December Artists 2008

Dennis Smith - Ceramics
Much of my recent work is abstract interpretations of memories and visual experiences in my life. While there is a story to most of my work, it is the final effect of the piece as a sculptural object that is most important to me.  The story itself is only a spring board for me to construct a form of spatial and textural interest. The piece 'Yellow Rose of Texas' was from an odd little poem from many years past that my grandfather said to me after I introduced him to my girlfriend (now my wife) from Kentucky.   At this point in time I had just gotten my job at the SSAC in San Antonio and I came back to my home state of Indiana to visit family.  My 'wife' came up from Kentucky to visit me and meet my family.  After she returned to Kentucky, the next day my grandfather pulled me aside to sit with him.  He had a favorite chair that he would always read in.  He said, "Denny, I have only one thing to say.  The 'Yellow Rose of Texas' is mighty sweet, but 'Kentucky Fried chicken' just can't be beat."  This was his approval of my girlfriend, who later became my wife.  He said nothing more. Click images for larger view.
Winter Bird	Yellow Rose of Texas
Ryan Takaba, Ceramics
My work explores themes of time and memory through material based relationships to communicate ideas about the human experience. I am seeking to address these intangibles by finding ways to represent them through a concrete form. Memory functions as a device for the understanding and processing of a sensory experience. It is in this space between the happening of an experience and the understanding of it that I find most interesting. Click images for larger view.
Untitled	Untitled
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Trish Simonite
This series of photographs deals with the history of the landscape in Norfolk, England, and specifically with the presence of flint, the silica based rock found in chalk beds. Flint is found in abundance in the earth, in streams and along the East Anglian coast where the sea has gently washed the flint into smooth, round cobbles. Flint mining  existed in the area dating back to Neolithic flint quarry and the landscape there is pocked with indentations, evidence of the now unused shafts dug into the chalk beds.
Click images for larger view.
"Presence" Limited edition archival pigment print	"Screen"  Limited edition archival pigment print
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Joey Fauerso
I am interested in using representation and the framework for that representation (whether it be white paper, a grid, a found landscape), as a way to present shifting or contradictory perspectives. Using unfamiliar perspectives allows the relationship between the viewer and my figures to be more fluid, prompting multiple readings and meanings of the subjects. In my work, I am interested in exploring physical and metaphorical boundaries, the interiority and exteriority of the things, through the use of the figure. My recent paintings of the night sky shaped like the silhouette of an open mouth are examples of this duality. The viewer looks at something that is flat and infinitely deep at the same time, something that is huge and impersonal while also being an extremely intimate part of the body. Click images for larger view.
Blood Makes Noise	Open(6)
Inter Artisan Folk Art
Owners Randall Kurzon &  Jacob Maldonado seek out and establish relationships with talented artisans from remote villages in Mexico and showcase an eclectic selection of folk art directly from artisans, as they promote fair trade and support artisans. Inter Artisan also works with five local artists from San Antonio, Texas. Kurzon and Maldonado have traveled to remote villages near and far to bring back folk art of the local and indigenous people such as Oaxacan Wood Carvings, Dona Rosa Black Pottery, Mata Ortiz Pottery, Oaxacan clay figures, Cocucho Pottery of Michoacan, Guerrero wooden masks, Hand Blown Art Glass, Arte Jimenez Dripped Copper Art, Tree Bark Paintings and other folk art pieces. Click images for larger view.
REM Studio: Maria Elena Botello Mogas & Richard Mogas
Elusive Passages - Maria Elena Botello Mogas "Inspired by David Lynch's television series, Twin Peaks, I set out to create a body of work using obscure images and conjectural concepts. Elusive Passages, intends to evoke an enigmatic experience leaving the viewer with an unsettled sense of urgency, danger, mystery, or perhaps fear." Click images for larger view.
Damb, that's good coffee	Traces to nowhere
Compositions - Richard Mogas "Having worked with "The Common Object" for over 20 years, this current body of work is an exploration in the study of depth of field, color, texture, and layering using various widths and surfaces of tape to create formal compositions. Each piece is a combination of both calculated placement and an overriding intuitive decision making process supporting my conceptual thesis of abstract art with purpose." Click images for larger view.
Untitled	Untitled
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