Artwork by Vince Palacios
Kendra Bulgrin is in the process of moving her studio, the James May Gallery in Algoma, WI, to Milwaukee. Her gallery opened a virtual exhibition on February 5. She explains to Off the Cuff that the move was meant to bring her closer to family, to Children’s Hospital for her oldest son and to reach a broader audience in Milwaukee.
During the pandemic, you have had and will continue to have an online presence. How is that different from a bricks and mortar situation?
I really miss the personal connection I had with artists, collectors, and the greater community. It was very difficult to leave a supportive community. I have found more people are shopping for art online during the pandemic and our collector base has grown to include national and international clients. It was such a surprise to me, after our humble roots in a small town in northeast Wisconsin.
Who is represented in your gallery at this time? Will it be open to local, regional and other artists?
We represent a variety of artists from around the country. We are always looking for new Wisconsin based artists to add to the roster and we are continually striving to add more diverse artists to the roster. We have been specializing in emerging artists and have a great deal of women represented.Represented Artists include: Brett Angell, Barbara Campbell Thomas, Shannon Estlund, Nichole Gronvold Roller, Brian Frink, Mira Gerard, Danielle Winger, Kassandra Palmer and Emily Pettigrew.
There is an opening of an exhibition coming on February 5, 2021. Talk a bit about that show.
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The opening is online exclusive through Artsy. The artists all have unique ways of interpreting the natural world in a way that focuses on kinship, observation, intimacy, exploration, reflection, enchantment, and humor— yet stepping away and letting nature speak for itself. Pushing the boundaries and edges of what it means to be human in an everchanging, ever-evolving world where we long to be closer to nature.
Among the artists are:
Vince Palacios (Long Beach, CA):
Vince Palacios has been working in the field of ceramic art since 1988. Palacios received his Masters of Ceramic Art from Alfred University and his BFA in ceramics at California State University at Long Beach. He now serves as Professor of the Ceramics Department at El Camino College in Torrance California. He came to El Camino College in 2011 after teaching for six years at Western Illinois University and 10 years before that at California State University, Long Beach. He has shown his work nationally and internationally and is included in a number of important private collections as well as prominent museum collections. Palacios continues to exhibit his work and has developed a unique approach to the use of raw glass and ceramic materials as a means of crafting intricate narratives addressing geological process, pyroclastic interaction, and heat/chemical reactions.
Shannon Estlund (Fridley, MN):
Shannon Estlund is an artist and educator living in Fridley, MN with her husband and two daughters. She received an MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and received her BFA from the University of Florida. Shannon has received several grants for her work including Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grants and two Community Foundation Art Ventures grants. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at museums and galleries including the Crisp Ellert Art Museum (FL), the Elmhurst Art Museum (IL), Soo Visual Art Center (MN), the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens (FL), and at the National Galleries of Scotland. Shannon is a Minnesota Master Naturalist and a member of the collective Rosalux Art Gallery in Minneapolis. Her work has been featured in New American Paintings and Studio Visit magazines.
Estlund’s work is about finding enchantment in the natural world. The imagery in her paintings comes from places near the edge of her neighborhood between suburb and forest. The process of painting allows for long contemplation of these spaces: the relationships within plant and animal communities, the shapes and patterns of growth and decay, and the precarious balance held in these edges. Through this practice she cultivates a deep connection to the land and the entities living in her immediate surroundings.
Jaron Childs (Tomahawk, WI):
Born in Waseca, Minnesota Jaron Childs is an artist living and working in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. His paintings and drawings of the natural world have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums in the U.S. and Europe.
He makes paintings and drawings of the natural world based on my own photographs and direct observation. They range in finish from gestural studies to the photorealistic. Drawing on landscape traditions, my work looks to make visible the beauties and complexities inherent in our kinship with the rest of the living world. He sees my practice as a way of being present to the relationships around me, of listening to through looking.
