NIAD virtual studio facilitator Chelsea Smith has put together an exhibition exploring a range of creative responses to the diminishing returns of our Earth and the power of visual art to reckon with the complicated possibilities of climate change. The three artists involved in this show - including NIAD artist Luis Estrada - address ongoing issues of human/place displacement and the urgency of interspecies care.
When I look at these artworks, I see their existence and how they feel as living forces; some elements remain as independent organisms where forms play out their own life; unpredictably relating to and through the viewer’s experience.
NIAD artist Luis Estrada and Visionaries and Voices artist Tyler Spohn will discuss their practices and work at progressive art studios. Estrada and Spohn are exhibiting artists in Not Quite Fatal at Wave Pool Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Exhibition Curator and NIAD facilitator Chelsea Smith will be in attendance as well.
Looking through works from the roster of NIAD artists, ideas around bodies coming together under the unifying force of music for release, freedom, self-expression and camaraderie began to emerge. Balloons, dancing, fearless fashion, music, friendship, colorful people and spaces filled with lights, projections and disco balls; all themes that form the ethos of our space. These works highlight motifs and sentiments that conjure the feeling of bliss from celebrating life with chosen families through music.
The selected works include NIAD and non-NIAD artists, and encapsulate the ebbs and flows during these vulnerable and emotionally fragile times, when the threat of illnesses and the effects of climate change are entangled in our everyday existence.
When Peter Harris is asked which of his ceramic pieces is his favorite, he says with conviction, “I love all of them.” This show is a celebration of “all of them.” The title is drawn from Michael Starofsky’s beautiful series of whale sculptures and pencil holders. Several of these artists are new to working in ceramics, and they are already establishing new forms and vibrant styles. Meanwhile, experienced NIAD ceramicists showcase their newest sculptures and functional ware. Whales and Pencil Holders presents this broad spectrum of subjects and inspiration—enjoy them all.