Homemade Lemonade marks the inaugural exhibit at Flowerbox Projects, an artist-run space in Lemon City, FL. Flowerbox Projects will showcase emerging artists who challenge traditional material and process as an important means of communication.
Homemade Lemonade features site-specific work by Nicole Salcedo, Brandon Opalka, Kerry Ware, and Christine Navin. The artists will use materials associated with two-dimensional work – paint, ink, graphite, and chalk, directly and deliberately on the walls of the space. These artists explore the possibilities and limitations of surface in contemporary art while offering fresh perspectives in drawing, painting, and illustration.
Five Questions is an ongoing blog series highlighting the artists behind the work showcased at Flowerbox Projects.
NICOLE SALCEDO
Nicole Salcedo brings us her “Jungle Vision,” quirky illustrations and patterns that humanize and express a love of nature. While these drawings call to mind the familiar flora of Miami, they are also very much conjured from a fantastical world of her own.
Warm-up: Are you a morning person or a night person? Depends on the activity.
Who or what first encouraged you to work beyond canvas and stretcher?
Taking a fibers class in school. I learned about a variety of materials, and ways to create 2D images.
Of the materials you’re working with, which ones have surprised you the most?
Paint and ink. I go through phases of not using any kind of wet media. When I do come back to them, I feel a sense of grounding, which is much appreciated.
Describe a moment when you felt you had failed as an artist – what did it teach you?
Failure has taught me to not fear failure, which is easier said than done. Over the years I’ve learned to not put too much pressure on myself. Too much pressure kills creativity. Everything is a balancing act.
The eternal question: Nature or nurture? Which do you think applies more to your practice?
I’m interested in the way nature nurtures, and how we in turn nurture nature.
BRANDON OPALKA
Brandon Opalka is a self-taught, Miami-based multimedia artist. Starting with painting on canvas, his work has evolved into murals, sculptures, installations and happenings. Whatever the medium, he brings a colorful, kinetic energy to seemingly everyday objects, found materials, and familiar environments.
Warm-up: Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning. I love when the batteries are recharged.
Who or what first encouraged you to work beyond canvas and stretcher?
Mr. Schemer (R.I.P), my art teacher at South Tech High School, introduced me to murals.
Of the materials you’re working with, which ones have surprised you the most?
Wax and time. Lately, I’ve been working with wax in my paintings and sculptures. I’m fascinated with the cycle of working with the material: wax will always dry up, but will melt with heat again and again. The process also involves time and patience.
Describe a moment when you felt you had failed as an artist – what did it teach you?
Failure, or trial and error, plays a big part in my work. I love to fail and live to fail. Energy comes from the process of rebuilding.
The eternal question: Nature or nurture? Which do you think applies more to your practice?
Nature. All is written, everything I do is already in the stars.
KERRY WARE
Kerry Ware composes his abstractions through intuitive gesture and by finding inspiration in nature, music, and the materials he uses, such as plaster, wooden dowels and dried pigment.
Warm-up: Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning person.
Who or what first encouraged you to work beyond canvas and stretcher?
I have a B.F.A. in sculpture, I love using and taking advantage of materials. The pegs evolved as a way to hang one of my small plaster paintings to drilling holes in wooden panels to the entire wall.
Of the materials you’re working with, which ones have surprised you the most?
The reason I work on plaster panels is because I enjoy the unexpected possibilities that occur by washing paint over them, sanding, scraping. I am a devout modernist that believes the quality derives from my materials. I attempt to set up a situation that allows for accident and surprise. I play off of this until things begin to “set up” or just “feel right.” I never know exactly what may happen. The end result is unknown. This way I am always discovering and excited about the possible results.
Describe a moment when you felt you had failed as an artist – what did it teach you?
(a) When I could not draw like Leonardo da Vinci.
(b) There is more to art than drawing the figure.
The eternal question: Nature or nurture? Which do you think applies more to your practice?
(a) Both.
(b) We are born with gifts and talents, but they must be nurtured, exercised, used and manipulated.
CHRISTINE NAVIN
Christine Navin works mainly with graphite. Navin explores the possibilities and challenges that come with focusing on a specific material. The endeavor lead her to experiment with methods that go beyond the traditional use of pencil on paper, such as spraying graphite directly onto a surface or creating her own surfaces out of plaster. She also considers materials in relation to scale and space, leading her to more installation-based work. Navin gives us a glimpse of her process with a little
Warm-up: Are you a morning person or a night person?
I am for certain a night person. I have really irregular sleeping and working habits though- I like sleeping for entire days or working for entire nights. Sometimes I don’t do anything except think for weeks about a project and then after everything is planned out I will work straight through until it is finished. I obviously do have to wake up very early quite often as a normal participating member of society going to work and things, but when I wake up- I can only function if I eat a huge amount of breakfast food.
Who or what first encouraged you to work beyond canvas and stretcher?
Initially, I worked exclusively with graphite on paper and eventually realized how inappropriate it was to put my work inside a frame- unless the frame was integral to the overall ethic of the piece. Becoming more specific about images as objects or objects as images and how to occupy a space or relate to one another physically leads to making work that is more installation based. I like to make Sketch-Up models of gallery spaces or idealized spaces where I will make a full digital model of the work I am thinking about as starting point for decisions about space.
Of the materials you’re working with, which ones have surprised you the most?
Graphite has surprised me the most, and also the least. I continue to work almost exclusively with graphite. I find it really exciting to impose a restriction on what I produce as a form of hyper-editing like condensed milk or powdered eggs. It is really challenging to be persistent with one material- it creates a totally overwhelming and underwhelming situation. Work isn’t interesting for me if it lacks any contradiction, or is too self-satisfied.
Describe a moment when you felt you had failed as an artist – what did it teach you?
Sometimes I feel the most failure when I make something that I like too much or that I like in the wrong kind of way. I try to get confused about things and wrapped up in complexities and simplicities or questions proposed by work- so if something accidently comes out easy I am really disappointed. Sometimes being perplexed and bored is better than being pleased and entertained.
The eternal question: Nature or nurture? Which do you think applies more to your practice?
That’s a tough question. I think it depends on the day you ask me. But with regard to the classic model of innate qualities a person possesses in a Darwinian sense and the experiential qualities a person acquire: I have no idea. I’m confused about the nature of making art sometimes but I think it is born from some mystical sense of necessity and urgency that’s been around for 40,000 years in a some cave somewhere or something.
