Artists
Colleen Monette
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“Urban Remnants” (2022)
Nuclear reactor fan blade, fiberglass, steel, spray paint, concrete, styrofoam, wood, glass, plexiglass, found objects
Artist Statement
“We have watched as the Earth becomes more and more compromised: oceans full of trash, polluted waterways, poor air quality, ice caps melting. Our environment is in trouble and as it gets increasingly critical, the damage becomes more evident and yet humans continue to add to the devastation. I have always hated litter and as a Girl Scout, I learned how important it was to be a good steward of Mother Earth. Recycling and keeping my consumption to a minimum has become a mindful priority (though not when it comes to art materials). Seeing the recent Climate Clock installed in Times Square scared me; it was my seminal moment. A beacon, a signal, a reckoning. It is counting down Earth’s deadline, her tipping point: seven years, 100 days.
As a collage and assemblage artist, I work primarily with vintage and antique ephemera, the epitome of recycled materials. Though environmental issues have not been consciously present in past work, I want to channel my concerns into a new series, Remnants.
“Remnant: A small remaining quantity of something, a surviving trace.”
Discarded things, trash, papers, notes, receipts, fabric, all recreated and reworked to turn these disparate items into something beautiful, revered. But just using recycled materials needs to be more than just aesthetic, it must make a statement. This call can become the cornerstone of that body of work.”
Colleen Monette
Colleen Monette is an encaustic, mixed media, collage and assemblage artist. Her work incorporates many materials including antique documents, books and found objects. Her paintings and assemblage have been published in books and she has exhibited her work throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Monette lives in Seattle and is a founding board member of MAX- Magnolia Art Experience. Monette’s studio space is located in Studio 1A at Fogue Studios & Gallery where she teaches encaustic painting, as well as teaching her own “Wax and Wine” workshops.
www.cemonetteart.com
Lauren Iida
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“The Birth of Memory” (2022)
Nuclear reactor fan blade, acrylic, hand-cut paper, wood base (fabricated by Craig Breitbach)
Artist Statement
“I created this piece during the COVID 19 pandemic, in my third trimester of my first pregnancy, and two months after relocating to my hometown of Seattle after living in Cambodia for most of the last 13 years. When I was asked to participate in this exhibition, I immediately connected with the concept of “The Tipping Point” as this moment in my life has been profoundly transformative.
The “Sakura” Japanese cherry blossom motif symbolizes my ethnic heritage, and is a recurring symbolic object I often use in my paper cut artwork. With the help of masterful sculptor Craig Breitbach, I was able to replicate my hand-cut paper technique in cut fiberglass on the surfaces of the nuclear reactor fan blade. Themes of birth, shelter, safety, motherhood, and the tension between protecting and letting go are evoked in the hard shell of the fan blade and the length of fragile hand-cut paper “Memory Net” strung through it.
As motherhood approaches, I find myself more considerate of what kind of environment I want to create for my child both in terms of nature, and socially. She will enter this plane of existence at a time of crisis in our world and I often wonder what her experience will be like. In one way, I accept that I am powerless to control her experience but the prospect of parenthood also leaves me with more conviction to attempt to change the things that are within my power for the sake of her future.”
Lauren Iida (b. 1984, Seattle) Iida holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cornish College of the Arts (2014). She shares her time between Seattle and Cambodia, exhibiting her work, creating public art installations, and mentoring and representing emerging contemporary Cambodian artists through Open Studio Cambodia. Her work is largely based on her Japanese American heritage and the experiences of her ancestors during their unjust incarceration during WWII.
Her main medium is intricately hand-cut paper, often incorporating layers of ink washed paper and focusing on negative space and shadow play. Her reoccurring 30-foot-long hand-cut paper temporary installation/performance piece, the "Memory Net" has traveled the world, taking on new meaning and engaging communities in each new context.
Iida is represented by Artxchange Gallery in Washington State and works on public art projects throughout the Seattle area.
www.laureniida.com
Joy Hagen
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“Persistence” (2022)
Nuclear reactor fan blade, oil, acrylic, ink, spray paint, Varathane finish
Artist Statement
“Persistence” references so many things that rained down the year COVID hit: The continuing persistence in the fight for women’s rights, the enduring battle for racial equality and the continuing and ever- more threatening danger of COVID. My desire to make art went out the door and my only solace was working in my yard. What stood out to me and was oddly surreal and comforting was the persistence of Mother Nature. The birds sang their songs, oblivious to our pain, the weeds continued to grow and flowers produced seed preparing for the next season. As the world was at a standstill, wild animals began encroaching closer and closer. I saw a weasel, a bobcat and coyote come through my yard in broad daylight! The deer in my yard became even braver and would eat the apples under my tree while we played ping pong and ate our dinners on the nearby patio.
"Persistence" speaks to the relationship between humans and nature that has brought us to a precipitous and delicate imbalance. We are but a fleeting life form in this wonderful and lovely spinning world – more often than not, from the misadventures of our own doing. Where do you want to stand when the scales need balancing?
Joy Hagen
The daughter of a forester, Joy Hagen spent the first five years of her life in a jungle logging camp in the Philippines. Back in Seattle, summers were spent exploring logging roads, hiking and camping in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Art was an ever- present childhood activity and she has been making art ever since. Surrounded by a forest of significant trees, Hagen lives and works out of her home studio in Kirkland, Washington.
Hagen’s art depicts environments that speak to remembered moments through selected bits and pieces from the natural world, usually with a reference to trees. She creates what she calls “assembled landscapes,” using encaustic medium and reclaimed wood. “I love the contrast between the soft, sensuous nature of the melted beeswax against the hard physicality of the process as I scrape, burn, tear and saw. Process and subject become intertwined as I contemplate the contrast between loss, devastation, erosion and perseverance, fertility and new growth.
Hagen’s work can be found in the permanent collections of Swedish Medical Group in Everett and Redmond, Swedish Medical Center Cancer Institute in Edmonds, and in the Portable Works collections of the cities of Kent, Kenmore, and Seattle. Hagen is a resident artist and regular exhibitor at Studio 103 in Seattle’s Pioneer Square area. www.joyhagenart.com
Marita Dingus
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Coming Soon
Jill Drllevich & Craig Breitbach
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“Breathe Deep” (series) 2022
Nuclear reactor fan blade
42”x 80”x 5”
Artist Statement
“By polluting our oceans, not mitigating CO2 emissions and destroying our biodiversity, we are killing our planet. Let us face it, there is no planet B.”
Emmanuel Macron, President of France
“Breathe Deep, an artistic collaboration between Jill Drllevich and Craig Breitbach, speaks to the beauty and purpose of our forests, the lungs of the planet. Both Drllevich and Breitbach grew up with a deep appreciation and affection for nature as is evident in their artwork.
The stark black of the nuclear reactor blade combined with the light shining through the open spaces creates a sense of balance that mimics a walk in the forest. The raw aesthetic of the log base retains saw marks, reminding us of all that is possible when humans and nature work together.”
The “Breathe Deep” sculpture series was created using reclaimed nuclear power reactor cooling fan blades as part of an ongoing artist initiative founded by Jill Drllevich, “Blades of Change.” www.bladesofchange.com
Jill Drllevich (b. 1950, Brooklyn, New York)
An accomplished multimedia artist, Drllevich was also a celebrated arts educator for 24 years. Largely self-taught, she weaves her playful style and eclectic, abstract realism into everything she touches; from mural painting to glass, welded metal sculpture, ceramics, prop design, landscape design and even jewelry. Drllevich approaches each new artistic challenge with a unique and innovative perspective, organically cultivating colorful, fun, and often functional pieces. Drllevich is the founder of Blades of Change.
Drllevich’s passion for social practice art and community engagement dates as far back as the 1960s when she was invited to participate as a mentor artist in Phyllis Yampolsky’s “Happenings” in New York City. Drllevich and a team of other artists engaged inner city youth in a wide variety of arts education and community art projects in public spaces. This life-altering experience ignited Drllevich’s passion for the arts and confirmed to her the power of art to bring people together and create new platforms to speak out about important environmental and social issues.
Drllevich has been based in the Pacific Northwest for more than 35 years. A grandmother of ten, Drllevich now resides in Ravensdale, Washington where she continues working in her home studio and curating Blades of Change. www.jilldrllevich.com
Craig Breitbach (b. 1964, Port Angeles, Washington)
Craig Breitbach is a prolific sculptor and public artist whose work is mainly focused on the natural environment which surrounds him in his Pacific Northwest home. Growing up on the Olympic Peninsula, between the mountains and the ocean, tucked deep in the dense forest, his passion for nature is clearly represented in his work. Mostly self-taught, Breitbach has been creating art for as long as he can remember although he started making the transition from his first career as an airplane mechanic for San Juan and Alaska Airlines to sculptor and public artist in 2005.
Breitbach currently resides in Fall City, Washington with his wife where he works from his home studio on public and private commissions and personal work for exhibition. www.craigbreitbach.com
Jill Drllevich
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“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (Completed 2022)
Nuclear reactor fan blade, acrylic, steel, glass
Artist Statement
(Blades of Change Founder)
“I started painting this nuclear power plant cooling fan blade over a decade ago. The “Flower Power” motif symbolizes who I was in the 1970s when I was protesting the building of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant on Long Island, New York.
When I conceived the “Blades of Change: The Tipping Point” project, it forced me to reexamine who I was in the 1970s and who I am now.
Recently I was asked by a friend, “What happened to the sense of inclusive community and passion that the flower power/hippie era brought to issues like nuclear power? Where did the energy go?”
Immediately the song by Peter, P-A-U-L, and Mary, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, popped into my head. My purpose was determined and my sculpture titled.”
Where Have All The Flowers Gone
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them, every one
Oh when will they ever learn, oh when will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time ago?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone for husbands, every one
Oh when will they ever learn, oh when will they ever learn?
Where have all the husbands gone, long time passing?
Where have all the husbands gone, long time ago?
Where have all the husbands gone?
Gone for soldiers, every one
Oh when will they ever learn, oh when will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, every one
Oh when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers, every one
Oh when will they ever learn, oh when will they ever learn?
Artists: Peter, P-A-U-L, MARY
Songwriter: Peter Seeger
Peter & Esther Reiquam
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“Mendenhall” (2022)
Nuclear reactor fan blade, acrylic enamel, wood, epoxy resin, found casters, acrylic sweater, pewter zipper pull
Artist Statement
Concern for the environment has been uppermost in our minds for decades, but in 2014, in Juneau, Alaska, we witnessed a stark example of the effects of global warming and what that means for the future of our planet. I had been commissioned to create a public art project, a memorial to the Japanese and Japanese-Americans from the Juneau area who were incarcerated during World War II, and through that project we met several local folks who grew up in Juneau and have lived there all their lives. One day, they took us to see the Mendenhall Glacier and as we stood at the edge of Mendenhall Lake, looking out across the icy water, they described how, when they were kids (they're in their 80s now), the leading edge of the glacier had reached to where we were standing. Today, it is more than a mile away. Inside the Visitor Center, a display illustrates the retreat of the glacier from ancient times to the present day. It clearly shows that the thinning and receding of the ice mass that has occurred since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution is dramatically greater and more rapid than what had occurred in the previous millennia. It really made an impact on us and reinforced our belief that humans are largely responsible for the accelerated pace of the warming of the planet.
“Mendenhall” is our first collaboration and it merges our shared passion for environmental issues with our individual artist voices. Peter painted the fiberglass blade to resemble an iceberg and Esther knitted a giant sweater for it using a traditional Nordic pattern. The woolen sweater provides a metaphorical thermal insulation for the melting iceberg and hints at the new extremes of weather the Earth is experiencing as a direct result of climate change. The sculpture's wheeled base is made of wood in the shape of Mendenhall Lake, a visual representation of the place that inspired the sculpture's narrative.
Peter Reiquam
Peter is a Seattle artist and fabricator whose work ranges from drawings and photographs to sculptural furniture and large-scale public art projects. Since earning his MFA in sculpture from Yale University in 1984, his emphasis has been on the creation of interactive, site-specific installations in parks, libraries, school campuses, fire stations, transit sites and other civic venues throughout the Puget Sound region and beyond.
www.reiquam.com
Esther Reiquam
Esther is a linguist, an educator and a skilled maker of textiles. Since retiring from a forty-two-year career teaching French and German, she has been able to pursue her passion full-time, devoting herself to her craft: spinning, weaving and knitting. She is a true artist who has never labeled herself as such. Instead, she has worked at perfecting her craft for the pure pleasure of learning about other cultures and the sheer joy of creating beautiful things.
Peter and Esther are life-long environmentalists with a strong sense of love and care for the earth, sky, oceans and all her creatures. They live in a building in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood that Peter designed and built. The structure combines their modest (under 1000 s.f.) living space with a large, fully-equipped studio. This highly-insulated, energy-efficient building features a full solar array that provides 100% of the couple's electrical needs for both the living space and the workshop. A large collection of rain barrels collects and stores roof run-off to be used for the irrigation of a lush garden that provides home-grown produce as well as a prime habitat for birds, bees and other critters.
Carolyn Autenrieth
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“Half-Life” (2022)
Nuclear reactor fan blade, porcelain, found steel
Artist Statement
A few years ago, a World Water Week festival (at the HS where I teach), focused on the global problem of plastics in the ocean, which wreaks havoc in the oceans, on plants, and animal life. Human impact has lasting effects both wonderful and harmful in the natural world, but even so, nature has a way of transforming our detritus – whether a terrible beauty or beneficial transformation. It is a dynamic process of change. This experience planted the ideas of decay, growth, and reclamation for future artwork.
In my ceramic pieces, I began working with the theme of decay, or ‘lovely decay’ to consider the beauty of objects in a transformative process. Spikes and holes invite contrast of light and shadow, of sharp and smooth as the pieces are altered from a solid form. In this “Tipping Point” installation, holes carved in the wall of the nuclear reactor fan blade allow for light to penetrate and transform it through shadow and color. As the blade itself reveals a sense of decay, spiked clusters inside suggest regrowth and change, albeit a little dangerous. This may be a symbol of struggle in regrowth or a reminder of the lasting impact we place on our environment.
“Half-Life” asks the viewer to take a moment to recognize beauty in decay, in change, and growth.
Carolyn Autenrieth
Carolyn Autenrieth is a ceramic artist, painter, and public school arts educator who has resided in the Pacific Northwest for more than 30 years. Autenrieth earned her BA in Fine Art from Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois (‘85).
Autenrieth grew up in the midwest and is a life-long artist whose work creates powerful metaphors derived from the natural world to explore the emotional realms of loss, identity, danger, and nostalgia. Beachcombing and outdoor adventures with her sons brought her closer to the natural environment of the Pacific Northwest and have provided a rich source of inspiration.
Autenrieth’s work pushes the boundaries of “traditional beauty” and surprises the viewer with undertones of decay, breakage, contrast, and loss. These darker themes are often represented by ominous sharp, spikey forms reminiscent of barnacles or cacti which lie partially concealed, just under the surface or envelop a vulnerable object or space. Autenrieth’s ceramics and paintings are exhibited regularly in several Seattle area galleries such as FOGUE Studios, FOGUE Gallery, Griffin Gallery, and Gray Sky Gallery.
www.carolynautenrieth.com
Deby Harvy
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Artist Statement
The process of change intrigues me. Why do we resist change? So many of our choices and behaviors are motivated by our awareness of the ultimate transformation, that of leaving the known material world and traveling to the mysterious spiritual realm. Many of our compulsions to harness wealth, power and control stem from our denial of the transition from living to dying.
We’ve reached a point in human existence in which we must think about the sustainability of life on earth, in addition to harboring that ineluctable little reality of death in the backs of our minds. Our planet’s survival will depend on our willingness to engage in behaviors that inconvenience, even scare us. We must change. Adeptness at guiding others through transformative experiences is a trait commonly ascribed to corvids. In addition to their role as arbiters of change for individuals and culture, ravens are also seen as portals between the material and spiritual worlds. Corvids are highly intelligent, sentient creatures, capable of using tools and recognizing faces. Humans in a fragile world, take notice: Ravens use cooperation and communication to get what they want.
A raven’s appearance is seen as an omen that something is about to transform in our lives. Cross-cultural evidence points to a universal perception of birds as portents of death as well as symbols of fertility and longevity. The associations of ravens with negative events can reflect cultures in which death, change, agency and mysteries are feared rather than seen as part of the cycle of life. When we hold a positive and balanced outlook toward death as a natural part of evolution of the soul, raven symbolism is seen in less ominous light.
Our desire for ensuring a sustainable planet will depend on our engagement with steps necessary for renewal, transformation and rebirth. Look no further for courage and inspiration than to the raven spirit, to help guide us through our changes.
Barbara Seese Koefod
I’m a self-taught lifelong artist. I officially started my professional art career at age 19, in group shows at Polly Friedlander Gallery, in Seattle. As I pursued careers in journalism and education, I continued to show work in galleries and juried shows. During my 30 years as a public school teacher, I advocated strongly for art education and was able to promote visual arts with commensurate emphasis as other subjects.
My salient themes include conveying power in girls and women and showing connections between people and nature, especially animals.
Gallery Affiliations:
Red Sky Gallery, Lake Forest Park, WA
Fogue Studios and Gallery, Seattle, WA
Women Painters of Washington Gallery, Seattle, WA
Memberships:
Blades of Change
Women Painters of Washington:
Portrait Society of America:
Mt. Si Artist Guild Collective
Barbara Seese Koefod
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Nuclear reactor fan blade
Materials used: All kinds of plastic bags, dog food, cat food, coffee, frozen food, bags. Brown window shade vinyl, telephone wire. Chicken fencing. Hard black plastic pieces.
Artist Statement
Profiles honoring presidents are on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. My profile is honoring black people. I am using discarded materials because black people were used in the institution of slavery and then discarded. The money we make is only about a tenth of what white people make. I cannot, in good conscience, buy art materials. In my mind it does not make sense. I am also an environmentalist. I do not want to pollute the earth. Humankind makes plastics, fiberglass, and other toxins, so we are responsible for dealing with them. I make art out of them.
MARITA DINGUS was born and raised in Washington State and considers herself an African-American Feminist and environmental artist. She received her Masters of Fine Arts from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. Ms. Dingus is a 1999 Guggenheim Fellow and has shown in the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway; NATO, Brussels, Belgium; Museum of Glass, Tacoma; Seattle Art Museum; Tacoma Art Museum. Her work is in the collections of Microsoft, Safeco, City of Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and many private collections.