Amanda Joy Brown-Painter

The other day I visited the studio of painter Amanda Brown at Ground Floor Gallery, a relatively new gallery and studio space on 4^th Avenue.  Watching Amanda work was fascinating. She paints in a drizzle technique; dripping paint off the wooden part of a brush, so the brush never touches the canvas. This technique creates a multitude of lines and curves that seem to be interconnected. But what’s fascinating about these lines and curves is that faces, bodies, and depictions of everyday life can be seen. It really made me want to know more about the work. She took a break from painting and gave me the lowdown on her process.

What is the theme of your work?

Essentially, it’s about the tension between the controlled and the accidental using crowds as a metaphor for this idea. My work also addresses the idea of the individual and the collective-the idea that the individual is also part of the greater whole. I am investigating the idea of the crowd having its own identity as well as its individuals having their own identities at the same time.

What is the inspiration of your work?

The desire to make sense from chaos inspires me to make my work, as well as a fascination with humanity, especially crowd psychology. I love to people watch, and the nuances I see inspires my work as well. I used to live in France and I loved people watching when I was there.

As far as other artists go, I've loved the work of Vija Celmins for her love of mimicry, detail, and preference for covering her surfaces with so much detail it starts to resemble a machine-made texture, except it's carefully rendered by a human hand.  My Chinese painting course furthered my interest in the possibilities of line and gave me an appreciation for working with a certain level of flow and working with a medium instead of fighting it. I am very inspired by the idea of repetition and how beautiful it is, especially imperfect repetition, or variations on a theme (which actually isn't repetition) that is prevalent in nature. Lastly, I am fascinated by science and social behavior. This is driving my current series where I take this idea of underlying patterns and connect it with analog static, which is created by surrounding electromagnetic waves, coming from a combination of cosmic radiation, radiation coming from the immediate environment, and the internal workings of a screen. I see this as an allegory of the evolution of social behavior.

What are the goals for your work?

I’d like for people to be drawn to the work; to want to get up close to it. To see individual people and detail, to notice the interactions that are happening between the characters. But I’d also like them to step away from the work and see how the line work starts to blend together and become almost like a pattern. The viewer then hopefully sees that all the characters are joined together by this line work which conveys a sense of connectivity.

What are your thoughts on the Nashville art scene?

I love it because it’s small enough where you don’t feel anonymous but large enough so there is diversity amongst the artists. I’m always discovering new work and meeting new people, but still feel part of the community. It’s exciting because there are new galleries popping up. I’m looking forward to see what the future holds for the arts here in Nashville.

To learn more about Amanda’s work check out her website at: http://www.amandajoybrown.com

Mandy Rogers Horton-Mixed Media Artist

Mandy Rogers Horton-Mixed Media Artist

Last week I was in for a treat. I got to go over Mandy's house for coffee and got to see first hand how she puts together her collages. It was pretty awesome. AND she's having a show at the Arts Company, which is opening up December 6th during the Art Crawl.

What is the theme of your work?

 A theme that underlies all the work-whether painting or mixed media-is tension between what are seemingly opposing forces. Whether it’s structure and chaos, or what it means to be an individual in a huge society, all these contradictions create a tension that I’m trying to figure out by creating the work.  For example, the theme behind these recent collages is how we put together our worldview from all the different experiences and ideas we get exposed to on a daily basis.  Sometimes these ideas go together harmoniously and sometimes they clash.  So in all the work there is this idea of potential beauty as well as impossible mash up of perspectives. There’s so much freedom of thought right now in Western society but it can also be challenging to work through everything that we are exposed to and come to our own belief systems.

What influences your work?

Definitely other art. In particular, Giacometti’s drawings, DeKooning’s black and white paintings, and Doris Salcedo’s sculpture and installation works have been on my mind.  I also get inspired by things that I see everyday around me-- the way chandeliers cast shadows across a ceiling, the way my daughter ties all her toys together with ribbon and shoestring,  conversations with friends…all this inspires me.

What is the goal for your work?

The desire to create is always there and is never completely satisfied.  So, the most simple but significant goal is to keep working and, through working, to be learning & growing. I always want to stay prolific, to keep making work. The process is more important to me than the finished product, but I also hope my work gets out there and communicates what I’m trying to say.  I hope the finished product serves other people the way that the process serves me.  I try to show regularly and have a new body of work every 18 months or so.  What I’m more concerned about is creating a conversation with my work instead of just selling it.  Of course selling is always nice, but that’s not my main goal when I create the work.

What are your thoughts on the Nashville Arts Scene?

I think Nashville has always been a great place to make work.  There’s a wonderful camaraderie of artists here who exchange ideas.  Groups like the Fugitive and Coop or other studio complexes like at Downtown Pres or the Chestnut Square Building are examples of that.  Showing and selling work in Nashville has been more challenging in the past.  The problem is that there isn’t much public support in the sense that not much art is purchased.  But hopefully all the new galleries that have opened up recently will encourage more public involvement and financial support which will ultimately create growth in the art scene.

Courtney Adair Johnson-Reuse artist

Saving the environment is not a new issue. We are confronted with this obstacle everyday. Recycling has  become a habit that many of us have adopted, and reducing our carbon footprint is something that many of us strive for. Courtney Adair Johnson has taken this one step further and shows us that works of art can be made from things that are discarded on a daily basis. 

What is the theme of your work?

I base everything I do off of the recycling and repurposing of material. Awareness is a big theme that keeps coming up in my work, awareness of what we use on a day to day basis and what happens to these items afterwards. Instead of mindlessly throwing things away or consuming thoughtlessly, being conscious of what we touch and use. I am always looking for material to be saved, things that are disregarded or abandoned. 
I see the potential in material. Oftentimes, I let the material dictate what is made and let ideas develop around what the material once was or was left to be. I do enjoy playing with color, a sense of fun while taking on the weighty issues of materialism and excess. 

What inspires you to do your work?

Waste. Mmmm sort of but more like sharing my passion for recycling with people inspires me to do what I do. Working the past eight years in an art supply store, seeing the amount of materials that was used in packaging, products come wrapped six or seven times before we use them and everyone wants them in a bag! Ugg. I started realizing that the package material could be used as art supplies instead of being thrown away or recycled. I no longer felt wasteful in creating art and had a mission or manifesto. I set rules also that really inspires me.

What are the goals for your work?

I am interested in social practice, involving the community. Creating hands-on experiences with reuse, presenting questions and answers regarding our recycling habits, working to create consciousness with art. Also with Nashville changing so fast I am interested in our history. I am very intrigued by some of our older buildings and preservation awareness like the Nashville 9. I am exploring residencies opportunities and want continue to show my work on a local level, while looking at other possibilities around the country for growth. I am curating my first show in December and intrigued with continuing to working with other like minded artist. 

What are your thoughts on the Nashville Art Scene?

I think the possibilities for growth in the Nashville Art Scene are endless. I think there are a lot of awesome artists in town, there is also a lot of great new energy coming in. All of the growth that Nashville is experiencing will open up and inspire all kinds of possibilities that can only benefit our art scene. My first reaction to change is not necessarily positive. I like old and used, so all the new shiny buildings are hard for me to grasp. I really hope we as a city will remember to hold on to our roots as we embrace the future of our Nashville.