The works of seven Nevada artists are currently featured at the Humboldt County Library as part of the “Making A Mark” traveling art exhibit through Aug. 29 via the Nevada Touring Initiative traveling exhibition program.
The exhibit is being presented as a partnership between the Humboldt County Library and Northern Nevada Arts Council.
On Aug. 20, from 5-7 p.m. there will be an exhibit reception at the Humboldt County Library.
The seven artists featured in the exhibit are all based in Nevada and 18 pieces are on display at the Library. Artists include Dennis Angel of Las Vegas, Galen Brown of Carson City, Gig Depio of Las Vegas, Miya Hannan of Reno, Eunkang Koh of Reno, Dennis Parks of Tuscarora and Sidne Teske of Tuscarora.
“The Nevadan artists included in this exhibition are interested in working with the mark.
Whether the mark is the subject of their art or the mark is a means towards an end, the practice of applying ink, paint, chalk or carbon with fingers, a stylus, pencil, pen, or even a brush to substrate is elemental to each of the works on view,” said the Humboldt County Library in a press release. “ The variety of outcomes that emerge from the practice of drawing is represented in the works of the artists in “Making a Mark” who etch, sculpt, paint, and draw through the mark. Every human is a mark maker; this exhibition calls attention to the creative urge to leave behind a trace of ourselves.”
Featured artists Sidne Teske and Dennis Parks are both based in Tuscarora. Parks is an internationally distinguished artist who
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works with clay and often uses the creation of three-dimensional objects to explore the mark. Teske’s drawings feature hundreds and hundreds of thick and thin pastel hashes that make up landscapes and other figurative pieces she creates.
Dennis Angel of Las Vegas creates still-life scenes including objects plucked from various environments assembled in fresh viewpoints. Angel’s drawings are created in metal point by dragging a metal stylus over primed paper, an ancient drawing technique that is labor intensive and challenging; the results of which are enhanced over time as the metallic marks age and oxidize.
Miya Hannan of Reno draws upon Japanese attitudes about death, Buddhist philosophy and her history as a medical professional to develop her own theory of the contemporary. She uses materials such as bone ash, paper, fabric, branches and roots to echo the temporal and fragile nature of physical bodies and represent her understanding of the importance of accepting death on a larger level and exploring the interconnectedness of lives and generations.
“Millions of creatures and human beings have come and gone over time, becoming part of the layers of the land,” said Hannan. “Scientists believe that all the strata are linked, telling us the stories of who we are and where we are from. It is this belief that makes the chain of our histories complete. I am interested in this relationship between humanity and how information is trapped in nature.”
Artist Eunkang Koh draws on her inspiration on the relationship between humans and the society in which they live to create works of art utilizing various media including printmaking, bookart, drawing and installation. Koh is an associate professor in the art department at the University of Nevada, Reno, teaching printmaking and drawing.
Artist Gig Depio is a painter and advocate for public art in Las Vegas who believes art is an expression of our encounter with life; a natural, unrehearsed, spontaneous need to communicate with others through culture–culture being a collective social consciousness.
“What I seek by choosing to participate in the art world is authentically, a genuine engagement with the community, to engage with myself first, my thoughts, my ideas, my history; and then sharing this self with others, encouraging engagement with the openness and exchange of a dialogue,” said Depio.
Galen Brown’s style of art is influenced by growing up in a Lake Tahoe beach house looking out at the lake, watching the weather and the water changing constantly. He recorded the moods and repetition of nature’s waves. Brown works with various media, building drawings from the inside out or crushing rock and gluing small pieces into formal shapes.
“My art practice includes making sculpture from accumulated materials that are produced in my community and my life. I use printmaking and photography to help discover, explore, and refine my simple forms and surfaces. I use welding steel to build the support structures,” said Brown. “My primary focus has been to transform the familiar.”
The “Making A Mark” project is curated by Paul Baker Prindle and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the State of Nevada. The Nevada Arts Council is a division of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs.
Baker Prindle is a faculty member of the Department of Art at the University of Nevada Reno where he facilitates the development of student exhibition practices, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and fosters connections between Nevada students and communities beyond campus. He is also a practicing artist and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking and photography.
“At its simplest, the human-made mark is an index of humans’ ability to leave a trace with purpose. To make or create with purpose is not limited to humans: birds build nests, dogs dig holes, and chimpanzees make tools. Humans are among the very few animals that communicate expressively through visual means,” said Baker Prindle in the exhibition introduction.
