Come to town and join us for a sip of wine, jazzy music, and beautiful art, as we open our new show:
Karen Chaussabel
February 3 – 28, 2017
Opening Reception:
First Friday, February 3, 6-8 pm
In Concert, performing as a duo:
Ranger
& Mike Sciacca of
Ranger and the Re-Arrangers
Bainbridge
Island’s Own Gypsy Jazz Band
IMAGES SHOWN:
Left from
Top:
About
the Show:
Drawing from a great variety of materials Karen
Chaussabel follows her own threads of inspiration to create a series of connecting
mixed media works for the wall and simpatico
clay renderings, using as her primary focus the eternal symbols of vitality and
love: Hearts.
This collection invites the viewer to interact on
a very personal level, using sight, touch, and each of our own sparks of
recognition to discover the true shape of our own hearts.
About
the Artist:
Karen
Chaussabel (Bainbridge Island, Washington)
Karen was born in France and
grew up in a small village where she and her family were closely connected to
nature. She moved to the United States to attend college in the Pacific Northwest,
subsequently living in diverse places, ranging from the East Coast to Texas and
Canada, attending a course on Creativity at the Visual Arts Centre in
Montréal. This led to three years of
studio work which brought a sense of freedom to explore her creative voice and
a realization that cultivating creativity is very much a practice rooted in the
process - a process that, for her, has taken on many shapes.
Alone or combined, Karen uses
ink, encaustic, thread, pencil, and tools to make marks. She enjoys having a
variety of paper and fibers for printmaking, encaustic monotype and mixed media
pieces. Karen also appreciates the tactile quality of clay. Materials are very
much at the heart of her art. They are the tools she can reach for and count on
to bring to form feelings and impressions.
Here she discusses her process and media used in this
new show:
Heart is what keeps me in the flow, in coherence with
what is. I try my best to listen in, and from there I choose material to
partner with. The great variety of materials I draw from enables me to have a
range of expressions, to be fluid and in tune with them. Making marks with ink,
pen or a bar of melting encaustic paint gives me a feel for gesture and
movement where I find myself to be free, open, playful. Those are qualities I
pay attention to when I create. Pieces of thread that are stitched or collaged
on paper also embody playfulness through their shape, placement. They remind me
too of the process of connecting and following the thread of inspiration that
moves through me.
Heart is what mentors me in the art of movement,
movement guided by a balance between being active and letting go. I embrace a
sense of unfolding. Using encaustic paint on a hot plate creates pools of
molten wax and when I press the paper onto it to create a monotype, colors
swirls, blend. Where the encaustic goes, I follow. With my ceramic hearts, I
let what touches me guide the shape, size, texture, but ultimately they come
into being from being released into the alchemy of fire. And those bits of
glass that became pools evoking water remind me how much I just dive in and see
where it takes me!
What I see embodied in these pieces today and what is
part of my art making experience are those very movements of the heart. I
am touched and grateful for their presence in my art, in my life, as they
connect me to a spirited sense of exploring, discovering, being.
For more about the artist’s work please view her Cradled Hearts video here.
About the
Musicians:
Ranger and the
Re-Arrangers (Bainbridge Island, Washington)
THE GENRE: The band plays "Gypsy jazz" or
“hot jazz”, created by and named in honor of Django Reinhardt, Europe's
acclaimed composer and guitarist. In the 1930s, Django and violinist Stephane
Grappelli blended their own musical legacies with the new American art form of
jazz. Soon their recordings brought
international fame to the genre. Gypsy jazz is characterized by upbeat, high
energy swing on acoustic instruments, especially guitar, violin, bass,
clarinet, and accordion. The band’s repertoire appeals to everyone who
enjoys swing standards, traditional Gypsy jazz songs, and world music
originals.
Tonight they will be playing for us as a duo,
performing as a full band on the Plaza sometime this spring.
Violin: At the
heart of the band’s sound is the sweet violin playing of RANGER SCIACCA, who began playing violin at
the age of six. He divided his studies between old-time fiddle and classical
violin until a chance encounter with a CD of violin jazz ignited Ranger’s
interest in the music of Joe Venuti, Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli and Django
Reinhardt. Ranger’s playing draws from all the genres he has studied and,
according to one reviewer, “features frantic staccato runs and an overall sense
of tone that reveals many shades and moods.”
Rhythm Guitar: MIKE
SCIACCA is Ranger's father, and has been backing up Ranger on guitar
for over 15 years. Ranger and Mike are descended from Sicilian immigrants, who
played jazz in New York at the start of the 20th century.
About The Island Gallery
beautiful
Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle, and
steps
from the new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
Contact Us/Visit:
Event Location:
The Island Gallery, 400 Winslow Way E, #120,
Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Underground parking is available at The Winslow
off Ericksen Avenue.
