The Artist’s Digest featuring Hye-Ryoung Min

July 31, 2020

 

“The moment when I write in my diary there must be a distortion and when I reread, digest, and then make a photograph out of that memory there must be another, a second, distortion. That’s why the memory is interesting for me and also at the same time that’s why it’s cruel for us. For me, how it distorts depending on who sees and when and which situation has been taken–it’s very interesting and that’s a very important element in my work.”

-Hye-Ryoung Min

 

Hello everyone,

How has your summer been? Summer for many people is a time for making lasting memories, long days, summer break from school, family vacations, cookouts, and simply having a moment to slow down and spend time outside, with yourself or with those close to you. With so many activities and in person socializing on hold, the respite and joys of summertime may be harder to come by. Have you found new ways to engage in your favorite past times or nurtured new interests during this time?

Hye-Ryoung’s Re-membrance of the Remembrance was developed around processes of revisiting old memories, starting with her journals. If your strictly homebound or busier than ever with the demands of life right now here are a few prompts to engage with the themes of the Hye-Ryoung’s work:

1.Spend a few minutes at the end of the day, writing in a journal, making an audio recording, writing notes in your phone, on your social media account, or gathering physical mementos, to create a diary and record your memories, things that seem both significant and trivial. You never know what may become important with the distance of time.

2.Have old journals? Take the time to reread them and reflect on how you’ve grown and your perspective on things has changed. Revisit a place you wrote about or send a note to a person who made a significant, positive impact on your life, even if you cannot send the letter.

3.Are there smells or sounds that remind you of a place, a person, a memory? Take a moment to engage your senses to awaken your memories and emotions. Smell cinnamon and think about your grandmother adding it to her coffee or stand barefoot in the driveway, listening to cicadas at sunset, just as you did at the end of a long, hot day playing outside.

Add the most recent episode of The Artist’s Digest featuring Hye-Ryoung Min to your Apple podcast queue or listen below. This is the last weekend to see her work in person at BSC (by appointment), but you can still get your hands on one of her monographs of the project.

Want to revisit the opening reception from February’s First Friday? Find photos on our Facebook page!

Also available in response to Hye-Ryoung’s work is this exhibition activity.

Enjoy!

Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray

Blue Star Contemporary’s MOSAIC Student Artists debut new exhibition online, Quarantine Diaries.

While BSC’s MOSAIC Studio has remained closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MOSAIC Student Artists have remained busy working on artworks inspired by their time in isolation. Sharing their work and getting feedback in daily facilitated Zoom sessions, the Student Artists developed an online exhibition inspired by this historic, challenging time.

Featuring new work by Piper Bangs, Aiden Hobbs, Savannah Plaza-Flores, Julian Moreno, Victoria Rodriguez, and Leonardo Arteaga Toledo.

Quarantine Diaries was featured in “Dear Quarantine” by Deborah Martin in the San Antonio Express-News on May 31, 2020.

 

Aiden Hobbs, Miner 49er’, 2020. Prismacolor on paper, 9″ x 7.5″

“I created Miner 49er out of a sense of boredom, during our work from home time. I created my own imaginary character, inspired by cool robot characters in movies, such as Star Wars.”

Piper Bangs, Making Masks, 2020. Oil on panel, 8″ x 12″

This painting is a portrait of my mother’s hands while making masks. She has been making them for family and friends for free during quarantine, and I wanted to capture this kind action that’s unique to our strange circumstances, in a work of art. –Piper Bangs

Savannah Plaza-Flores, Abstract, 2020. Acrylic on canvas, 16″ x 20″

When my Father bought our first home, we didn’t have any more than a couch, box of movies, a picture frame, a TV and a lava lamp. The nights I couldn’t sleep, I would stare at the lava lamp, watching all the different shapes floating around. These shapes had always calmed me down and fascinated me. –Savannah Plaza-Flores

Julian Moreno, The Spector, 2020. Acrylic on canvas, 11″ x 14″

This piece is a narrative on the current, social political activity. It reflects those who do not use their voice, who do not stand up for anything. They sit on the sidelines and watch, not caring about these issues because it does not directly affect them, when in reality it affects us all. –Julian Moreno

Victoria Rodriguez, Isolation, 2020. Prismacolor on paper, 11.5″ x 14″

While being in isolation for so long, I’ve begun to feel a little out of my mind mentally, and my dreams have become more vivid. It feels like my mind is stretched thin and exhausted. Contrasting those feelings with bright colors associated with more positive feelings, I feel will draw the viewer’s attention to my work. –Victoria Rodriguez

Leonardo Arteaga Toledo, Las Primas, 2020. Ink on paper, 9″ x 10.8″

I found a picture of my little cousins that took me back to past times, to my grandparents’ house, where we played together. I tried to capture that feeling with this drawing. –Leonardo Arteaga Toledo

Leonardo Arteaga Toledo, Repression, 2020. Ink on paper, 12″ x 9″

I participated in a community theater group in Mexico where we created a play about children’s rights. This is one of the main characters, an authority figure, that represses the children from expressing themselves. –Leonardo Arteaga Toledo

 

 

The Artist’s Digest featuring Sarah Welch

May 6, 2020

Hello readers, viewers, art lovers!

Check out our most recent episode of The Artist’s Digest featuring Sarah Welch. Her exhibition Giveth and Taketh is currently installed in our Project Space. While you can’t see the work in person right now, you can dive into a video interview, listen to the podcast, and enjoy photographs of Sarah’s work. Find the audio episode in this blog post or on Apple Podcasts. Sarah’s zines and prints are available for purchase here. Want to revisit the opening reception from February’s First Friday? Find photos on our Facebook page!

Also available in response to Sarah’s work is this exhibition activity and a free print/coloring page from the artist!

Enjoy!

Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray

The Artist’s Digest featuring Rand Renfrow

April 2, 2020

Hi again,

For the next episode of The Artist’s Digest I am speaking with Rand Renfrow about his work in the exhibition More Findings. Check out the video or take a listen to the podcast included below on on Apple Podcasts. Once again images for the exhibition are included in this post. Enjoy and find our more about Rand and how he stays inspired.

Think Like An Artist!

Below are some prompts inspired by Rand and his works. Give them a try and send us your comments, drawings, and photos.

1. Central to Rand’s practice is the documenting of the world around him by drawing, photographing, making lists, and taking notes. Walk around your house and write down new observations or try categorizing and creating a typology, like all the weeds in your backyard.
2. Do you keep a sketchbook. For many artists this in an important part of their practice. As Rand shares this doesn’t have to only be drawings. It can be a note, a quote, a poem, a clipping, it can live on your phone or be photographs documenting the world around you to inspire new ideas.
3. Rand created his own iconography of shapes as both drawings and sculptures in response to a list of describable emotions. The result is a new language of sorts which can be deciphered or even assigned new meaning as the viewer tries to discover what these icons are. Look at the list of emotions and try creating your own iconography. Did you make a list or typology for prompt number one? Try creating an iconography for it.
4. Check out this lesson to dive deeper into thinking about representing emotion through icons and symbols.

Happy creating,

Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray