Mize Gallery presents: INTERWOVEN Featuring work by: CAMILLA BYRD, CARLA KAUFMAN, CASSIA KITE, CHAD MIZE, DANETTE MARIE ALBINO, DAWN WATERS, FRANK STRUNK III, JEFFREY SINCICH, MELISSA MUDD, MILLIMISA, MISSY ROLL, NNEKA JONES, PATRICIA TOSCANO, SAUMITRA CHANDRATREYA, and WYATT EDDY MIZE GALLERY 689 DR MLK JR STREET N ST PETERSBURG, FL GALLERY HOURS: Saturdays 10AM-5PM Sundays 10AM-2PM or by appointment. Exhibit runs until Sunday, March 20th, 2022. |
“Look To The Future” is an 8” x 10” mixed media work using hand embroidery techniques, paint and fabric to create a captivating portrait. This artwork explores portraiture, color and storytelling using non-traditional techniques, all of which are combined to represent the theme of hopefulness and celebration of black beauty. Using a simple monochromatic color palette featuring hues of blue, “Look To The Future” focuses on capturing the beauty in the intricate detail of the hand embroidered facial features. Instead of using natural skin-tone variations in the face, the blue is used almost as a ray of light that has coated her face, showering this woman of color with hopefulness. Whereas black facial features have been frowned upon in the past, the portrait aims to celebrates and highlight her beauty and femininity while encouraging the viewer to ask questions about her story, her journey and her future. The blues contrasting with the bright orange pleats of her head wrap and clothes, not only add a pop of color against the monochromatic color scheme but also add a fiery element symbolic of her burning desire to achieve greatness. LOOK TO THE FUTURE |
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“Freedom” is a 16” x 20” mixed media work of art combining fiber techniques and traditional painting. This portrait was created as part of the “Embroidery & Rope” campaign to raise awareness about the reality for some single mothers in Mexico who are unable to simultaneously provide for their family and look after their children. With limited day care resources, single mothers are forced to do the unthinkable of leaving their children alone at home, using a rope as the only form of security for their young children. Although they are left with food, water and other essentials, the environment and act are extremely heartbreaking and can have long term effects on these young girls and boys, leaving the mothers feeling guilty for working to provide. Hence, this portrait was created in collaboration with Save The Children Organization for the “Embroidery & Rope” campaign that will not only raise awareness about this harsh reality but also raise funds that will go toward the building of a safe, daycare facility where mothers can feel comfort in leaving their children while they work. The rope and embroidery are now being used as a symbol of repainting a new narrative and future for these young girls and boys. One that is filled with optimism and hopefulness of more playful and pleasant childhood memories as seen in this young boy’s eyes. Each detail of the portrait is hand embroidered to create a surface that marries the soft embroidery thread with the roughness of the rope. This acts as a metaphor for the innocence of this young child and their reality but with the help of a community, this can change. FREEDOM |
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I’ve spent a lot of time with death recently. TIME IS FLEETING |
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I take pleasure in people watching. I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember, and have lovely memories of making up fake dialogue with my middle school best friend, watching people interact at the mall. Sometimes I think I’m right about people but mostly I find that they surprise me. My work is an exploration of human relationships through illustrations and paintings, using humor to replace doom and gloom occasionally. Graphic shapes with clean lines and retro inspired curves create narratives about the relationships in our lives. I’m less interested in creating photographic logic within my work but rather enjoy illustrating the essence of being human. This tufted wall hanging is made from acrylic yarn. The texture allows the work to be dimensional as well as graphic. It is about a rift within in a relationship. UNTITLED |
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Above and Below is part of a series positioning snakes as beacons of strength and guardianship. Throughout history, snakes have been known as great protectors and as I navigate through personal difficulties I’ve been more conscious of how we protect ourselves, cope, and grieve. Above and Below is specifically a conversation I’m having with my ego about when to let go. ABOVE AND BELOW |
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Inspired by a shirtless selfie clicked during the summer of 2021, these pieces are about loving my own body and skin. I enjoy my body as is - but I have gone through an emotional journey in order to say that. I wanted to make this work because I have suffered from body dysmorphia and no matter what I do, I am never satisfied with the body I have. The original image was repeated to form a design. That image was custom woven as a cloth and i screen printed certain details on the woven cloth and then the images were cut out of the cloth to resemble an animal hide. PLEASURE CHEST TREASURE CHEST |
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Intertwining, ETHEREAL |
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When someone we know takes their life, intentionally or not, we’re stunned. We’re saddened. We’re frustrated. Sometimes we feel this way about people we’ve never met. When I learned of the deaths of Anthony Bourdain, Robin Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michael K. Williams, and Kate Spade, and how they died, it hit hard. Seemingly, they had it all. I admired what they had accomplished. Their actions shone a light on human suffering, mental illness, addiction, and the unfortunate stigma of each. I chose these subjects because I felt I knew them, but of course, I didn’t know them at all. My goal was to communicate emotions they must have been feeling. Wool, needle felted by hand, mounted on cotton fabric. Flowers are wet felted. There is no paint on these portraits. Robin Williams, 1951-2014 Michael K. Williams, 1966-2021 Anthony Bourdain, 1956-2018 Kate Spade, 1962-2018 Philip Seymour Hoffman, 1967-2014 Dawn Waters |
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“Grief is like the wake behind a boat. It starts out as a huge wave that follows close behind you and is big enough to swamp and drown you if you suddenly stop moving forward. But if you do keep moving, the big wake will eventually dissipate. And after a long time, the waters of your life get calm again, and that is when the memories of those who have left begin to shine as bright and as enduring as the stars above.” – Jimmy Buffett Sadgirl Hour is a visual remix of tropical neon signs typically found in bars, liquor stores, or in the house of that one uncle with an extra refrigerator filled with his favorite brand of beer. I have always thought of these kitschy signs as not only visually exciting but also comforting. I see them as a visual and joyful acceptance of life’s hardships, a determination to pause but keep striding. SADGIRL HOUR |
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Earth. Water. Fire. Air. The four elements can be used to describe all matter on our planet and beyond. Like the beings that inhabit the world, they may seem very different, but are inextricably connected and interwoven into the fabric of life. ELEMENTAL |
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One of the hardest parts of grieving is hearing the sentiment “it's all a part of a bigger plan.” However well-intentioned or sympathetic the words are delivered, it offers no comfort to those who have little faith, especially when faced with coping with tragic circumstances unexpectedly. On June 3, 2019 I lost my Father in a motorcycle crash caused by a distracted driver. Imagining there is a “higher purpose” to this horrific incident, or the subsequent suffering my family continues to endure, is something my head and heart refuses to accept. Though the concept of “destiny” or “fate” is evident across time and cultures, I only recently learned of its Ancient Greek incarnation in the form of three goddesses: The Moirai (The Three Fates). The role of the Moirai was to ensure that every being, mortal and divine, lived out their destiny as it was assigned to them by the laws of the universe. For mortals, this destiny spanned their entire lives, and was represented as a thread spun from a spindle - an eerily appropriate metaphor for a contemporary fiber artist reconciling loss. The Fates include: • Clotho - “The Spinner” spins the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, and Atropos the things that are to be. Mycenaean (Bronze Age) philosophy stressed the subjugation of all events or actions to destiny and the acceptance of the inevitability of the natural order of things. The actions of the Moriai were said to be so powerful, so indisputable, that they even governed the gods. This piece is my visual nod to these potent and powerful female artists. Although I may never accept the premature severing of my father’s “thread”, I have found a modicum of peace in imagining such fascinating forces at the helm of the outcomes of our lives. IF THE FATES ALLOW |
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“Farm Fiber” weavings collage together the remnants of utilitarian fiber materials recycled from the land that have been used to gather, hold, support and clothe everything from hay bales, farm animals and farmers themselves. The farm fiber-based rope, twine and harvest remnant materials gathered to create these weavings come from scavenger hunts that my daughter and I take on our Kite family farm, located in Nemaha County, Nebraska. The recycled cotton and denim material are my father’s old farm work clothes that are often stained with diesel, oil and dirt. The weavings are woven not only from found farm fibers collaged with recycled materials, but they are made with a process that involves three generations of our Kite family. FARM FIBER REMNANTS WEAVING III, 2022 |
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I love the opportunity to work with metal in a format/context that is unconventional. This salvaged metal piece took so much hard work and got me so into weaving and bending and pushing to get the piece to move the way I wanted it to. Eventually I was able to let go and relax a bit and allow the properties of the metal influence the building/weaving of the piece. I hope you enjoy it. UNTITLED |
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"In recent years [fires] have become more ferocious because of the climate crisis – the global temperature increase is making them hotter, more intense and more frequent." (EARTH.ORG) Let us protect our precious green and vibrant world. EARTH ON FIRE: CLIMATE CHANGE |
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We are all interwoven through our community, work, various interests and lifestyle. This piece symbolizes the various colors and shades of the world and how we are intertwined with one another. We are connected even when we think we are not. INTERWOVEN |
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This piece is inspired by everyday signage I see walking and biking through the city. Often overlooked, hand painted signs, corner stores and other everyday objects around the city help us navigate through our environment and give us a sense of place, whether we realize it or not. ICE |
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