By Alec Clayton
Published in the Weekly Volcano, Sept. 14, 2017
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| “Undine,” ceramic by Heather Undine, photo by Kris Crews |
The Greater Tacoma Community 10th Foundation of Art Award is among the
year’s biggest arts events. Purportedly, the exhibition represents the best of
the best. Every year for 10 years jurors chosen from among Tacoma’s art
professionals have nominated local artists for a major prize, and every year
the nominees and the annual winner have been featured in an art exhibition.
This year, since it is the 10th Foundation of Art Award, 10 winners
were chosen, and each was given a greatly deserved $1,000 cash award. This
year’s show held at the Spaceworks Gallery showcases works not only by this
year’s winners but by winners from each the past nine years.
This year’s winners are: Mindy Barker, Heather Cornelius, Todd
Jannausch, Janet Marcavage, Gillian Nordlund, Nicholas Nyland, Chandler
O’Leary, Saiyare Refaei, Kenji Stoll, and Chandler Woodfin. Past winners
included in the show are: Chris Sharp, Jeremy Mangan, Lisa Kinoshita, Jessica
Spring, Oliver Doriss, Shaun Peterson, Elise Richman, Christopher Paul Jordan,
and Sean Alexander. Each artist is represented by a single work.
The panel which chose this year’s winner included Amy McBride, and past winners Sean Alexander, Jeremy Mangan,
Elise Richman, and Christopher Paul Jordan.
To write about all 19 artworks in the space allowed is not
possible. Instead, I shall mention some of the highlights and encourage readers
to visit the gallery and see them all.
Mandy Barker’s “Strata Discs” is a fascinating painting in
acrylic, metal leaf, and ink on paper mounted on wood. Pictured are three
circles of various sizes and varying distances from the wall, each decorated
with ornate animal-themed painting in brilliant colors. It is a delightful and
exciting piece that requires careful attention to suss out what all is
pictured.
Glass artist Oliver Doriss’s “Blue Moon” is a small piece on
a sculpture stand consisting of two small blocks of acrylic within which are
crumbled and flattened aluminum foil. peering into the acrylic is like viewing
bits of ancient rock or wood through a magnifying glass. Space and time seem
condensed by art.
Speaking of time, Nicholas Nyland’s “Slab Basket” has the
look of an ancient artifact dug up from an archeological site. It is a globe of
overlapping slabs of stoneware with open space between the slabs fired with
earthy tones of pink and purple. There is a majestic and timeless quality to
this one.
Janet Marcavage’s screen print “Cools” is a study in illusion
and perception. Curvilinear lines in various tones of blue and white are put
together in six interlocking round shapes that have the quality of rhythmic
movement seen as striped patterns of cloth blowing in the wind.
Heather Undine’s “Undine” is a ceramic bust of a woman
emerging from a circular shell-like formation, or perhaps it is intended as
floral leaves from which her head and shoulders appear. It reminds me of
Botticelli’s “Venus” except that it depicts strength rather than the idealized
beauty of the “Venus.” Judging from the title, my guess would be it is a
self-portrait. If so, it is as unflinchingly unflattering as a Rembrandt
self-portrait.
Other pieces I found to be particularly impressive are works
by Lisa Kinoshita, Elise Richman and Sean Alexander.
All of Tacoma should turn out for the reception gala Thursday, Sept. 21.
Foundation of Art Award, 1-5 p.m., Monday-Friday and 1-9 p.m. Third Thursday, through Oct. 19, reception
5-9 p.m., Sept. 21, Spaceworks Gallery, 950 Pacific Ave., Tacoma.
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