Opening Reception for Abstract Nature

Speakers

• 

  Nick Taylor
  

  Nick Taylor

  My work is a manifestation of the energies that exist within me as I search to understand the life I lead, and that which exists around me. They reflect my strengths and weaknesses at the time they were created. The native/natural world I have spent my entire life being a part of is an overarching factor in the organic appearance of my work, and is one of the few environments where I always find beauty, calm, and a sense of order.

  The wood sculptures often start with a mental image before I set to work, but not always (I’m unable to tell you where exactly the images come from.) Most of these works are carved from single pieces of wood (oak and fir), all of which I’ve harvested from our small property. The uniqueness of that once-living organism is something I try to incorporate into all finished works. They are created in the reductive process of carving, which is a search for the shapes and forms with a given perimeter.

  The metal works are a little different. Being a man-made material, metal has inherent properties but little unique personality to start with, even when I use recycled material. The personality is something that I have to create myself through cutting, hammering, welding and grinding. I work this material mostly in an additive manner, which is the polar opposite of the carving that I do when I work in wood. The works grows. I seldom start these sculptures with an image in mind, but rather work with a sensation of energy. The pieces develop from there.

  Both methods of working are labor intensive; I complete 3 to 4 pieces a year. In the case of Black Beauty, it took 3 years to finish.

  The finished work rarely looks like what I first had in mind. It’s a discovery process, and the final piece is always a revelation of what is within.

• 

  Katherine Warinner
  

  Katherine Warinner

  Katherine Warinner is an artist working primarily with printmaking. Her monotypes—a hybrid of painting and printmaking, digital imagery and photographic processes—reinvent traditional forms of printing with modern technology. Inspired by a love of design, the landscape and her garden, she seeks to illuminate and elevate the timeless beauty of the natural world. She has been an artist in residence at Kala Art Institute and InCahoots Residency where she prints her large scale works on paper. Her work is in private and corporate collections. Born in the midwest, where she attended college and graduate school, she has lived in Marin for over 30 years.

  “Art making is like collecting; as a child I loved to collect insects, leaves and rocks. Each new addition leads to another and there is a kind of thrill to that attainment. In the making of prints, each one leads me to a new place and from there I expand. Of course,

  there is always the question of when to stop because it is impossible to erase in printmaking! A print can go too far and collapse or balance on the edge of beauty. That edge is what keeps me working.”