Shunpike proudly presents eight new installations in South Lake Union as part of its acclaimed Storefronts program, on display July 3rd – September 30th, 2018.
“Storefronts South Lake Union presents three rounds of installations in 2018- each round is themed around the concept of building relationships with cities, people, and nature.
In this second round we explore the works of artists incorporating the human figure into their works. Reflecting the faces, bodies, and silhouettes of those around them, these artists build up themselves and the community around them. Join us in engaging with themes of power, identity, history, community, and all the intricate human connections which frame who we are today and how we relate to each other.” – Hanako O’Leary, Storefronts Program Coordinator
All SLU Storefronts Locations are at the corner of Terry or Boren on given cross streets:
ARTIST: Robert Sparrow Jones
WORK: We are One
LOCATION: John St. Window
Artist Statement:
Well beyond a pastime, nature is a way of life for me. It is a library and a teacher. Color, texture, movement, space, time, and scent; the elements of the natural world mirror my practice as a painter. The wild landscape of the Seattle coast; the physical and aesthetic properties, connects directly to my painting because it embodies many passages of time. Within materials, and layering are metaphorical places that hold culture; light and life, as transparent layers—like a small town edging off into spectacular wind-swept cliffs, and, further up, melding into the hedgerows of a rural countryside. For subject matter I will be contemplating a landscape that has been incorporated architecturally into community and gardens that grow into the environs of the rural life. Merging life with nature is where the haunt of storytelling take bloom and the bold arc of history becomes experienced as layers.
ARTIST: Infinite Milam
WORK: The Queens Project Book
LOCATION: Thomas St. East Window
Artist Statement:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life:
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy,
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued,
“The other is good – heis joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
“Which wolf will win?”
“The one you feed.”
ARTIST: Berette Macaulay
WORK: memory of nothing, but the soil from which we sprung
LOCATION: Thomas St. West Window
Artist Statement:
The portrait series, ‘memory of nothing’, was inspired by resilience of my own intercultural partnership in the wake of recent racial tensions in the US. I wanted to counter my own fears of the dangers of racism with a visual conversation of unity. It was after I began this work that I learned that 2017 marked the 50 year anniversary of the landmark US Supreme Court case of Loving vs Virginia that reversed “anti-miscegenation laws”, making it legal for human beings in the United States to simply love each other, raise families, bridge communities, blend cultures, while building lives together. But still – skin, nationality, and cultures continue to be painfully political, and radical to some when they are mixed, spurring violent clashes we see in our world today.
This project celebrates the infinite shades of humanity and offers hope. Exposing multigenerational intercultural stories is aspirational, beckoning us to try harder to heal our collective scars, so we can remember only that which connects us: Love.”
ARTIST: Robert L. Horton
WORK: Stories…about Us!
LOCATION: Harrison St. West Window
Artist Statement:
A series of paintings, “Stories…about Us!” depict the rich lives of key people in African American history. Storylines from slavery, specific significant historical events, to iconic leaders are featured in visual format. My recent focus has been the production of art exhibits, which demonstrate how little known African American history impacted the course of American history. My exhibits, “Un-Chained Underground” and “American History…X” allowed me to promote these stories by showcasing the imagery of the people who played a strong role in American culture. Art patrons viewing these exhibits responded favorably to the educational value, as well as, artistic execution of the images.
ARTIST: Jean Bradbury
WORK: On my Head, in my Heart
LOCATION: Harrison St. East Window
Artist Statement:
In response to the current political climate in the United States I have chosen to celebrate the diversity and specificity of the human culture. “On My Head. In My Heart” is part of an ongoing exploration of clothing as a language that expresses the apparently opposing values of tradition and individuality. It asks the question “Who are we and how do we express that?” and answers with both our relationships to our group and our own uniqueness. While we are products of our family, group, religion, culture, sports interest, and workplace the truth about who we are lies in our specific stories. For this reason I incorporate interviews with my portrait subjects about how the item they wear on their heads expresses what they hold in their hearts.
ARTIST: Suze Wolf
WORK: State of the Forrest
LOCATION: Republican St. Window
Artist Statement:
Suze Woolf has watched glaciers shrink and burned-over forests increase. At first, she painted whole scenes of fire-affected landscapes. Then close-up studies of individual trees became a metaphor for human impact: our predilection for cooking the planet. Yet for all her distress, she also sees unusual beauty. Fire-carved standing snags are known as “totems.” At once all the same – carbonized, eaten away; yet each different – the physics of the fire and the tree’s biological structure create unique sculptures. Each ridge, fissure, and layer becomes a landscape unto itself. Char remains iridescent for up to a decade, reflecting local light and color.
ARTIST: Synvia Whitney
WORK: I want to be here with you, I want to change
LOCATION: Mercer St. West Window
Artist Statement:
I dreamt of the the possibility of Mount Rainer transitioning into the Puget Sound, of the gallery floor speaking it’s mind. It’s this kind of thinking that inspires me, especially in our current cultural climate when it seems change is so necessary yet so difficult to achieve, my gender-queer self yearns for the opportunity to imagine what could be no matter how impossible it seems. This work is a reflection of my desire to re-imagine myself my relationships and the spaces we all live and work in together. I want to be here with you now and I want to change. I want this freedom for all of us.
ARTIST: Jite Agbro
WORK: Armor Stories
LOCATION: Mercer St. East Window
Artist Statement:
My work focuses on non-verbal communication, the process of exchanging shared cultural, psychological, and imaginative cues between people. Specially, I’m interested in the way we as human beings project ourselves and our identities into the greater public space.
My most recent prints incorporate dress forms and garment piece. I use dress forms as visual representations of non-verbal communication because clothing is a familiar instrument for unspoken exchanges. Clothing conveys self-image, aesthetics, interpersonal allegiance, and even citizenship, lineage, and social status. Each of us is deeply knowledgeable in this subtle language of presentation and able to make lightning-quick judgments, even where our awareness of what we are judging is subconscious.
My interest is in creating visual representations of status and using them to capture stories and un-cover the subtle experiences of symbolic expression. I wish to exhume the buried and unexamined assumptions by which we negotiate culture and construct our images of other people and ourselves.
