. I also reflect on pressing political, economic, and environmental issues and use my artwork to represent and express some of my frustrations as a way of drawing awareness. I make art because it is an impulse, a passion, and sometimes it is the only voice I can use to share and make viewers think.
What is good art? What makes a piece of art great?
Good art should be appreciated by both artists and non-artists. Good art engages viewers with its originality, forces them to pause and consider it, and also speaks to some universal truths. There are many established artists whose work is worth a great deal, but in becoming a commodity, has exhausted all original thought. Famous artists are not necessarily making great art. I believe the struggling artist whose work is not so well known often has the greatest potential to make a difference.
What is the role of the artist today?
I believe artists should use the power of engagement to start conversations and catalyze change. Art is necessary as an outlet and as a provocation. It is difficult and rare to be a successful artist, so most artists are also well-rounded people who use other means to make ends meet. This allows for cross-pollination with other fields and a broader global perspective. I am an artist and educator, which allows me to nurture future artists in addition to using my own artwork to inspire.

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Georg Douglas

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"I like my paintings to be strong, whether from colour, form or something else. I want them to invoke an immediate reaction, either confronting the viewers or drawing them into the work. They do not require much analysis or philosophical consideration, but rather appeal to the emotions."

Inner Light - Oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm

Primarily self-taught, Georg Douglas has attended courses at Reykjavík College of Art and Kópavogur College of Art continually for about 15 years. He exhibits regularly since 2010 both in group and solo shows and his work has been published in international art magazines and websites. In 2017, Georg Douglas was accepted as a member of The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SÍM). Full details on exhibitions, awards and published work can be found on his website.

"I like my paintings to be strong, whether from colour, form or something else. I want them to invoke an immediate reaction, either confronting the viewers or drawing them into the work. They do not require much analysis or philosophical consideration, but rather appeal to the emotions and create an atmosphere. The world of flowers and Irish dance has been my inspiration for some time.

​My flower inspired paintings use strong colours and form and I also extend the field of view by incorporating microscopic and molecular elements. I like to obfuscate by ignoring scale and jumbling elements which I feel comes closer to nature itself than realistic painting.

In my dance-inspired paintings, I want the viewers to experience the flashes of light on the moving dancers and their bright costumes and in their mind to hear the thundering Irish music.”

“The delicate abstract paintings of Irish artist Georg Douglas display a vibrant rhythm. Through the masterful blending of lively colors and the complex intertwining of resonant lines, each composition echoes a unique abstract melody. The paintings are very lyrical and it is no surprise that Douglas is inspired by music.

Often large in scale, the works have a celestial quality maybe reminiscent of a moment of creation with an explosion of broken down motifs coming together through a radial balance that guides the viewer's eye around the canvas and toward the center of the creative drama.

Observing the body of the artist's work it becomes quickly evident that he has built up a unique approach which is recognizable yet not repetitive. Georg Douglas' paintings can be likened to abstracted visual rhapsodies reflecting upon an idiosyncratic painting style with each piece reverberating a fresh, passionate melody.” 

- Circle Foundation for the Arts, Director

Swathes - Oil on canvas 140 x 200 cm
Joy in the Morning - Oil on canvas 100 x 140 cm
Summer Breeze - Oil on canvas 140 x 200 cm
In the Meadow - Oil on canvas 140 x 200 cm

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Emanuela I H Sintamarian

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Born in: 1977, Bucharest, Romania

Lives in: Oakland, USA

Media: Painting, Mixed media, Drawing

Describe your work in 3 words: In a continuous flux, contradictions, playfulness

See More Work:   https://www.emahsin.com - https://www.instagram.com/emasdas/

Remorses Are Like Bones For Dogs: Not Enough To Feed You, Yet Sufficient To Perforate Your Stomach, 2019 - Mixed media on paper 122 x 183 cm

"I translate the external world, reducing it to colorful vortexes of familiar yet fictitious forms. Its main idea is based on a facet of modern physics which states that everything that seems solid is really comprised of energy and that molecules in motion are subject to human intervention."

What themes does your work involve?

I am interested in 1) the mechanics of motion, its visual translation and the dichotomies intrinsic to it (transfer vs. change; action vs. reaction); 2) how memory relates to perception, and 3) the fluidity and tension of contradictions (organized chaos and uncontrolled order). I am interested in pushing the limits of abstraction and suggesting emotional / physical motion in an immediate, visceral manner rather than generating self -referential and/or didactic works.

Describe your creative process.

My multi-axial curiosity overcomes the fear of failing; my artistic life is guided by "just do it", and "what if?" and its the eureka moments mixed failed experiments. When I work, I don't think about art: why spoil a perfectly fine moment with prefabricated desires of "what" and "how" it should look like. Yet I believe in being spontaneous but thinking beforehand. This allows me to both respond to what I'm working on, but also think of the next work(-s): thus, the work makes the works.

What influences your work? What inspires you?

Making art is what defines me as a person. As an artist, I am interested in choices: what remains to be seen, what is absent and how decisions are made. I evaluate the possibilities for changes from one drawing to the next without visual redundancy or content disruption. I incorporate in my visual lexicon elements which vary from my immediate surrounding to Eastern European folklore, the aesthetic of automatisms, absurd theatre, mathematics, poetry, music, contemporary and traditional art.

What is good art? What makes a piece of art great?

This question makes me think of, and possibly find an answer to it in Wallace Stevens’ Metaphors of a Magnifico: “Twenty men crossing a bridge,/ Into a village,/ Are twenty men crossing twenty bridges,/Into twenty villages,/ Or one man? Crossing a single bridge into a village”.

I favor works that break away from the linear order of (a) narrative, thus challenge/ question my own experience of seeing/being and become vehicle for extended "travels" into the word of new wonders.

What is the role of the artist today?
I grew up in Romania, an oppressive Communist country, where art was considered subversive. The only way to survive the prison-like quotidian was by reinventing the Wonderland. For me, art was/is a door to revealing personal and/or collective poetic vulnerability. Paradoxically, it's also a way to bring joy, inspiration, and interaction to communities; to record, translate and open dialogues on societal issues. Either way, it requires not only skills and content but mostly sincerity in intent.

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Anne Harkness

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Born in: Charlotte, NC, USA

Lives in: Mooresville, NC, USA

Media: Painting

Describe your work in 3 words: We Gotta Dance

See More Work:   www.anneharkness.com -  Providence Gallery, Charlotte, NC  - Vision Gallery, Morehead City, NC

Real Easy - Oil on canvas 50 x 50 in.

As a contemporary artist, Anne Harkness looks for a unique point of view and often finds some unexpected beauty in what many would consider an ordinary or unattractive subject. Her focus on design has impacted her style as a painter with a graphic aspect which can usually be seen in her paintings.

What themes does your work involve?

With a background in design, Harkness gravitates towards subjects with a strong graphic image. Town scenes, chairs and telephone poles are among her favorites. The elements Anne uses are line, shape and color to support her design focus. The principles that interest her are balance, rhythm and movement. 'Cause, "we gotta’ dance!" Her hope is that you will never tire of your travels through her paintings.

Describe your creative process.
Harkness photographs a scene that captures her attention. From various photos, she does line drawings to improve the images' design. Next color studies are done. If Anne feels she still has passion for the piece after this prep work, she will paint it larger. The goal is to have passion fuel the painting to the finish. She works in series based on the subject, sometimes varying the canvas sizes, sometimes not.
What influences your work? What inspires you?

If it's got a strong graphic image and shows a unique point of view, chances are Harkness may like it. She loves the buttery texture of oil paint. Showing the process and those many layers that lie underneath are part of what Harkness treasures. She says painting is like life, with its many layers peaking through to the finish. The artists that have influenced her are Staprans, Diebenkorn, Degas, Japanese prints, Toulouse Lautrec, Klimpt, Peri Schwartz and Brian Rutenburg.

What is good art? What makes a piece of art great?

Great art captures something unexpected. It's beauty strikes at our very core. The artist gives something of themselves to the artwork and that is what calls to people. Great art is more than just technical skill; it's got to draw the viewer in, tell a story, or emote a feeling we want to keep experiencing.

What is the role of the artist today?
Art has many roles. It documents the world in which we live. Since the artist often is struggling with something (as do most people), their artwork contains some of that struggle and sometimes the viewer understands it a fresh. In times of grief, we seek beauty to hold onto, as if it contains a little bit of the Divine. We want to hold on to the eternal, even if we don't believe, we want to hold on to hope. Something in us grasps for that beauty as if it is life itself.

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Billy the Kid Neon – Numen

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"I am an outsider artist. I am self-taught and use unusual materials in my work such as sheetrock and neon paint. My work is for me a spiritual path. I became an artist when I was "Richard Dreyfussed" (as in Close Encounters of the Third Kind) at Home Depot one day and have been at it ever since."

Billy's Large Glass - Mixed media 23 x 46 in.

“I am an outsider artist. I am self-taught and use unusual materials in my work such as sheetrock and neon paint. My work is for me a spiritual path as I am now the artist called Billy the Kid Neon/Numen formerly known simply as Billy the Kid Neon (hehee).

I became an artist when I was "Richard Dreyfussed" (as in Close Encounters of the Third Kind) at Home Depot one day. I bought an 8' x 4' piece of sheetrock and, with a neighbor's help, I set it on two sawhorses. In a trance, I did my first piece appropriately called "Future Numen". This solitary phase in my work culminated in my magnum opus "Yu Must Squeeze" - a 7000 c.ft. installation.

Now I employ "fine" artists in my work and I think it is way better - not so rough and more accessible. My art is now for sale and hopefully, placable. Thanks for your kind attention..."

LUV AND PEACE,

- Billy

The Adventures of Roy Rogers & Dale Evans & The Known God & Abraxas & The Unknown God in the Lost Canyon - Mixed media 9 x 5 x 5 ft
Sex War - Mixed media 28 x 72 x 3 in.
Gospel of Evey Verses 7:1 - 7:4 - Mixed media 20 x 32 x 5 in.
Billy & Holy Plastic Family - Mixed media 34 x 36 x 88 in.

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Ann Dunbar

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"My art is a history of my travels, dreams, observations of natural forms, which from afar brings you closer to an intimate meeting of marvels. I use a combined technique which I have developed over the years to express my own voice and vision."

Inspiration Estivale - Embroidery on mixed media/paper, 100 x 120 cm

Ann Dunbar is an international quoted artist, born and educated in the UK and now living in France. Armed with a teachers' Diploma and an arts degree specializing in Textiles, she taught in schools and colleges in the UK for sixteen years before becoming a full-time artist. Her unique mixed technique whereby she embellishes her paintings on paper with embroidery, her signature work, has received acclaim and to date and acquired fifty awards since moving to France in 1996. Ann has exhibited worldwide: Brazil, Japan, Cambodia, China, Australia, Russia, Emirates and in Europe.

Dunbar's pieces are in various museums, private and corporate collections in China, Japan, the UK, Australia and Denmark. She is represented by Shoalhaven Fine Art Gallery in NSW, Australia, G&C Gallery in England and Paola Trevisan International Italy. Her work reveals a passion for the fragile beauty of the natural world.

The idiosyncratically layered works of Ann Dunbar combine painting and embroidery in a unique and painstaking technique that involves meticulous marks with a wet brush as well as with her old Bernina sewing machine. "This precious machine, given to me by my mother, is the most important tool in my creative world." describes Ann.

Taking a medium that is typically associated with crafts, Dunbar's large mixed media works carry through the traditionally feminine practice of sewing, blending thread and paint into high works of art.

Full of color, detail, and texture, each work displays a complex arrangement of interconnected lines and motifs stitched together to produce a balanced and intricate mixed media composition. The works may require hours of careful gazing to take in the full spectrum of labor that the artist put in as well as to appreciate the delicate beauty and refined expertise which the finished piece reflects. 

It is no surprise that Ann continues to exhibit and sell her remarkable artworks internationally. Visit her website to enjoy more of her recent works.

- Circle Foundation for the Arts, Director

Garden of Happiness - Embroidery on mixed media/paper 50 x 40 cm
Dream Garden I - Embroidery on mixed media/paper 70 x 50 cm
Path In The Shade - Embroidery on water colour. 50 x 40 cm
Wish You Were Here - Embroidery on water colour. 70 x 50 cm

This review was published by Circle Foundation for the Arts © CFA Press ∙ Images are courtesy of the artist

 

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