Stop by the Goldberg and View the New Art in Storefronts Exhibit – “Community”
We are pleased to announce our Spring 2024 Exhibit, “Community” – a new exhibition of artworks by local artists that will be on view now through July 2024, in the windows of the Goldberg Building at Capitol Way at Fourth Avenue, downtown Olympia.
The exhibition features work from China Star, Kelly Watson, Daisy Curley and Aaron Zonka.
The Olympia Artspace Alliance invited Olympia-area artists to reflect on what community means to them and propose artwork that celebrates communities of all kinds, from our natural world and local connections to our global human networks.
Each window in the Goldberg Building features an artist:
China Star – “It’s Just Life After All”
Kelly Watson – “Nested”
Daisy Curley – “Healing Portals”
Aaron Zonka – “The Members”
China Star – “It’s Just Life After All”
Artist Statement:
Community to me is the people, places and things we interact with by chance. The wait staff at your favorite restaurant, a tree you pass on your way to work and sometimes stop to touch, the people you see regularly when attending events, the way the streets align and the buildings tower or don't, the flowers we look forward to blooming, the seals we may see in the bay, the artists who paint us a picture of the world reflected back to us through different eyes. Community is friends, family, mentors and those we may affect without knowing, the workers, the doers, the behind the scenesters. Community is all of it, forming organically over time, connecting us to something old but is maybe just noticed, reminding us of times fleeting, of where we once were and where we would like to be, the meaningful things, the small stuff. Community is the people we have yet to meet, that we see walking outside the window as we sip a cup of coffee or tea, the trees that will grow from the seeds we plant today, the shared memories of times gone by and the holders of the tid-bits we maybe have missed or can forget about sometimes; the things we long for when the sky is dark and bask in when we forget we are forming the memories at all.
Website: chinafaithstar.com
Kelly Watson – “Nested”
Statement of Work:
Handwoven Mixed Media: Wood, Textiles, Thread.
“Nested” explores our connections to one another and, in turn, the environments we inhabit. The installation uses a number of both found and gifted materials, all collected over the years from local buy nothing groups and neighborhood walks. Willow and Red Alder are the primary structural woods, hand woven into basket nests, balanced together in a nest of their own. The nest is constructed from the same twigs and branches as the baskets, though it is interwoven with handsewn textile polypores and mosses. The fabrics are primarily shades of blue, green, and gold with a few pops of color, like a walk in the woods in early spring. Woven together, we rely on one another to thrive.
Artist Statement:
Kelly Watson’s work is about color, nature and the spaces we inhabit. From deep, saturated hues, to bright, playful palettes, she is a master at using color to manipulate perception of scale and space. An observer of the pattern and processes of nature and how it connects us to one another and those who came before us.
Her work is a meditation on trauma through the lens of modern motherhood and femininity: how we carry and reflect our personal and collective trauma on the world around us and further, how that is a reflection of the natural process of growth and decay. Textiles, fibers, and wood, woven or sewn together, bring nature into human spaces and soften the divide between our urban existence and nature just outside our doors.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kwatson.design/
Website: https://www.kwatsondesign.com/
Daisy Curley – “Healing Portals”
Artist Statement:
Creating this art installation is absolutely a dream come true! I have been visualizing for a very long time how I could combine the dozens of techniques and materials I love into large-scale collages. Being a Highly Sensitive Empathic creature with multiple mental health gifts/struggles can be completely overwhelming. Art truly is my therapy, and this newest series of works is the culmination of absorbing and filtering the chaos of being alive. I gather flotsam and jetsam then combine found objects with fabric, paper, and vintage treasures, and collage them with watercolor, spray paint and stencils. My fever dream landscapes are portals to future worlds. I hope we are moving in the direction of more acceptance, kindness, and support where we can thrive together in beautiful rainbow realities. Thank you for taking the time to appreciate my work. I am grateful to my family, chosen family, friends and community for ALL of the love and support for my creations. I am forever thankful and in love with you Olympia!!
Email: daisygoddess@hotmail.com
Aaron Zonka – “The Members”
Artist Statement:
As with most projects of mine, this one started as an experiment. My goal was to make three portraits a week. This was mostly just to feel more capable of pushing paint around but also as a way of studying and improving my portrait skills.
As the weeks passed and my collection of portraits grew, I started experimenting with different subjects. First classic monsters, then robots, then aliens, and so on. As my categories expanded, so did the space these little paintings took up in my studio. At this point, I had been sorting them by their categories: monsters over here, humans there, all the robots in a row. After a while, I decided I wanted to take a photo of all of them together. On a whim, I decided to mix them all up rather than keep them in their usual arrangement. With that, the entire context of what I had been creating changed.
They were no longer individual pieces in their own categories but a cohesive landscape of characters and personality. The synergy that came about by merely moving these characters out of their categories was inspiring. It immediately became a single piece that was more than the sum of all of its parts: a community.
Community is defined by both its similarities and its differences. When these differences come together and coexist, something profound is built. There's an invisible energy, a sizzle, that you feel when walking down a bustling city street. Witnessing all these diverse worlds that people inhabit, coexisting, overlapping, or sometimes avoiding one another, is a powerful experience. Seeing people who are so different from you going about their lives right next to you fosters a sense of kinship that hopefully inspires curiosity and compassion.
I find so much inspiration from the coexistence of cultures and ideas, ways of dressing, and how people choose to display themselves in public spaces. Without initially intending to, I had created a community of portraits that could be rearranged to form infinite possibilities, just as people do.
Website: aaronzonka.com
Instagram: @aaronzonka