Art for Life at 100th Monkey Studio
Hickory Mertsching's piece at In Full Bloom: The Art of Flowers at 100th Monkey Studio.
AUG 08 10:29AM
There are three artists showcased at the independent artist space at 100th Monkey Studio SE Portland under the In Full Bloom: The Art of Flowers. The 100th Monkey Studio is a nonprofit gallery whose main function is to cater to adults with special needs, including artists.
bePortland had an opportunity to speak with three of the artists in the current exhibit on the night of the opening.
Hickory Mertsching, artist originally from Wisconsin has been in Portland 14 years and now calls it home.
Hickory: 100th Monkey inquired if I would contribute to the flower show. The currator came over and looked at what I do and saw my studio space and asked me to put together two paintings to be part of the show and I did.
bePortland: These are amazing, so detailed, they almost look dead flowers!
Hickory: Yeah, yeah. In the process of decay.
I like the look, it’s very masculine. Possibly to be put in a den or library.
Hickory: I find the one with the deer skull to be more feminine, it has a more feminine pallet. Well, I’m a guy so.
What kind of people normally buy your art?
Hickory: it’s hard to say. I show around and a lot of times I don’t even meet the buyers. If things do sell it’s very rare that I actually meet them.
Is Hickory your real name?
Hickory: Yep, I’m a byproduct of the sixties. My parents were just full-fledged flower children so that’s how it came about, kind of unusual.
It’s amazing how detailed this is. It looks just like a real book, like I could just reach out and grab it.
Hickory: Yeah I work from observation so those are all set up in front of me and I have all those items.
Have you ever tried anything more abstract?
Hickory: No, I have a hard time painting abstract, I need structure, or my idea of structure.
So anyone that needs structure would probably be attracted to your art?
Hickory: Yeah I like balance and harmony in my compositions, clean lines.
What’s your process like?
Hickory: I start out with an idea. Most of it comes from literature. I read a lot so there are a lot of underlying cultural themes.
Do you like how permanent it is?
Hickory: I like the study of the start and finish of one’s existence, and there’s a lot of decay that occurs in my paintings and I utilize a lot of those themes. I’m really into the Flemish movement of still life of the 17th century, so I draw a lot from there and the Dutch realists and so a lot of my compositions are built around that.
It all starts from observation I have the theme, I put it together with the objects, basically there are a lot of symbolism and I piece it together in front of me with the actual objects so it’s like a sculpture.
The idea is the flowers are the birth and the skulls are the death and the books are in between, the work, the toll. So it’s the circle basically, the circle of life.
Kit Lagreze, intern at 100th Monkey Studio and artist, is originally from Rochester, MA.
Tell me about your art how long have you been working on this type of work?
Kit: I just graduated from MASS Art in Boston last year, so I moved out to a more rural area after Boston and was outdoors in nature for a while. I was living in the more NW corner of Connecticut in the Berkshire area.
That sounds nice.
Kit: It’s very hilly in the mountains, lots of trees. Then I moved out here with my boyfriend, Lee. We’ve just been moving around and I’ve been doing some smaller works, I usually like to work a lot bigger. So these pieces have been very different for me. I work gesturally and expressively, so it’s just smaller studies. I only spend a couple of hours on these smaller ones and then I feel okay, that’s good. Next painting.
I really dig your style, I like impressionism and abstract impressionism. I can’t do realism. (Laughs)
Kit: Yeah, it’s difficult and I’ve studied a lot where you try to get the right planes of color and try to get the right values, but you still don’t. It’s hard to get the right color, it’s really challenging to get it right.
Are you really technical about that, I mean do you get out your color wheel and start mixing?
Kit: No no, that’s why I don’t do that kind of painting. I do use a lot of white. I use titanium white and zinc white. The formal stuff I like playing around with.
Do you normally do things like flowers and vases like this?
Kit: Well I work as a floral designer too, that’s my work life. I get really inspired by textures and colors. A new shipment of flowers comes in and it’s like whoa! Irises this time and I get to take them home sometimes.
What’s up with the scraping, is that normal for you?
Kit: Anything like that that you see is very normal for me. Some of my other work is very spontaneous and impulsive, taking actual materials of plants and sticking them in the paint like where it’s thick sometimes. I would stick the fuzzy part of puss willow in thick part of the paint to give it total broadness of texture.
Is it a visual jumping off point for you?
Kit: It’s kind of like if you were a musician, you just pick up your guitar and start playing it. You need something to do, kind of a way to spend your time. I feel like I always want to be painting more. When I start these it’s the color and location that helps.
April Coppini, artist is originally from Rochester NY.
So you use charcoal here, is that what your main medium is?
April: Well I’m struggling to be an oil painter but it just takes more time. Eventually I will be able to paint more and my baby daughter will paint with me, but she’ll paint with acrylics, not oils.
Tell me about your process a little bit.
April: When I pick my subject matter it has to be something I feel strongly about inside. Here I am thinking about doing work for this botanical show. I try not to be self-conscious about how many marks I make because I know I’m going to go back later with an eraser and define and pull something clear, from the mess.
That’s bold and inspiring of you to say.
April: I’m very self-conscious in a lot of ways, it’s something I’ve struggle with my whole life. I try to lose that in my work.
Where else are you showing?
April: I’m also showing at the Annie Meyer Gallery at NE 9th in the Pearl and I’ll be there through the month of August. Shows help support my family. Also having deadlines push me and help to keep me constantly working and I think that’s important for my process and so that I don’t get rusty.
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