Press Release
Once upon a time in a land far, far away… And so it begins. Human beings are driven to tell stories to capture events and immortalize them, to share what we know and come to a better understanding of those events or to take us out of them and escape. Joseph Campbell places responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the artist when he claimed in The Power of Myth, “The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world.”
Tun Myaing and Marshall Jones have assembled eighteen artists, including illustrators, comic book artists and fine artists in the exhibit Tell Them Stories: Origins open at the Mark Miller Gallery from October 8th through November 1st. The works range from sequential drawings to video, painting and sculpture. They share in common a response to popular culture. From science fiction to real time politics they are a commentary on our times that blurs the lines of demarcation present in art world hierarchical standards. Recognizable imagery from Star Wars and Star Trek mix ranks with Kermit the Frog and Batman. Mythical heroic icons share the stage with otherworldly creatures. Anthropomorphized machines and armed horsemen pave the way to man’s destruction.
Myaing and Jones give us a peak behind the curtain by asking each artist to explore the origins of their art. They have posed three questions: Why did you create this work of art? Why did you choose this profession? and, If you could own any work of art what would it be? The answers, unique and thoughtful as the artists themselves, will be revealed at the opening which takes place on October 8th from 6 to 8 p.m. Neil Gaiman said it best in Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, “Some stories, small, simple ones about setting out on adventures or people doing wonders, tales of miracles and monsters, have outlasted all the people who told them, and some of them have outlasted the lands in which they were created.” Time will tell the final outcome, but for now this story is just beginning.
Here is a quick glance of the show.
“Myaing and Jones give us a peak behind the curtain by asking each artist to explore the origins of their art. They have posed three questions... The answers, unique and thoughtful as the artists themselves, will be revealed at the opening”
Why did you create this work of art?
I’ve always been drawn to mysticism and the occult. With the Tarocchi series, I decided to observe that world at a much closer level in an attempt to dissect and understand what it is that entrances me about it, and to see how (and if) it impacted my life and future at all. As an illustrator, my goal was to preserve the original game’s narrative structure (or at least its spirit), while re-appropriating the rich and often dense symbolism into something relevant and personally meaningful.
Why did you choose this profession?
I’m not sure I chose this profession as much as it chose me. I make the type of artwork that makes the most sense in this arena, and I enjoy telling stories and playing with metaphor and symbolism. Ultimately, it comes down to self expression, and I think this profession is the fastest and most accurate way I can accomplish that.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
Great question! This is definitely difficult to narrow down and it always changes... but forced to choose, I'd pick a piece by Léon Spilliaert, a Belgian symbolist and graphic artist. While I’m not a fan of all his work, there is one painting in particular simply called Untitled that evokes a very mysterious and dark atmosphere.
Why did you create this work of art?
This video was one of the first animations that I ever made and it’s still one of my favorites. I wanted the horsemen to be like the riders of the apocalypse bringing all of the histories of colonialist aggression home to roost. The building in the background is the United Nations and all of the soldiers are made out of lead, the very material of bullets.
Street Sweep 2009, Single Channel Video 2:26 minutes Street Sweep by Peter Drake A combination of stop motion, live action and digital effects bring a collection of lead toy soldiers to life. Placing the figures in settings that are both familiar and unexpected I hope to highlight some of the consequences of the history of conflict epitomized by these lead toys. A victory parade is haunted by wounded soldiers and pockmarked dogs, severed heads roll across barren stages, and mutant horsemen gallop in slow motion down Manhattan avenues. This is not a critique of any one conflict but rather a reflection of a military adventurism that has marked the history of the world. This 2009-2011 body of work is based on a collection of lead soldiers my father assembled over the course of his life. When I inherited them I was surprised to see how many depicted Arab and North African soldiers. There were Zouaves, Saracens, Mamaluks and Ottoman Turks. I am struck by how often children's toys have been used to depict another culture as enemy combatants, that even in child's play the other could take on a menacing and evil aspect. What was the logic for creating this terrain? Tens of thousands of children playing with tens of thousands of toys, training for who knows what? As a painter I have always thought of my work cinematically, I set the stage and then fill it with props and actors so I began the process of teaching myself the basics of After Effects software so I could animate my paintings. In the past the challenge was always to find the one frame that completely embodied the narrative. In the video animations I'm working with tens of thousands of frames. Strangely it feels like I'm still painting, just in time and space. http://www.peterdrakeartist.tumblr.com
Wade Furlong
Installation (paper dress) Title: "Nest"
Material: Life-size paper dress, paper shoes and paper birds
Size: Dress: approx. 3ft W x 4.5 ft H; Birds: Life-size; Shoes: Size 7.5. Installation height varies
Why did you create this work of art?
My use of paper is primarily influenced by the memory of a pet Tarantula’s molting (or shedding). After each molting, the spider would leave behind its old skin, completely intact–as if two creatures now occupied the space. I saw this delicate new shell as a hollow twin, representing both life and death.
Inspired by the idea of molting, I create sculptures/dioramas/installations using mostly paper, which (in both strength and vulnerability) evokes a presence. Something ephemeral and transient, such as 'nest". Or, as with the "Vanitas" (paper skull) series, a frozen remnant or a vessel, containing/conveying a story.
Why did you choose this profession?
I've always had the impulse to create. Making something, out of nothing, is a form of storytelling. No matter how literal or vague, there's a thread of thought, an idea that inspires a form of visceral exploration–a story to to share.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
It may be obvious, but it would thrill me (beyond words) to have a Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture, in my possession. Whether it be the massive and watchful "Maman"
Or familial, cluster of "The Nest", arranged by scale–small to large
I would nap beneath the legs, and see what dreams they weave.
Michael Grimaldi
Why did you create this work of art?
Dusk was commissioned by Lucasfilms Ltd. to be included in the book, Star Wars:Visions a compendium of work that references the series of films. As with many of my generation, Star Wars was my first introduction, to myth, symbolism and metaphor. Accepting the commission gave me the opportunity to explore a deeply familiar subject that I would not have, at least directly, investigated. While constructing this painting using environments and characters from the films, I was able to pursue many elements that I strive for in all of my work: a deliberate ambiguity as to which character holds the role of protagonist and antagonist and as a result, to obliquely examine the precise narrative expressed.
Why did you choose this profession?
The visual arts are my means of objectively and subjectively investigating the world I inhabit through sustained and immersive contact and interpretation. The processes of drawing and painting allow me to look beyond the surface appearance of the visual experience in an attempt to discover the latent, deeper meaning potentially contained in nature. It is a language where juxtaposition and contradiction can coexist simultaneously— something I am always attempting to convey in my work.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
If I could own a painting, I would choose either View of New York by Antonio Lopez Garcia which depicts an aerial view of Manhattan Island or Untitled, 1985 by Manuel Franquelo which depicts a reclining female nude, treated nearly with the cold objectivity of a still-life lying on what appears to be a work table.
“The Wandering Home”
pen and ink on cold press watercolor paper, 2012
Why did you create this work of art?
I was inspired to draw this piece by a dream that I had. The dream featured a desolate world, mostly barren plains and grey earth, as if it had all been burned and only now was any life returning. Across this landscape islands of green vegetation moved and shifted, slowly traveling the empty valleys of that world, sewing seeds from the trees and grasses that grew in those lush moving patches. All these islands of life were made mobile by growing on the backs of massive ancient tortoises.
I have always had a love for wildlife and wild places, and tortoises are one of those creatures that have always felt vaguely enchanted to me. I think part of it is the idea of how long they can live, if allowed to. It's the romantic idea that they and the whales, and the lobsters, and the redwood trees could carry on living out their lives for hundreds of years, thousands, if undisturbed, slowly growing and watching the world change and the shorter lives of other creatures ebb and flow around them. I created this drawing to try and capture that dream, and that feeling of both enchantment and desolation.
Why did you choose this profession?
Although I have been drawing and painting ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon, a pen, or a pencil, I never really intended to be a professional artist. When I was growing up I had planned on going into wildlife biology, but after attending a pre-college program at CalArts I started to consider studying art seriously. I wound up attending Pratt Institute, majoring in Fine Art with a specialty in Drawing, I graduated with my BFA in 2009. It took a few years after I graduated for me to get on my feet in terms of making money on my creative endeavors, and even now it's a constantly fluctuating position. At this point I have countless images captured in my mind that I hope to put down onto paper or canvas, so no matter where my professional career takes me I know that I will always be painting.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
This is a tough one, I'm not sure that there's any one piece, but I think if I had to choose one artist whose work I would give anything to own, it would be Albrech Durer. Especially his Engraving "Knight, Death and the Devil" as well as his engraving of "Adam and Eve".
Why did you create this work of art?
Bele and Lochi were racially motivated arch enemies in an episode of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Here they are tying the knot in an imaginary paneled den adorned with a scout's knot plaque. I wanted to contextualize the civil rights polemic over same sex marriage in the earlier civil rights battles of the 60's.
Why did you create this work of art?
Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four gestures across a (prison?) wall leaving in her wake an apparition of the philosopher Rene Descartes. I wanted to create a dialog between various notions of seeing, that of the Invisible Woman, Rene Descarte, and Vermeer who was the inspiration for the light raking across the wall.
Why did you choose this profession?
Art gave me the opportunity to create alternative worlds. First it was an escape, but now it is also an allegory about the world we live in.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
I would own Peter Breughel's Netherlandish Proverbs. It is a fiction, a microcosm, a list, and a map all in one image. I could stare and laugh at it forever.
The Massive
Why did you create this work of art?
I created this work because I love the nostalgia the batman mask creates with people in all age groups. I also wear the mask as a symbol of how I feel in my life at moments in masking emotions.
Why did you choose this profession?
Painting is my escape from the world. I also love creating paintings that people can connect with in some way. I feel being an artist allows me to understand the person I’m painting better which is why I do a lot of self portraits. I feel like I’m trying to understand myself more and paint as much truth as possible.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
This is such a tough question, but if I could only choose one, I would own El Jaleo by Sargent. I’ve never actually seen the painting in person yet, but there are so many parts of that painting I enjoy…. the lighting, the emotion, the way your eye moves around to each person within the painting, yet your eye ALWAYS goes back to the flamenco dancer, the balance in color…. I could go on and on. I love it!
Why did you create this work of art?
Nonplayer is my answer to the question, "what would you make if you had complete control over a project and no deadlines?" It's sort of a reaction to working as an artist in video games for the last two decades. I love building new worlds from the ground up.
Why did you choose this profession?
This isn't my profession, though I'd love for it to turn into a full-time thing someday. When you're working on a book like this, you know that every day you're pushing yourself to the absolute limit of your abilities, learning new things about line work, color, storytelling... I like being in student mode, and this project keeps me there.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
I'd love to own any of Peter Elson's sci-fi book cover paintings from the 1970s. They're just these vivid, jewel-like pieces, and for me they're drenched in childhood nostalgia. He was such a creative force, and it's so tragic that he went mostly unrecognized in his time.
Why did you create this work of art?
Frog Ballet addresses a human struggle with the nature of existence; with the past present and the future existing all at once. The toy/sculpture element represents the memory of childhood, the body the adult-self and the landscape something that will outlast them both.
Why did you choose this profession?
I do not believe being an artist is a choice.
As a child it is what I wanted to be when I grew up,
I guess I am still following that four-year-old-self's dream.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
Any small (preferable self) portrait by Degas.
These posses a certain magnetism felt from across a room, its like I can feel it is a Degas even before seeing it really.
Why did you create this work of art?
I'm interested in the stories that are the foundation of human culture and C. G. Jung's idea that archetypes arise from a shared collective unconscious.
Why did you create this work of art?
Cuteness is a central theme in my art practice, especially blurring the line between what is cute and what is unsettling. "Nagapie" is another name for Bush Baby.
Why did you choose this profession?
I wouldn't say I chose it, so much as it chose me. I have always made things; It's the only thing I feel compelled to do, whether I get paid for it or not.
If you could own any work of art what would it be?
I would love to have one of Patrick Jacobs' tiny portals installed in my home. I would also love to someday have my portrait done by Ransom & Mitchell.
