Tag: Steve Sandberg

Shadow Play Redux

As I mentioned in my February post, I have been honored to have my work included in the current Exhibiting Members Exhibition at the National Arts Club. (Open to the public Monday – Sunday, 9 to 5, until June 15.) Please stop by!

I never dreamed of this incredible honor on that sunny day in Vancouver when I was goofing off watching Netflix and saw a captivating shadow on the living room wall.

I took this picture:

Shadow Play Number One - Clarity

This picture grew into a series of 14 images that very afternoon.

I met some encouraging friends who liked the series and encouraged me to submit the work to galleries. So I did!

I wound up having a solo exhibition of this work at the Havana Gallery in Vancouver in 2015, but felt I needed something more visually arresting to add to the 14 images, which were each 1-3/4″ by 1-3/4″. So I created a giant 8’x10′ version of the image!

As an icebreaker, I took pictures of all my friends and relatives at the opening, with their favorite works of art. I turned these images into a video, which was another spontaneous project that still delights my heart when I watch it.

One of the outtakes was this picture of my friend Bruce, holding my sparkly handbag for me. I just love this picture of him!

Flash forward to 2020, when I was preparing for my first New York solo exhibition. I wanted to show the Shadow Play series again, but the Revelation Gallery is bigger and there was a large empty space on the wall.

So I decided to do something with my picture of Bruce, and voilà, “Bruce’s Handbag” became a focal point of the exhibit. I printed the digitally enhanced photo onto canvas, and then embellished the piece with glitter to bring out the light and sparkle on the details.

I also decided to have a synesthesia component to the opening reception, and thanks to the curator Graeme Napier’s brainstorm and my friend Hannah’s and some other musicians’ creative generosity, a sound component was born. We had a minute-long impromptu musical performance for each of the 14 pieces. I projected the images on the wall behind the musicians so that the audience could see the image that was being played.

Everything in New York shut down soon after the opening reception on March 3, so the recordings and photos from that evening languished on my hard drive. I had intended to do a video of the event, but life went sideways.

So here, for the first time, is a video of the musical segment that goes with the blue piece, entitled “Nostalgia.”

Nostalgia - Shadow Play art for sale

The taste pairing with this piece was blueberry port. Just relish what Hannah  Reimann and Steve Sandberg did on their spontaneous collaboration! (The Aeon Ensemble was amazing as well. Stay tuned for the complete series showing all of the musicians.)

Now “Bruce’s Handbag” is hanging on the walls of the National Arts Club. What a difference from the fate of “Summer Piano in Washington Square Park”!

Summer Piano in WSP
Kicked to the curb. My doorman promised it would end up on someone’s living room wall! It was gone in minutes.

Life is a mysterious dynamic unfolding that continues upwelling like a fountain. I love the adventure of seeing where it takes me.

With Bruce at NAC
With Bruce at the National Arts Club opening reception. Five of the original series of 14 are on the wall behind Bruce.

Synesthesia: Taste Pairings

As I mentioned in my January post, my art exhibit is opening at the Revelation Gallery, at St. John’s in the Village, on March 3. Fr. Graeme Napier had the brilliant idea of bringing a synesthesia component to the opening reception by inviting musicians to perform 1-minute compositions for each of the 14 works of art. I love this idea! I often see color when I listen to jazz music, and I think it will be wonderful to enhance the experience of the artwork by adding the element of music.

Magical Musicians

Quite magically, musicians appeared and volunteered to perform for free, anchored by my dear friend and beautiful singer-pianist-composer, Hannah Reimann. What had seemed like an unimaginable leap into a new realm of artistic expression happened almost effortlessly, thanks to Hannah’s generous offering of her time and connections. I lined up musicians for each piece, and then made arrangements to rent a projector so I could display a large form of the miniature artwork on the wall behind the piano for people to see while the musicians played.

How Does It Taste?

This got me thinking about the other senses—taste, smell, and touch. I wasn’t sure I’d have enough time to make arrangements for everything by March 3, but it seemed like everything was coming together beautifully, including printing a new piece to include in the exhibit, “Bruce’s Handbag”! (See the January post.)

So I looked at the list of artwork I had prepared for the musicians, and began sensing into the flavors of each piece. I came up with some ideas of what the images evoked, and then began phoning around the neighborhood to source the food and drink. Of course I had to cover the basics as well—wine and cheese, water! After assigning those to the appropriate pieces, there was room to really play. This is the result:

  longing

 

 Hannah piano

Banana pudding

   night

 Steve piano

Licorice allsorts
  paris

 Steve

Cheese!

  mindfuck

 Aeon harp & percussion

Red wine
  psyche

 Aeon 3 voices

Electric Kool-Aid

   1820

 Hannah

Whipped cream
 moonscape

 Hannah

Silver star candies

   clarity

 Steve

Water
  rain

 Steve

Rootbeer

   bliss

 Aeon 3 voices + strings

Jelly bellies
  nostalgia

 Hannah & Steve duet

Blueberry port

   oddity

 Steve

Colored marshmallows
  fade

 Hannah

White wine

   l’ouevre

 Hannah

Crème brûlée mini cupcakes

I hope you’ll be able to make it to the opening to hear, taste, and see for yourself.

P.S. There will be surprising opportunities for the senses of touch and smell, as well!

Shadow Play NYC – March 3 to 28 at Revelation Gallery

Shadow Play Exhibition Opening, Reception, and Music Performance

Karen Rempel in partnership with Saint John’s in the Village invites you to attend a wine and cheese reception, art opening, and musical performance.

Logistics

  • Revelation Gallery
  • Tuesday, March 3, 7 PM to 9 PM
  • 224 Waverly Place (Between W. 11th St & 7th Avenue)
  • 212-243-6192
  • Free, but registration required at Eventbrite

The music consists of 14 one-minute original compositions inspired by the Shadow Play artwork series. The music performance will begin at 8 PM.

About the Artwork

Shadow Play is a series of 14 miniatures exploring the connections between shadow, familiar forms, color, and emotion. The series was first exhibited at the Havana Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC. The second phase of the art project took stillness into motion, adding a multiplicity of personal responses to the art, and resulted in this video. The third phase of the project brings the music dimension of 14 original compositions in response to the art. The fourth phase of the project is you!

Consent to Be Photographed

The event will be photographed and filmed. By attending you grant permission for your photograph to be used in the fourth iteration of the art project.

Further Contemplation

What is the difference between substance and its shape? Is it an absence of light, a reflection of light? The shadow seems to reveal new potentials for the object. New possibilities, alternate realities. A hint of magic, hidden within the ordinary.

The Heart Sutra in Buddhism includes the statement “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” A shadow is empty, yet it has form. Perhaps a single shadow is a doorway into understanding deep universal truths.

Yet the creation of this series was a playful act, form arising spontaneously from emptiness, yet never really existing. From light and shadow waves to eye, electrons, neural circuits, to pixels and bytes to dots of ink on paper, the final result is a tiny form, reflecting the inconsequential temporariness and changing insubstantiality of a shadow on a living-room wall.

Exhibition Dates

The artwork will be on display in the Revelation Gallery from March 3 to 28. Gallery hours are:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 10 AM to 3 PM

About the Performers

An exciting lineup of talented musicians will be performing original compositions and improvisations in response to each piece of art. Each performance will be one minute long.