MIXED NUTS   

February 5-March 1

Reception, Friday, Feb. 5, 6-8 p.m.

In BAC’s annual Mixed Nuts exhibition, local kids learn how artists and galleries work together. They sign contracts, write artist statements, frame, and sell their work. This year, for the first time, we have over ONE HUNDRED student artists.

First-grader Sam Torres says that he has made a habitat for an acorn woodpecker. “The squirrels and woodpeckers don’t really get along together,” he adds. “If the woodpecker sees a squirrel, it would go right after it and the squirrel will run away.”

Tenth-grader Issy Bottger says that she gave up her dream as a 7-year-old to become a ballerina astronaut and enjoys, instead, darkroom photography. Issy writes, “I take everyday objects: feet, forks, knives, scissors, and combine them with things that won’t stay for long: a ballerina en pointe, a guitarist singing their lungs out.”

ALMOST ABSTRACT:

Delila Katzka, Sue Cretarolo, Kari Bergstrom MacKenzie

February 5-March 1

Three exceptionally skilled, smart, and subtle artists explore the territory between representation and abstraction.

Of her new work, Sue Cretarolo writes, "A reverence for the past inspires my work in every medium. Time and time again I’m drawn by the way the most humble objects and common images – a weathered chair, a rusted piece of metal, the layers of paint revealed on an old wall – can create connections between past and present, reminding us that we’re all on a singular journey.

With special attention to scale, color, surface, and graphic appeal, I achieve the layers and deep patinas that characterize my work. I seek to create timeless pieces that suggest the eclectic character and rich subtleties of everyday life."

Delila Katzka bases her work on landscape and then travels to abstraction. She writes, "I have found that abstraction gives me the freedom to apply all aspects of art-making in an instinctual way . . . My intent is to engage the viewer in a dialog, for I believe it is this conversation that makes each piece of art a unique and personal experience for both the viewer and the painter."

Kari Bergstrom MacKenzie also builds her almost abstract work on a foundation of landscape, and sees her work as " an expression of my connection with the beauty of nature. Many of the landscapes reflect images of the Pacific Northwest, and my hope is that each piece evokes a sense of peaceful and relaxing imagery. I use the horizon line to delineate the composition and try to vary the contrast between darks and lights to create a sense of harmony in each composition."

IMAGES: Kenneth Wiersema, Space No. 2. Photo courtesy of the artist. Sue Cretarolo, Sojourn 1, 2009. Mixed medium with encaustic. Photo credit: Jon Cretarolo.