Ron Copeland: Walking Lucid Through Mill Town Dreams
Copeland invites you to explore the dreams of miners, mill workers and mailmen of an imaginary industrial town. There, they once forged steel into battle ship armor that won world wars and sculpted the girders that sent buildings into the sky. Now that those days are long gone, the heat from the blast furnace and the thud of the hydraulic press echo only in their dreams. Using found and reclaimed materials; Copeland constructs works, paints typography and creates signage to pay homage to those who invested sweat equity into building an empire that too soon forgot them.
Jameelah Platt: Bilateral Contracts
"Often we do not associate ourselves and loved ones with a number or ticket, but rather a moment, experience or memory. When we think of tickets we gravitate towards thoughts regarding purchases, contest and ultimately ourselves because we are thinking about how we as individuals can win. Though love should not feel competitive, sometimes we can find ourselves wondering how we can win and even buy our way into the hearts of others. These love tickets are a physical reminder and totem of these ideas as well as a reminder of the commitment of what it means to love others as well as yourself."
Sheila Cuellar-Shaffer: Candyland: The Land of Hope
"Candyland: The Land of Hope is a compilation of grotesque beings and a sugar-coated veneer that covers reality. With these imaginary creatures, I explore the connections between power and the vilification of minorities in current US politics, and how those narratives impact underserved portions of the population. I am interested in how basic ideas have played a crucial role in stirring up anger and violence and the distress that this causes to the most vulnerable."
Zach Brown: 13 Monsters
"Our grasp on reality always seems to be weakest at the transitional state between asleep and awake. We compare death to sleep and imagine that like sleep death will hold dreams. This comparison allows us to populate the afterlife with the cast of our dreams and nightmares. It is this state of transition that lets us peak through the thin veil of reality and peer into the deep void behind it. It is with this in mind that I produced 15 new paintings dealing specifically with this subject matter."
Jason Lee: Suburban Home
Jason Lee's work is a reflection of the suburban landscape of his youth: From brightly painted houses, covered in brittle siding that didn't offer the protection it was made for, to the dark and dirty punk culture that was repainted and sold to the youth. By recreating these objects and ideas, he's able to reclaim the punk culture that was re-appropriated during his youth.
Carin Mincemoyer: Divide
Divide is an exhibit of new sculptural works that humorously address the tension in our conflicting desires that we have of the natural landscape. These include a continual drive to organize and control the landscape, while at the same time cherishing seemingly “wild” nature as a place to make contact with the pure, unspoiled origins of our existence.
Adrienne M. Grafton: Transplant
"In 2011 my mother received her first of two stem cell transplants in an attempt to put her multiple myeloma at bay. A preservative used for the cells during the transplant gives off an odor that smells like creamed corn. I was shocked by this particular stench mixed with the sanitizer. Transplant is my version of her hospital room intended to help me understand further exactly what procedures she went through and immerse myself into her situation."
Adrienne will also be leading a workshop, Sentimental Sculpture, on July 26th from 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM. For more information, please visit our website.