(From the Cornish College website, article by Mark Bocek) Apparent odd couple Lauren Iida and Bradley Taylor prove their new collaboration makes perfect sense, shining a new light on Cambodia. After a look at their separate work, it seems odd that Lauren Iida (AR ’14) and Bradley Taylor (AR ’12) would end up as collaborators. Iida’s work is centered on her work in Cambodia, intricate paper cuttings taken from her personal photos. Taylor’s work is made up of witty, heavily cerebral woodcuts that parody scientists and scientific movements. Yet there it is. The result can be seen starting at 6 p.m. February 6 in their exhibition at the Wheelhouse Coffee shop with the arresting title The Exhibition on Observations of Elliptical Imaging and Quantum Stratigraphical Content. “TEoOoEI&QSC” runs through February 27. There is a reception at the Wheelhouse from 6-8 p.m. on February 6. Meeting Iida and Taylor, the good sense of their collaboration becomes apparent. First, they point out that Lauren’s paper cuttings and Bradley’s woodcuts share an intricacy and a stark, black-and-white look. Too, there is an easy-going quality to the pair of them which suggests they don’t spend a lot of time squabbling over things. The laughter comes easily as they talk about their work. According to Iida, the superimposition of Taylor’s science-driven imagery on her scenes of life in Cambodia have led to a new way of looking at the future of the country and its accelerating development. Rolling things back a bit … Lauren Iida is at Cornish finishing her B.F.A. after taking three years off to travel in Cambodia. Although she’s graduating for real in 2014, she presented a video of her experiences in the formerly Khmer Rouge-decimated land in last year’s B.F.A. show. Her fine-tuned eye for detail was on ample display in that video, and it is no less present in her still photos. But Lauren wanted more from her stills. She decided to take the imagery to another level by producing incredibly intricate paper cuttings of them. While Iida was in Cambodia, Bradley Taylor was finishing up his degree (AR ‘12). Immediately on graduation, Bradley was snapped up for representation by the SAM Gallery. He also joined the staff at Cornish as Print Lab Studio Supervisor. Taylor’s prints are hard to describe. They are accomplished, sophisticated works, and above all, awfully funny. He creates what he calls “lies” about science, a form of high parody, really. His prints encourage the viewer to assess the narratives presented by science and also its cult of personality. Worthy of mention: a Taylor work hangs just outside the board room in Cornish’s Main Campus Center. Iida gave her photos to Taylor, who transmuted them with his imagery into woodcuts. Thus, in the mash-up, a villager pedals down a country road with a telescope on the back of her bicycle, a pagoda takes on the characteristics of a rocket ship, and so on. Iida then created a paper cut overlay the Taylor riff on her photos. Mixed up in this way, the resulting collaborative works create images in poignant counterpoint, while at the same time suggesting a hopeful future for Cambodia. Once she has graduated, Lauren plans to move to Cambodia to take up her practice in art and to teach. She is also working on a children’s book that will be published in English and Khmer, with illustrations by her and a selection of other Cornish alumni. The Exhibition on Observations of Elliptical Imaging and Quantum Stratigraphical Content February 6-27 at Wheelhouse Coffee, 2113 Westlake Ave. Seattle, WA 98121. The Wheelhouse is open weekdays 6 a.m. - 6 p.m. • Saturday 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
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January 30- March 15, 2014Bocz Salon 1523 6th Ave Seattle 98101 Images hand-cut from paper of the beauty industry in Cambodia and Thailand from market-stall hair dressers to barbers posted up against pagoda walls. I'm also showing a series of tiny dresses sculpted from Cambodian newspaper. Each is approximately 8 inches tall and framed in a shadow box. I started making them in response to the recent garment factory protests in Phnom Penh. The garment factory workers are asking the government to raise the national minimum wage from $80 USD per month to $160 USD per month resulting in several violent government crack-downs, mass arrests, and the death of at least 5 people. 25% of the sale of these dresses will be donated to LICHADO, The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights. This collaboration was born when woodblock, cut paper,"interpreted" science, Cambodian architecture, Tuk Tuks, telescopes, and bamboo scaffolding were all combined by Cornish Alum ('12), Bradley Taylor and I. What we have is unconventional, and very exciting! Opening February 6th at Wheelhouse Coffee 6-8 PM PHOTO GALLERY By Florangela Davila
"Iida says the act of paper cutting lets her revisit and reexamine moments of her past. What we get are stripped down, exquisite portrayals of a place no tourist's camera could capture." Click here to read the full article. My work was just featured in a great little article on Crosscut.com, a Pacific Northwest online news source! Looking forward to the next exhibition at Bocz Salon, opening January 30th. This article came out today about my paper cutaways. For The Seattle Vine arts blog by Lisa Pollman. Here is an excerpt from the interview.... "What do you like best about paper-cutting? What do you find most challenging? Paper cutting is the most relaxing thing I do in a day. The focus it takes to concentrate on carefully removing tiny shapes of paper removes me from the stresses of everyday life. I look forward to weekends when I can cut for five or six hours at one time. The other thing I love the most about cutting paper is the re-examining of moments I have already lived and the discovery of things I didn’t realize were happening around me. For example, I might take a photo of a man plowing a field with his water buffalo only to notice later that one of his mud-covered legs is a prosthetic. Or, I might take a photo of a woman selling rice in a market only to realize later that her child is suspended in the air behind her, napping in a mosquito net hammock. As the forms I cut materialize into scenes, I love discovering all the things I missed before in the image. Every time I cut a line from paper I am revisiting something I’ve only before seen in passing." Read the full article on the Seattle Vine Blog. I moved five unsold paper cutaways from The Sweet Spot, where I just had a show, up the road to Chopstix Acupuncture to be on display until the first week of January. Christian Hunt's acupuncture and massage services are AMAZING. The cutaways are available for viewing by appointment only so treat yourself to a service! (My favorite is the 60 minute acupuncture/massage combo- wow!) Click here to see Chopstix Acupuncture's menu of services. 4333 Fremont Avenue North Seattle, WA 98103 Call: 206-547-1104 Fax: 206-547-0571 info@chopstixacupuncture.com
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April 2016
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