Artist Residencies at Centrum

Poets and Plums at Centrum

Sierra Nelson was just in residence for a few days... finding some quiet time between work and a reading at the Seattle Art Museum. Sierra has been on the faculty of Centrum's Young Artists Project. Her work blends poetry and performance art, which she has taken to libraries, classrooms, and (literally) the streets with Vis-a-Vis Society  partners Rachel Kessler and Anne Bradfield. We get some interesting resumes from our artists in residence, but only one that answered the question "what are your major influences?" with "Gregg Shorthand Manual, Smith-Corona, The Book of Popular Science v. 1-10 (1961), Safety Goggles".

Sierra is a blogger for the Kenyon Review. She wrote about an earlier Centrum residency... which seems to have involved plums, poetry, and pajamas. Read Sierra's Blog

Helga's Work Showing Downtown January 21st

We've been asked if Helga Winter (see earlier blog about Helga's residency) will host an open studio during her Centrum Residency. While there won't be an open studio event here at Centrum, you'll be able to meet Helga and view some of her work in downtown Port Townsend on Thursday January 21st. The event will take place at the Undertown Coffee and Wine Bar at 6:30 pm, where you'll be able to view the works of featured artists Margie McDonald and Helga Winter, hear about their processes and lives, and have some time for questions and answers.  You will also be able to go to Artisans on Taylor to view the shows of these two remarkable women.

Both venues are in the heart of downtown PT, on Taylor Street near the Haller Fountain. For more information contact Artisans On Taylor .

Helga Winter Comes to Centrum

It is not often that Centrum has the opportunity to host a Port Townsend visual artist in the residency program... an artist who lives here surrounded by the inspiration that others travel in search of. So we are thrilled to welcome Helga Winter. Helga is best known for her wood turnings, which she patterns, paints, and dyes. Her Centrum residency project focuses on a new direction for her work... "flat pieces" like the ones recently shown at Artisans on Taylor. Helga will be in residence through the month of January 2010.

I'm going to include a few images here, just to whet your appetite. You can better appreciate the scope and beauty of Helga's work at her website

       

Helga talks a bit about her work and why she does it...

Being a wood turner of green woods allows me to look deep inside the tree and carry on a dialogue. The green wood is still full of movement, wanting to take back its own shape after I turned it into something that is momentarily round. Then I step aside and let the wood seek its own perfection.

The drying process is delicate, referring to a sense of mystery, balance and the fragility of life. Sometimes cracks occur, sometimes fluid movement results. After the drying is completed it is my turn to respond to the new shape, the cracks, the imperfections, so that they will reflect the reality of a less than perfect world instead of being viewed as flawed.

I use dyes and patterns to invite a closer look and investigation: Is it glass? Is it wood? Is it a gourd?

The patterns originate from memory, dreams, imagination. The vessel, when given a new appearance, allows a quiet conversation to take place: Who am I really? How does my appearance, my attitude effect my inner being? Do they enhance the self or cover it up? Through these processes I strive to show the pureness of the wood – the essence of being.

Open Studio with Gillchun Koh

Please join us for an informal open studio on Wednesday January 6th in building 205 at Fort Worden State Park. Centrum artist in residence Gillchun Koh of South Korea will open his studio doors from 10am. Centrum will host a reception for the artist between 4 and 6pm.

Gillchun has created large origami representations of the Chetzemoka, a wooden boat that sits on the shoreline of Fort Worden beach. Suspended among colorful paper lanterns, the Chetzemoka boats will be free to "fly" inside and outside of the studio. A special treat is the life size graphite frottage (rubbing) of the boat... arguably one of the most photographed images in Port Townsend.

A graduate of Chosun University (Kwangju) and Honk-Ik University (Seoul), Gillchun's work has been shown across Asia and the United States. He is at Centrum for his second residency, living and working at Fort Worden State Park.

Directions: Enter via the Fort Worden main gate and proceed to the four way stop. Go straight and look for building 205 on your right. There will be parking across the street and behind the building. The studio is upstairs.