Open Space: Diane Best

This March, Telluride Arts is featuring Open Space, an exhibition by Diane Best. The Art Walk opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 2nd, 5-8pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery West at 224 W Colorado Avenue. Enjoy live music by local, multi-instrumentalist Anneke Dean at the Art Walk reception.

With this series, Open Space, Diane Best continues her exploration of the more and more remote, uninhabited, and overlooked corners of the earth. She says, “I am interested in preserving or recording a single incredible moment of converging light and landscape while enjoying the space, beauty and quietness.”

Featured in the show will be a series of large format, acrylic paintings from desert, arctic, and alpine landscapes including her coveted work “Telluride Whiteout” (2018, 36x72”). Additionally, Diane will be showcasing new and old, large format brush drawings inspired by the iconic Joshua tree, a staple of the desert, and a favored subject of hers for 25 years. She calls them “tree portraits” and loves their movement and unique structures, reminding her of Dr. Seuss creatures.

Diane Best was born in Boston, and studied in the San Francisco area (Stanford University, San Francisco Art Institute), before moving south to Los Angeles. There, she did commercial artwork for the entertainment industry. Moving to Joshua Tree in 1995, she continued working freelance for Los Angeles animation studios, but over time shifted the focus of her talent to capturing the intense drama of the desert landscape that surrounded her. Diane’s work has been presented in solo and group exhibits throughout the country, including shows at the Carnegie Museum, the Southwest Museum in LA, a show of her “Shack” photos in NYC, and the Joshua Treenial 2015, 2017 and 2019. She has taught painting workshops for the Desert Institute in Joshua Tree National Park for many years, and has been profiled in publications such as: Palm Springs Life, Lifescapes: West Coast Art & design, Art Patron Magazine, and a KCET documentary for Artbound. She has also worked with the National Parks as a featured artist for Joshua Tree National Park.

The gallery is open most days from 12-6pm or by appointment. For more information contact Telluride Arts at 970-728-3930, info@telluridearts.org, or find us online at www.telluridearts.org. To see past Telluride Arts HQ Gallery exhibits or to submit an exhibit proposal visit www.telluridearts.org/telluride-arts-exhibits.

Human/Nature: Tammi Brazee

Local artist, Tammi Brazee, will be showcasing her series, Human/Nature, for the kickoff show at 224 W Colorado, Telluride Arts HQ Gallery West.

The Human/Nature series began as a mashup of animal and human behavior, an exploration of mate seeking and the power of pheromones, visual cues, adornment, competition, attraction, and ritual. In this series, there are four very large, sensual women; Tammi gave them complete control over their own bodies and sexuality by making their canvases much larger than the others. Their titles give them absolute authority to select with whom they share themselves. While this series is humorous on the surface, the topic, of human sexuality, is a complex and sometimes emotionally loaded subject.
 
Colorado has been Tammi Brazee’s home for over two decades. She is a professional artist and science geek, holding two graduate degrees, one in environmental science and the other in visual art. This unusual combination of interests has had a profound influence on Brazee’s work, keeping it suspended somewhere between recognizable reality and imaginary narrative.

Apres Ski: Shannon Foley Henn

December 15, 2022 - January 30, 2023 Telluride Arts is featuring Apres Ski an exhibition by Shannon Foley Henn.

Shop the collection here!

Shannon has led an eclectic life which includes organizing safaris, running a boutique hotel and starting up the world's leading rock and roll cancer foundation. She has organized adventure concerts on Everest base camp, Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and Mount Fuji.

At a young age Shannon was enamored by pop art and was encouraged to be creative in every aspect of life. She started honing in on drawing portraits in high school and went on to study business at Boston College with a concentration in art.   

She started her career in the corporate world as a brand director which led her around the globe and landed her in Kenya working with the oldest safari company in East Africa. Under the original guidance of the best safari guides in the world, Shannon began to consult on global adventures. Her experience led her to produce the first concert on Everest Basecamp for The Love Hope Strength Foundation (LHS). While leading extreme fundraisers for LHS around the world and searching for bone marrow donors at concerts and festivals (including right here in Telluride), Shannon met Jeremy Henn. Jeremy, having been his brothers life-saving bone marrow donor, joined Shannon in her global pursuit to bring cancer care around the world. In 2016, they returned from a year in East Africa supporting a pediatric cancer center and moved to Winter Park, CO. Shannon has found a way to unite her life experiences into pop art pieces of acrylic on canvas.  

Her most recent series, “Apres Ski”, is a culmination of her years working with musicians in the rock and roll industry and her current home in the ski town of Winter Park, Colorado. She loves infusing a bit of rock n roll energy into the ski community through this quirky series.

Seasonal Reflection: Almigdad Aldikhaiiry

This October and November, Telluride Arts HQ Gallery is featuring Seasonal Reflection an exhibit by Almigdad Aldikhaiiry.

Born in Sudan, Aldikhaiiry was a political cartoonist before he was a painter, turning out a fearless stream of visual commentary under the repressive regime of President al-Bashir. The artist was granted refugee status to the U.S. in 2016. His physical home today may be the city of Los Angeles, but his artistic and political focus is broader than ever.

In the weeks leading up to the October Art Walk, Telluride Arts hosted Aldikhaiiry for an artist residency, and he completed new works of art inspired by the Telluride valley. Almigdad responded to the natural environment, the colors of autumn, the animal kingdom, and more.

INTERPLAY: Art + Opera

September 27th through October 3rd, Telluride Arts HQ Gallery and Original Thinkers are featuring a pop-up, group exhibition, INTERPLAY: Art + Opera.

INTERPLAY: Art + Opera is an interdisciplinary gallery and performance project created by The BRDG Project and soprano & creative producer Leah Podzimek. “Interplay was created as a mechanism to provide artists with new creative capital, share opera with rural communities in informal yet intimate settings, and build cross-disciplinary relationships between visual and performing artists that help to enhance audience experience,” said Podzimek.

Visual artists from all mediums came together with opera singers this past June at the Telluride Transfer Warehouse. The program included stories and histories of the musical selections, as well as live performances by Denver-based singers Leah Podzimek and Kira Dills-DeSurra, with accompaniment by Jessica Nilles Kressin. In the months since, seven local artists—Brittany Miller, Daniel Kanow, Fran Windsor, Jonathan Bailey, Kathy Green, Margaret Rinkevich, and Molly Perrault-Daniel—went away to create new works of art inspired by the music. Now, those works will be curated into a group exhibition within the gallery walls at Telluride Arts HQ featuring live performances of the same music that inspired the art.

“When we were approached about this project, it seemed like a perfect match for Original Thinkers. Fresh, different and we particularly loved that Leah was reaching out to local artists to make her vision happen” said David Holbrooke of Original Thinkers.

Podzimek writes, “The creative community in Telluride has welcomed this project with such open arms, it is a truly humbling experience that proves artists of all mediums share a kindred spirit - one of joyful creation, expansive thought, and a desire for collaboration! We are excited to see the art these folks have created and perform in town again, continuing to showcase the 'interplay' of visual and audio art for local audiences.”

This project is a collaboration between Leah Podzimek, Telluride Arts and Original Thinkers Festival. An opening reception for the gallery exhibition will be held on Wednesday, September 28th, 5-8pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery at 220 W Colorado Avenue. Live music by Kirk Drogsvold, and small bites will be available at the reception. Then, Original Thinkers will host a special event in the gallery for passholders only on Friday, September 30th as well as a free, community encore on Saturday, October 1st with performances starting every 20 minutes from 12-6pm.

Properties of Thirst: Tintypes by Lara Porzak

In 2016, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated novelist Marianne Wiggins suffered a sudden stroke and moved in with her daughter, Lara Porzak, an artist herself. Marianne’s book, Properties of Thirst, was unfinished. In the preceding months, Lara cared for her mother and helped her finish her mother’s book, all the while filming a new documentary short.

This September, Telluride Arts HQ Gallery is featuring an exhibition, Properties of Thirst: Tintypes by Lara Porzak. The Art Walk opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 1st, 5-8pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery at 220 W Colorado Avenue. Live music by Anneke Dean, wine, and small bites will be available at the Art Walk reception. New work by Blackbird and the Snow Fine Jewelry will also be on display.

Additionally, Sunday, September 4th, Telluride Arts and Between the Covers Bookstore will host a reading and reception with Marianne Wiggins for her new novel, Properties of Thirst, at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery amidst Lara’s photography exhibition. Start time TBD.

Lara Porzak is an American, fine-art photographer living and working in Los Angeles. She exclusively works with analog methods. In an article for Fresh Style Magazine, Annalise Devries writes, “Lara commits herself to the particular photographic aesthetic you cannot preview on the back of a digital camera. Using old techniques—from the Leonardo pin-hole camera to the century-old daguerreotype to the 1960s Diana—she captures raw emotions, even spiritual sensibilities in grainy shades of gray.” Lara has exhibited in prestigious galleries across the United States and Europe. Her photographs have notably joined the J. Paul Getty Museum collections.

Marianne Wiggins is the author of eight novels, including John Dollar and Evidence of Things Unseen, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. She has won a Whiting Award, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Heidinger Kafka Prize, and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction. She lives in Venice, California.

To see more of Lara’s work, visit laraporzakphotography.com. For more information about Marianne’s book, visit simonandschuster.com.

Mushroom People: Lindsey Ross

Lindsey Ross, b. 1981

Mushroom People Artist Statement:

Everyday humans are bombarded with information that forms their perception of reality. These versions of reality are incomplete. They omit vast amounts of information, among many things, the fairies in the mushroom forest. 

The forest is filled with beings both seen and unseen; these fairies or elementals exist beneath humans’ visible perception. These images remind viewers of the wonder, idealism and bliss often found in nature. 

Elementals exist in folklore throughout history in every culture and region. They may be small or large; they have different physical appearances and are strong, active, physical forces in their environment. Their unifying trait is their connection to nature. 

The elemental world is like the human world: they are mischievous, jealous, act in self interest and make mistakes.  Like humans, they are flawed. 

In the 19th century the term “veracity of photography” was used to describe the objectivity of photography.  This meant that what appeared in a photograph was true to life, existed in the physical world, and was synonymous with reality and science.  It was visual proof of the existence of what was depicted in the photograph. Mushroom people employs the veracity of photography to show the viewer an unseen world.

Wet plate collodion process is only sensitive to blue and ultra violet wavelengths so it includes some information that is not in the visual spectrum and filters out certain wavelengths in the visible spectrum.  This process functions as filter that show viewers what their eyes cannot see in reality adding and subtracting information from what they see. 

Humans have specific impressions of what mushrooms are in their reality: they are small and on the ground, they are edible, delicate, harmless and have no central nervous system. But could there actually be unseen beings inhabiting a forest of mushrooms?  

These images are intended to disrupt and cause viewers to be curious about other interpretations of reality based on a different set of information.

Lindsey Ross Bio:

Lindsey Ross is a California-based artist who primarily works with large format photography and the 19th century process, wet-plate collodion.  Ross started working in this process in 2011 and she quickly realized it was the ideal format for her artistic practice. The slow pace of collodion requires a presence and intimacy that connects Ross to both the physical and spiritual world. 

In 2015, Ross rebuilt a 20x24in process camera from the 1920’s.  She had always admired the work of William Henry Jackson and Carleton Watkins, who documented the American West in the same format in the late 19th century.  Ross soon found herself documenting the American West as well but from the perspective of a woman in the 21st century.  

Two years later, in 2017, Ross had a 32x24in Chamonix View Camera custom built. She wanted to create larger art objects allowing the viewer to step into the environment of the image. 

Ross has participated in several artist residencies including Telluride Mountain Film Festival,  The Squire Foundation and the Budapest Art Factory.  Her work has most recently been exhibited at Andrew Smith Gallery in Tucson and Penumbra Foundation in New York City.  

The Beauty of Imperfections: Rebecca Mcfarland

MD Famous Artist + Katy Parnello

July 2-31 , 2022

Opening Reception July 7, 5-8pm.

Rebecca McFarland was raised by two academics in New Orleans, La. When everyone else was outside playing, she spent her childhood with the passionate Jane Eyre, the deep contradictions of Hester Prynne and the outspoken Lizzie Bennet. Women’s stories, in classic literature, movies, and theater, have defined Rebecca’s life and work. After graduating from Tulane University, she spent twenty years in Hollywood having a successful television career as an actress.

When she began painting in 2001, after an inspiring five-month adventure in Europe, she naturally turned her talents to the female figure. Her portraits involve layers of collage and acrylic paint followed by sanding to reveal the cracks and decay beneath the grace and allure of beauty. Her methods have been developed through sheer force of will combined with constant experimentation.

“I’m interested in what we reveal to each other and what we keep as privileged information—the layers we cover ourselves with to hold our secrets. I want the worn down bits to show, the broken parts. I want my women to remove their social masks and confess their deepest woes. Ultimately, I’m a storyteller, and my

passion is the story of women”. Rebecca McFarland

MD Famous Artist + Katy Parnello

MD Famous Artist + Katy Parnello

June 1-30, 2022

Opening Reception June 2, 5-8pm.

Flow State: Anna Brones

Flow State: Anna Brones

May 23-30, 2022

Opening Reception May 27, 5-8pm.

Anna’s Artist Statement:

“Flow State is an exploration of place and process through paper. Each piece is cut entirely freehand, and through the repetition of forms and simple shapes a more complex and detailed work grows.”

“Unlike drawing or painting where you are adding to the paper or canvas, in papercutting, you create the work by removing something. This means that no additions can be made once a piece of paper is cut away. There is no eraser, no way to paint over a flaw. Any mistake or error becomes a catalyst for adaptation. It is a practice of presence, process, and focus.”

“In most of my papercutting work, I draw first. This helps me to see the lines and intersections, and how a piece will unfold. Drawing first allows for more control, but it can also create a sense of physical and mental tension. For this body of work, I wanted to see what would happen if I worked solely freehand, allowing each shape to build into something larger. The overall collection is inspired by the flow and change found all around us in nature, and a challenge to consider the same within ourselves.”

Mountain School's Student Exhibition

Mountain School's Student Exhibition

Featuring work by Juniors, Ruby McHarg and Sebastian Ogle

May 10-29, 2022.

Ruby’s Artist Statement:

My interest in Airstreams began a few years back when I was shown the inside of one by my Godmother. Walking into that great silver beast immediately made me want one. Although I had not a penny, I vowed to myself that I would one day have my own Airstream. In just a few years time, when I had secured a summer job with a fair pay, I happened upon an Airstream of the perfect size and condition for the right price. With my dad’s consent and support, we drove down to Texas to pick her up. Currently, we are planning how we will renovate, and I am working hard to raise money to pay for both the renovations and the trailer itself. I have dubbed my Airstream “Possibility.”

This year, my art class was assigned a year-long project to work on. We could pick anything we wanted. Strangely, I chose photography, even though I have never been captivated by the thought of it. Sure, I’ve taken photos of my pets and pretty sunsets, but never actually taken editing seriously. Yet, I felt drawn to the idea of photographing my Airstream, and all of its vintage aspects, before it undergoes its metamorphosis. Slowly, I started to snap pictures of her, just here and there with my phone. I’m not too savvy with a real camera, and shooting with a phone was the most convenient. So, I taught myself how to take professional looking photos with my Samsung by watching YouTube tutorials, and lots of trial and error. Choosing to edit in a monochromatic style, I selected these few favorites because they show you the smallest, yet most charming details. I created this series in hopes to show you the historical beauty of something as simple as a camp trailer.

Sebastian’s Artist Statement:

I came up with the idea for this series from the AI image meshing program Google Deep Dream. I would take two images, one as a base and one as a style image, and combine them with the program. I kept doing this until I found an image output I liked. I would then take that image and do a small amount of accent tweaking with my own image editing software, GIMP and Photopea. After this step, I would print the image, and with it next to me, start drawing it. My medium of choice was oil pastels on toned paper. To create texture and remove material I used a variety of intaglio tools. I used various bits of paper and my hands to blend. Finally, to clean off the surface of each piece and mark its completion, I would brush/smack it with a brush.

The reason why I chose AI programs and image editing software to start my pieces was to expedite the ideation process. I chose to draw each image rather than just ending with a digital piece because of my conscience. It would feel like I hadn’t really done anything with my own hands, so I had to draw them. To me, it adds emotional and moral value to the process. Beyond these reasons, I can’t exactly remember why I did anything else I did. When I begin drawing, I enter a trance-like state, and blank out on everything that occurs after I finish. In all reality, why do I do anything? I’ll be figuring that out for the rest of my life.

I hope for the audience to feel discomfort, a similar feeling to looking at an uncanny person. In the end, I don’t want to tell the audience what to think, feel, or see, but experience my work in their own interpretation. I won’t be giving answers, only questions.

Paintings By Emily Ballou

Paintings by Emily Ballou

Art Walk Reception March 3rd, 5-8pm

For March-April, 2022, Telluride Arts HQ Gallery is featuring paintings by Emily Ballou. Emily lives, works, and plays in Telluride year-round.  She specializes in abstract acrylic paintings, often incorporating other mediums as well (gold leaf, inks, varnishes, and more). Emily is constantly pushing her work to have its own unique properties but consistently strives for vivacious color schemes and stimulating surface textures.

Emily is also one of 11 artists that were chosen to display their work on “The Cabins at Mountain Village” dining pods made from refurbished gondola cabins. The public art project adds vibrant works of art in high visibility areas throughout the Mountain Village Center, turning ordinary spaces into community landmarks. The project is a collaboration between Telluride Mountain Village Homeowners Association, the Town of Mountain Village, and Telluride Arts. Emily's original painting from this project is featured in her show at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery. 

Historic Treasures of the San Juan Mountains: Thomas Livingstone

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present Historic Treasures of the San Juan Mountains by Thomas Livingstone.

Art Walk Reception February 3rd, 5-8pm

Historic Treasures of the San Juan Mountains is a photographic collection of historic mining sites nestled in the remote and rugged mountains of Southwest Colorado. Travel to abandoned mine sites can be difficult due to their remote locations and rugged terrain. Fast-changing weather conditions in mountains that often exceed 12,000 feet in elevation can make getting to the sites an uncomfortable and dangerous adventure. Today, the numerous scattered remnants of the great rush for gold and silver during the latter half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century are slowly decaying and fading away. Thomas Livingstone has made the first effort to document what little is left, so as to help preserve the spirit of the early San Juan mining pioneers who lived and died high in the dramatically beautiful San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. The result is a unique and beautiful presentation of what once was here – done at the last moment before many of these treasures disappear.

Growing up in scenic Colorado, Tom Livingstone developed a keen interest in extreme outdoor adventure sports alongside photography. “On my tenth birthday, my parents gave me my first Nikon camera. Soon after, my pictures were being published in our neighborhood newsletter.” After attending college as a business major, he decided photography was the career he truly wished to pursue. In 1994, Tom was accepted to the world-renowned Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. After studying commercial photography, Tom was hired to join an exploration team to film and photograph the deepest cavern in the world in Mexico for the Discovery Channel. In 2011, Tom opened Kendall Mountain Gallery on Blair Street near his home in Silverton, Colorado. Tom spent seven years trekking and adventuring across the San Juans to capture mining structures among the majestic mountains and completed the project in 2021.

Tom’s website: www.thomaslivingstone.com.

In the Still: Rebecca Messier

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present “In the Still: Rebecca Messier”

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery is featuring In the Still: Rebecca Messier. The Art Walk opening reception will be held on Thursday, January 6th, 5 - 8 pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery, 135 W Pacific Avenue. The gallery is open most days from 12-6pm or by appointment.

Rebecca was born in Seattle and raised in the mountains of Telluride, CO.  Over the course of her young adult life, she spent time in Boulder, LA, and ultimately London studying hair at Vidal Sassoon.  After landing back in Telluride, running her salon for 15 years, and having a child, she decided to turn her focus back to creating.  Her current works—large scale ceramic wall installations and thread on paper—run with a theme of repetition in nature, using mainly muted and organic tones and materials such as clay, paper, thread, cold wax, and watercolor.  Both in practice and presentation, her goal is to create a slow, rhythmic meditation.

Telluride Outlaws: Exposed in Ingrid's Darkroom

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present “Telluride Outlaws: Exposed in Ingrid's Darkroom”

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery is featuring Telluride Outlaws: Exposed in Ingrid's Darkroom. The Art Walk opening reception will be held on Thursday, December 16th, 5 - 8 pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery, 135 W Pacific Avenue. The gallery is open most days from 12-6pm or by appointment.

Ingrid Lundahl was the only guest of the Sheridan Hotel, Christmas of 1977. Thus began her freelance photography career. She’s captured many local and national legends since then. From her Nugget Building darkroom, she processed film and printed black-and-white images for decades. She shoots digitally now, but her heart still connects with the gauzy glory of film.

Ingrid reflects, "As my film dried, I would grab my camera and run outside to shoot the latest surprise. I photographed locals up to no good, all the festivals for decades, outdoor portraits, occasional assignments, and weddings. I like to think my images connect to the happy side of humanity. Whimsical, fun, and full of visual wonder."

This installation is a comprehensive collection of proof prints and exposures strips from 1978 to the early 2000’s. Did Ingrid photograph you during that timeframe? Come explore the gallery walls - you might find yourself or someone you know! Ingrid has squirreled away these proofs, anticipating an historic event such as Telluride Arts’ 50th Anniversary Celebration.

The last week of December, Telluride Arts invites gallery patrons to take proof prints and test exposures directly off the walls for free! Additionally, Ingrid’s first book, Telluride: The Outlaw Spirit of a Colorado Town, is available in the gallery along with archival, fine-art prints. Some images in the gallery are first-time prints; some are the only print available of that image; all hearken to the Outlaw Age.

The Body Electric: Luma Jasim

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present The Body Electric: Luma Jasim.

The Body Electric is a series of exhibitions for 2021 which highlight figurative art and light art—asking its viewers to meditate on the idea of humanity, embodiment, and our unique light.

The Art Walk opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 7th, 5 - 8 pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery (135 W Pacific). The gallery is open most days from 12-6pm or by appointment.

Luma Jasim Artist Statement

The Body Electric is a multimedia work that includes mixed media painting using acrylic, ink, charcoal, tar, transferred images on canvas, and a stop-motion animation projected onto one painting. This project reconstructs memories, traumas, and thoughts on displacement, belonging, and strangeness, a journey of living bodies in exile. The memories made me wonder about the distance in time and place; I am so far from it, yet its presence was dominant in a way, which made me think about the duality of home and abroad. Those memories are the same for a large number of people today and throughout history, creating a collage of fragmented visions represented through imaginative figures, historical symbols from Mesopotamia, and everyday site images. A major concept is the relation with home, where someone was born and raised, the choices of leaving, and the consequences of staying.
The project examines the idea of displacement, immigration, the experience of refugees, and all the weight these things carry. Due to war, conflict, and violence, being forced to flee one's home country to a new foreign place, oftentimes to a new continent not chosen by the refugee, leaves one in a space between two contradictory realities. The past and history of one's given home; and the unknown present of fashioning a home in an alien place. Displacement and the urge to leave all that belongs to us, starting a new life again not only by changing physical place but also trying to fit into a different history and language. As immigrants, we carry with us history, and we strive to keep some values, but we also have to be part of the present and accept and adopt new values.

Bio
Luma Jasim is a multidisciplinary Iraqi-born artist based in Brooklyn, NY, and Boise, ID.  Luma has lived through three wars, an economic blockade, the US invasion catastrophe, and later, her immigration to the US. Jasim left Iraq in 2006, three years after the invasion. First, she moved to Istanbul, Turkey, and immigrated to the United States two years later. Since then, Jasim's art deals with war, violence, and her immigration and acculturation experience, which rose from that. Luma's multi-media body of work explores the relationship between violence, politics, gender, and emotional memory. In her artwork, she uses the personal to address the political and activate the viewer's curiosity. Luma often reconstructs her memories, traumas, and thoughts on displacement, belonging, and strangeness in various mediums, including mixed media painting, performance, video, and animation. In 2013, she received her second BFA in Visual Arts from Boise State University, Boise, ID, and in 2017, she accomplished an MFA in Fine Arts with full scholarship from Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, NY. Jasim has completed many artist residencies and fellowships, including the MDOCS Storytellers' Institute fellowship in Skidmore College in Saratoga Spring, NY (2019), Yaddo Residency in Saratoga Spring, NY (2018) Surel's Place Residency in Boise, ID (2018), The MASS MoCA Residency in North Adams, MA (2017), and The AAF (The American Austrian Foundation)/ Seebacher Prize for Fine Arts, Summer Academy in Hohensalzburg Fortress, Austria (2017). In 2018 her work "Frozen Roots" was Shortlisted for The Tenth Passion For Freedom London Arts Festival, London, UK. Most recently, Luma received the Juror merit award for the 2020 Idaho Triennial, Boise Art Museum.  
Luma's work has been shown nationally and internationally.

The Body Electric: Nancy Jean Guerrero

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present The Body Electric: Nancy Jean Guerrero.

“I’ve Been Trying to scratch this itch for years.

I don’t think it will go away.”

“My ugliest self comes out in private, when I can’t control anything and no one is watching. Every anxiety, obsession, and itch surfaces when I am alone so I can scratch them without anyone telling me to stop. To suppress this urge, I create magical narratives to process my anxieties, reach catharsis, and become vulnerable with the world. It is through meticulous processes such as beadwork and painting that allow me to acknowledge and control my emotional complexities when I am alone.” 

“When I can’t control myself

When no one is watching.”

Nancy Jean Guerrero (b. 1998) is an artist currently living and working in Oakland, CA. Growing up in Stockton, CA she has always used painting, crafts, and imagery as a way to understand and overcome the circumstances she experienced as a child, focusing on her personal relationships with repulsion, beauty, privacy, and obsession. Nancy received her BFA in Textiles from Rhode Island School of Design in 2020 and later showed works at the de Young Museum as a part of the de Young Open the same year. She was recently an artist in residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and showed in online exhibitions at Susan Eley Fine Art Gallery.

The Body Electric is a series of exhibitions for 2021 which highlight figurative art and light art—asking its viewers to meditate on the idea of humanity, embodiment, and our unique light.

The Art Walk opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 2nd, 5 - 8 pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery (135 W Pacific). The gallery is open most days from 12-6pm or by appointment.

The Body Electric: Eli Craven

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present The Body Electric: Eli Craven.

Eli Craven works conceptually with photographic images by re-evaluating the physical and psychological potential of the picture through sculptural and digital interventions. The works exist somewhere between the image and object, attempting to connect the representation to some form of reality. He is interested in the ubiquitous and mundane imagery of family portraiture, self-help books, and instructional guides, which, upon close inspection, allude to a range of human fears and emotions. The research begins with the acts of looking and collecting then progresses to a critical investigation of the image and its relationship to ideologies of sexuality, desire, and death. Found images and illustrations from various instructional texts are collected and combined with my own photography and sculpture to develop an accumulated archive of sources. The materials are reconfigured through simple acts of censorship and distortion, potentially provoking the desire to see. The renewed compositions often act like a peephole, which diverts the viewer’s gaze, and focuses attention to otherwise overlooked details. Entire scenes are rendered incomplete without the viewer’s imagination filling the gaps and visualizing what lies beneath the surface of the photograph, or behind the veil. 

Eli Craven (b. 1979) is an artist based in Lafayette, Indiana where he is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Purdue University. He holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Craven’s research resides in the critical investigation of the image and its relationship to ideologies of sexuality, desire, and death. Craven’s work is exhibited nationally and internationally. Most recently at Feinkunst Krüger Gallery in Hamburg, Germany and in the South Bend Museum of Art's 31st Biennial. His work has also been widely published. Select publications and clients include Philosophie Magazine, The Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Gestalten Publishing Berlin, Penguin Random House Barcelona, and The Paris National Opera.

To explore more of Craven’s work please visit his website www.elicraven.com

The Body Electric is a series of exhibitions for 2021 which highlight figurative art and light art—asking its viewers to meditate on the idea of humanity, embodiment, and our unique light.

The Art Walk opening receptions will be held on Thursday, August 5th, 5 - 8 pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery (135 W Pacific). The gallery is open most days from 12-6pm or by appointment.

The Body Electric: Rob Woodcox

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present The Body Electric: Rob Woodcox.

Rob Woodcox is a fine art, commercial and fashion photographer currently living between Mexico and the US. Rob's passion for photography has developed into a dedication to advocacy; he has produced projects raising consciousness and conversation around the US foster system and adoption, queer identity, body neutrality, racial equality and environmental justice. Rob creates from a unique perspective, finding hope in human connection and the will to overcome negative constructs within our complex societies. His current work explores the connection between humans and the environment, imagining a future where we live in deeper harmony. Each concept is a declaration of his experience and seeks to tell a meaningful story to each individual that views it.

The Body Electric is a series of exhibitions for 2021 which highlight figurative art and light art—asking its viewers to meditate on the idea of humanity, embodiment, and our unique light.

Art Walk opening receptions will be held on Thursday, May 27th and Thursday, June 3rd, 2021, 5 - 8 pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery (135 W Pacific). The gallery is open daily from 12-6pm or by appointment.

Rob’s Artist Statement:

The corners of reality fold back as we take a dive into the creative genius of Rob Woodcox’s Bodies Of Light, a stunning collection of his most surreal work to date.

Pairing his fascination of geological and human forms, witness the beauty of humans living in harmony with the world around them in this luxe display of natural beauty. From the vast expanses that set the canvas, to the range of models in each image, Rob’s visuals are diverse in every sense of the word. Bodies Of Light is a true dreamers paradise, compelling the viewer to examine one’s own presence on this planet, and the beauty we all have the power to access and preserve. Here you're offered an all-inclusive ticket into a world beyond our own.

This show was designed to have minimal impact on the planet; all prints are available for sale on archival, eco-friendly Hahnemühle papers and hung minimally to allow for unique framing in each of their new homes, without wasting extra materials in the display.

To explore more of Rob's work please visit his website www.robwoodcox.com or www.instagram.com/robwoodcoxphoto

The Body Electric: Winter Show

Telluride Arts HQ Gallery in Telluride, Colorado is excited to present The Body Electric: Winter Show, a group exhibition curated by Britt Bradford and featuring the artwork of Casey Hagerman, Joshua Penrose, Katy Parnello, Sara Scribner, Shane Scribner, and Britt Bradford. The Body Electric highlights figurative art and light art—asking its viewers to meditate on the idea of humanity, embodiment, and our unique light.

The show will be on display beginning December 17, 2020. The Art Walk opening reception will be held on Thursday, December 17, 2020, 5 - 8 pm at Telluride Arts HQ Gallery (135 W Pacific). The gallery is open Monday-Friday from 12-6pm or by appointment.

Curator’s Statement:

“I live in the Kingdom of eternal joy and absorbing interests. My body is "the body electric,” timeless and tireless, birthless and deathless.” - Florence Shovel Shinn

"As I sat one morning reading the complete works of Florence Shovel Shinn, this quote made me pause and ponder what this might really be like. What is it to be birthless and deathless? What is this Kingdom? Is It really possible to live in such a vibrant and expansive way? Completely absorbed in the beauty of life…

Then I began to think about what brings me joy and captures my interests. Painting. Spiritual growth. Being out in nature. Connecting with friends. And as my mind began to wonder, as minds do, I landed on community. Are there other people who would desire to live in this way? What would it be like if we were all living our higher purpose in joy and freedom from limitations such as death or time? If any place comes close, I would say Telluride attracts those of us looking for this greater life. And so, this conversation felt relevant to bring to our little mountain community. And since I’m an artist, naturally, I wanted to have this conversation presented by art.

And so, The Body Electric was born.

It is my hope in bringing this show to the Telluride Arts District galleries, you will ask yourself some questions. And maybe you will ask others what they think… Hopefully, you will make it to the galleries (or even just look in our windows from a distance) and wonder, “How are the artists engaging with the idea of an electric body?” And in this way, we can come together as a community and steep in the mystery and beauty of life and embodiment. What it means to be human, in a collective, learning and growing and coming into our own unique light. "

- Britt Bradford

Artist Bios:

Britt Bradford

Britt Bradford is enthusiastic about two things: the great mysteries and the beauty of life and painting. Everyday, Britt works to expand her understanding and translation of these two passions, and as she does, they grow together and inform one another. At times, she says they seem inseparable. Painting has taught Britt just as much about herself and life as seeking truth has taught her about good draftsmanship and eloquence of applying paint. Through her work, Britt explores humanity and our unique paths and the evolution of the soul. Britt strives for a sense of vulnerability and power in her figures and portraiture. She is inspired by the Dutch Golden Age and Renaissance portraiture in technique and style, and she aims to push this craftsmanship while exploring more contemporary concepts.

Brooke Einbender

Brooke Einbender, a.k.a. Mindbender Art, is a leading pioneer in the exploration of XR art (extended reality art) & community-based VR collaboration. Brooke is establishing new frontiers at the intersection where art and technology meet in the context of its impact on consciousness. She creates mind-bending experiences purposed to harness spiritual energy; transporting the viewer to different inter-spatial dimensions.

Dan Gundrum

Dan Gundrum specializes in immersive digital art through projection mapping, lasers, and special effects. He is an active member at Deep Creek Experimental and fine-tunes his plethora of creations in his studio built inside the old limestone mine. Dan regularly shares his talent through artist workshops and holds an annual welding workshop through Telluride Fire Festival. Dan also works as Technical Director with Telluride Theatre, helping direct the cogs behind the scenes to make the show go on seamlessly.

Casey Hagerman

Casey Hagerman believes in the old adage that a picture can be worth a thousand words—when it stirs emotion and intrigue. In her work she strives to bring the viewer into feelings of nostalgia, whimsy and connection. Casey grew up in San Francisco, a youngest child with an active imagination. She experimented with painting, drawing and writing through school but took a break from art post-college. After a traumatic experience a number of years ago, she found healing and relief in the meditative act of using scissors and adhesive to create scenes out of magazine images. Casey specializes in mixed media collage using found images in print. Her work is influenced by portrait and landscape photography as well as the ability of art to arouse feeling in us. 

Joshua Penrose

Joshua Penrose is an independent artist living in Columbus, Ohio.  His work has been exhibited nationally.  Penrose works across a variety of media informed by the digital domain including sound, video, light, and digital automation.  He holds an MM in Music Composition from Towson University and an MFA in Art and Technology from The Ohio State University.

Katy Parnello

Katy Parnello is a self-taught wood worker and light artist.  Her Electroliers are wood-based wall hangings which incorporate light elements, such as incandescent bulbs, found object light structures and neon. 

Sara Scribner

The narrative portraits of Sara Scribner weave flora and fauna with realism to create paintings that have a timeless quality. The subjects of Sara’s paintings are often women that appear to have a powerful connection to their surroundings. They are often woven into a wilderness or dreamscape that uses flowers and animals to add a fanciful quality to the paintings. Often her characters wear lace and soft satins yet are strong and in command.

Her realist style is created by using oil paints in multiple layers until the subject appears life-like on the aluminum panel.

Shane Scribner

Shane Scribner is a representational artist who uses oil paints and strong color combinations to create contemporary portraits. Often using stark, white backgrounds the portrait of the sitter is painted in vivid hues. His use of classical painting techniques mixed with provocative compositions and color combinations create paintings that capture the modern woman in a new light.