Converge & Disperse

"Converge and Disperse" will be featured
at the Saranac until December 29th.

      This December, The Saranac Art Projects is featuring the work of both Jen Erickson and Lisa Nappa. Jen Erickson is a young artist who has spent most of her career in Washington state, but has had her art featured across the U.S. She currently lives in Couer d'Alene, Idaho. Her interests in physics, math and the visualization of information systems inspire her work.

     Lisa Nappa is an art professor at Eastern Washington University who has worked and showcased her art all over the United States. She mainly works with ceramics. The Saranac Art Projects is a non-profit artist cooperative that aims to both support and educate artists and their communities. It encourages and furthers the art culture in Spokane.

  The artists' exhibits were very different from each other. While Jen Erickson's work was flat, grungy and messy- Lisa's work was 3-D, clean-edged and neat.

The work that I was most drawn to was the work of Erickson.

by Jen Erickson- courtesty of Saranacartprojects.wordpress

White, painted canvases with graphite drawings. The first words that came to mind when I saw the art were decay, mold, webs and emptiness. It turns out that my observations were not very far off. She says that her drawings were inspired by loss and decomposition. Erickson describes flies as being a constant threat of decomposition--always around, just waiting for death to come so they can do their part in completing the life cycle. In some of her pieces, it looks like she has drawn flies sporadically.

An even stronger interest she has is in the breakdown of time and memories, and the sense of loss that comes along with it. The repeated "zeros" that she drew with graphite represent empty remnants of understanding--memories and knowledge that she has lost. After learning this information, I was able to look at the pieces with a whole new perspective. The faded colors, the rubbed off parts of paint, and the intricate repetition of tiny "zeros" represented so much more than initially met the eye. Coming from a family with a history of Alzheimer's, the idea of memories lost is something that I think about often. The numerous circles, to me, represent the pockets in the brain that once held names, and memories of past holidays, and favorite colors. The  focus and time it took to draw those circles must have been exhausting and an opportunity for the artist to reflect on memories kept and forgotten.

In a sense, Lisa Nappa's work was almost the opposite of Erickson's. It was inspired by water, and was full of life. This greatly contrasted the underlying theme of death and decay in the room next-door. Nappa used many different vibrant shades of blue, green, stark white, and also incorporated patterns that emulated movement. The most striking piece to me was called "Bubble Up" which featured a series of cylindrical ceramic tubes that were arranged as if they were crawling up the wall. It had a happy, youthful feel to it. Various circles and designs were on each tube, giving it a very vibrant look. Nappa says that this collection was inspired by her travels to Southern France.

A piece from Nappa's collection. courtesy of Saranac

The only time I had been in the gallery before this was while I was setting up an exhibit with a few other people. Seeing the Saranac in action, filled with people enjoying the art, was quite amazing. Experiencing art alongside other people from all over the community--and from so many different backgrounds-- is amazing.  I also loved having the opportunity to see two very different artists side-by-side. This made for more interesting conversations and reactions from the public.     What would you say, are the benefits or drawbacks, to featuring two different artists in one exhibit?