Special Art Treasures from Art-o-mat Swap Meet
Below you will find just some of my beautiful treasures found at SECCA on June 10 during the 20th Anniversary Exhibition and Swap Meet for Artists in Cellophane (AIC). AICs are those who make original work for Art-o-mat machines.
(This is not an exhaustive photographic record of my collection; I have earrings and other Art-o-mat treasures collected from former years. I hope to have them all on display in the near future.)
Art Life becomes Real Life
Artists spend a lot of time inside their heads, thinking of new compositions. Then they spend time in contemplative isolation, working to make the images in their minds come alive in real life.
At the Art-o-mat Swap Meet on June 10, 2017, Artists in Cellophane could speak with each other - not only to meet in person for the first time, but also to find out what impulses drove other artists to create. This is not a privilege that artists (even those working on a similar project) often enjoy.
The art world functions to meet the satisfaction of the client: the person who purchases the art. The art world typically does not emphasize the importance of artist-to-artist relationships. In fact art galleries encourage competition among artists. This can lead to a sense of further isolation for individual makers.
This description of the art world and traditional galleries represents the exact opposite of the Art-o-mat Swap Meet experience. At this event, I had the incredible privilege to meet my art heroes, heroines, and fellow artists whom I connect (virtually) with through social media and Art-o-mat.
The experience was more than I bargained for -
each artist I met brought such diverse, rich ideas to their work.
I felt like I was meeting long-lost friends who (paradoxically) I have never actually met in person.
I don't think I have fully absorbed this experience yet. The meeting of my mental art-making world and this real life world populated with original creators proved overwhelming for me.
I still have art that I need to put together with this collection. I also ran out of time to meet as many folks as I wanted to -- so I did not swap as much as I would have loved to do.
But with this event, my personal Art-o-mat original art collection has grown exponentially. I am so glad there is a place in the world for artists to share their experiences with each other.
Here is a (not exhaustive) list of Artists in Cellophane represented in the photos above:
Jodi Hoover: A Tiny Monster Tale (book)
Helen Holland: Cotton Petals Quilted Pouch
Elise Keeling: Pilot Valve Art (recycled bike gear necklaces)
Laura Lashley: Golden Girl #13/50
Obvious Front: Capacitor Robots
Melanie Troutman Williams: "Doggone" Portrait
Amy White: Markmaking
Studio Lucina, Tonya Vance: Alcohol inks on ceramic tile
The Olio Glassblowing Studio
Kelly Taylor: Painting Poppy
Justin Vasey: Monster Friends #16 & #20/50
Leah Walsh: Little Creatures insect Photography
Linda Walsh: Minisaurus clay sculpture
Gianna DiBartolomeo: Token of Touch
Artworks Gallery Collective: Grey & white cat by Marion Adams
Paige Matlock: Floral-inspired art
Debbie Lewis: Choose Happy Art
Inanimate Pet: Leticia Miller
Emily Beroth: Recycled bottle cap robot
Cultural Icons Kachina Dolls: R. Anderson
Thank You to Sponsors, Hosts & Friends of Art-o-mat
At the Swap Meet, I also scored some excellent swag, courtesy of many wonderful businesses, supporters, good corporate citizens, and machine hosts.
You can see some of them here.
I even met a host from Ottawa, Canada: Myka Burke, founder of Artspace 613
SouthEast Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), an incredible host for the Swap Meet + exhibition
Glass-blowing studio and teaching center, The Olio
Krankies Coffee
Twin City Hive Coffee Lounge
Goslen Printing (Made in the USA, 100 years+ company)
Art For Art's Sake (AFAS)
I am concerned that I am forgetting other machine hosts or businesses that support Art-o-mat. If so, please just let me know and I will add more.
A big "thank you" to the City of Arts and Innovation, Winston-Salem, for being such a wonderful arts crucible in the first place.
Learn more about Art-o-mat
If you want to hear a deeper-level discussion of what Art-o-mat is and how to become an Artist In Cellophane, check out this podcast interview of Clark Whittington here.
Thanks for being a part of my artistic adventures on this blog!
Hey...there's my block. Yay! It was a fun event, wasn't it!
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing, Kelly. I'm glad I got to meet you. Wish we'd had more time to chat. Love your work!
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