Artist Talks @ Bunnell

June 7, 2024, First Friday w/Bonilyn Parker

“I believe in the importance of hand-made objects in an increasingly disposable world.  Contemporary issues associated with waste, commercial manufacturing and consequential practices such as repurposing, recycling, and the DIY movement influence my work.  Embellished with the suggestion of mending, my vessels commemorate the endangered art of repair. Working in clay, I explore the spaces that exist between maker and user, disposable and reusable, sentimental and material value.  Through experiencing a handcrafted object, I urge my audience to consider the cost of a throwaway culture and the significance of the items we keep in our lives. more

June 7, 2024, First Friday w/ Kathy Smith

In the process of creating this show, my efforts and explorations with composition on the heated plate have led me to variations in technique, including the addition of hand-carved printing blocks inspired by a recent trip to Ireland. My family roots are deeply embedded in the history of the landscape there, shifting my work from above to below, and back again.” – Kathy Smith more

May 3, 2024, First Friday w/ Margo Klass

Wayfinding is a collection of hand-crafted books and box constructions which look both backward and forward in expressions of grief, hope, and gratitude. They all reflect a personal interaction with materials – the beauty of tanned salmon skin, a perfectly formed rock found on a beach walk, a unique flitch of boreal birch, or a quirky object found in a junk store – each takes me by the hand and leads its own transformation into an artist book or box construction.” – Margo Klass more...

May 3, 2024, First Friday w/ Ree Nancarrow

“This body of work draws inspiration from changes I have seen take place over many years living in Alaska.  Many of them are visible and accelerated due to global warming, which deeply concerns me. I have been actively involved with the In Time of Change program for the past 12 years, studying with scientists to understand their research and what it means for our natural world.  I strive to convey, in a very personal way, what I have come to know.” – Ree Nancarrow more...

April 12, Artist in Residence talk w/ Andrew O'Connor

“My aim is to create a work for multiple low watt FM transmitters set up along the streets of Homer. My time will be spent engaging the local community in interviews and recording the soundscapes of the city at all times of the day and night..." more

April 5th, First Friday with Diane Melms

”Honoring tradition and seeking innovation, I strive to push the quilt form into new territory. With a firm foundation in traditional textiles, and an art and design background, I am inspired to use my technical skills and creative drive to invent new ways to express my ideas in cloth. In many ways, I have pushed myself to ‘think outside the block’ with both concept and technique.” Learn more.

March 1, First Friday with Kendra Harvey

Ceramicist Kendra Harvey exhibits at Bunnell Street Arts Center for the month of March. The exhibit opens on Friday, March 1, 2024 from 5-7pm with an artist talk at 6pm. Harvey will also host two plate painting workshops for Bunnell’s 30th Annual Plate Project.

“Storytelling is the foundation of my art. Throughout time and across cultures, mythologies have been formed out of our everyday lives. These shared narratives illuminate human nature, provide comfort, and foster connection. Reinforcing this connection is the core of my work. I want to capture the feeling of hearing a familiar tale once again, but in a new form. Through the rich history of their imagery and symbolism, animals invite endless creative freedom. Detached from the intimately recognizable human figure, they are still relatable through their roles in our lore. I see them as vessels for the human condition, emotions, and relationships. The scenes are enhanced by color interaction that’s inspired by emotional content and the landscape around me. Placing these subjects in compositions on the wall elevates them and evokes sacred imagery. Their floating positions reinforce that they belong to a world adjacent to our own, evoking the line between reality and fantasy. My work is an investigation of pervasive queries about the human experience and world around us. How do we define ourselves in the other? Which of our unique qualities can also be universal? Is there a purpose to human imagination, and why do we filter our reality through it? Through the oldest medium on earth, storytelling, I hope to inspire the viewer to consider humanity’s progress and its future while honoring its past.”

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February 2, 2024 First Friday with Megan DeCino

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I make two kinds of art: for myself, and for other people.

The art I make for myself — paintings and mixed media pieces — come from a place of uneasiness and isolation. I dwell on worst case scenarios: violent breakups, car crashes, bloody accidents. Sometimes the lonely characters I create are silly or absurd in their nightmarish realities. I enjoy straddling the line between comedy and horror.

The art I make for other people — cards and valentines — are my light hearted, whimsical tokens of love. I cut and collage each one with the recipient in mind — a tiny altar devoted to them. I send them in homemade envelopes all across the world to friends, mentors, and sometimes strangers from the internet.

The dichotomy in my work is a reflection of my heart — full, optimistic, and willing to be broken over and over. Magically regenerating, Valentine’s Day after Valentine’s Day. I paint to put form to my angst and loneliness, and I make cards in an attempt to connect and send love in physical form." - Megan DeCino

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December 3rd, 2023 First Friday with Carol Lambert

“Perseverance is an exhibition of multicolor intaglio etchings and other works on paper by Carol Lambert. Lambert’s images touch on common experiences, including birth, death, trust, fear, safety, threat, and conditions on planet Earth. Both cartooning and classical drawing inform her whimsical style. Her work bridges fantasy and realism as she explores her theme of resilience in the face of peril.” – Carol Lambert

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November 3,2023 First Friday Artist Talk with Rafael de la Uz

Artist Statement: “My photography focuses on telling stories, so my goal is to build a narrative from a group of images, organized in a specific order instead of aiming for visual excellence in one single image. An isolated photograph has a certain aesthetic value, but a set of photos uses the power of visual storytelling to tell a story and stories are powerful tools of communication. That is what I try to achieve as a photographer. This exhibition is about isolation, or my personal vision of my son’s isolation, his strategies to adapt to his new life, his special relationship with the sea, his particular vision of Alaska, his experience here.” – Rafael de la Uz

 

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