Birds / Big Thaw / Subduction

We have three new beautiful exhibits to unveil on Friday, March 8th! Tessa Heck’s “Big Thaw” in the upstairs Weaver Room Gallery, Nathan Goddard’s “Subduction” in the Jessie Wilber Gallery and Victoria Daily’s “Birds” in the Lobby Gallery. Come by, check out the art and say hello to the artists.

Emerson Lobby / Weaver Room Gallery / Jessie Wilber Gallery
Friday, March 8th from 5:00-8:00pm

Artist Statement – Victoria Daily (Birds)

Patterns have always appeared to me in nature. Patterns of the scales on a butterfly’s wing or the feather molting patterns of waterfowl. Patterns of migration along the Mississippi Flyway that I watch from the flooded cypress woods. Patterns in the crystal of a snowflake, each one similar but different. I am obsessed with these things to the point that I structure my year around them, seeking to be where they are as they move and appear with the seasons. There is nothing more real to me than the patterns I find. I am compelled to make paintings detailing my obsessions.

Back in my studio, I begin by choosing the surface I will use. I use wooden panels for my paintings or hand carve aluminum panels into sculptural shapes. I use oil painting mediums to dilute my oil paint and seek a watercolor-like quality as I apply the paint. I seek a balance of visible paint application and representation of the subject.

Artist Statement – Tessa Heck (Big Thaw)

Created in the depth of winter and huddled around my space heaters in my studio, I was attracted to the hyper pigmented colors that could be found on those miraculous alpenglow evenings, where the neon brightness reminds you spring is coming soon and it hasn’t forgotten you. Painting can be a lonely process, particularly up in the Northwest corner of Montana. Peering out my window to see the glacial peaks on bluebird days gave me a sense of hope and wonderment.

Big Thaw utilizes flashe vinyl paint to create abstracted glaciers and shadows. I am attracted to this painting process for its mattifying effects and crisp lines. Flashe gives me a level of control but is also unforgiving, making it a delicate process I have grown to love.

Ultimately, Big Thaw draws on the changing of seasons, fertility, and learning to embrace the uncertainty of change.

Artist Statement – Nathan Goddard (Subduction)

I see making my work as archived memories deep beyond the surface mantle, the earth survives as physical documentation of recollection and reflection. The act of utilizing clay and earth from specific places therefore, literally and conceptually connects my work to a place of origin and the layers of nostalgia associated with it. Place is my material and my vehicle for addressing these ideas.

Having the ability to transcend these connections and activate my inner voice is of great importance. Through a spiritual connection I take the memory of the land to create the work. We ultimately depend on the health of the planet in order to continue for future generations. We are the catalyst to preserve this place. We can move fast like water flowing over rocks and boulders or slowly like plates deep beneath the earth’s surface.

“Before it can ever be the repose for the senses, landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock.” Ken Taylor