She’s framed by an angled heel on the left and a blaze of ruby curls on the right. Lying back, her bare chest rises into a field of deep slate blue. One hand rests on her ribcage, winding a tawny shadow toward her lavender underwear. Ochre tones trail from beneath her penciled form as ruddy […]
Ken Weiderman
Posted inArts + Scene
Wall to Wall
Remember being a kid and staring wide-eyed at one of those all-you-can eat buffets? The overwhelming, giddy-in-your-toes excitement over what to pick first? Well, this month’s Arts! Alive features a spread so stocked with goodies that I can’t pick just one. So let’s have a taste of the highlights, shall we? And, like that kid […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Big Cheese
“I want people to think of Lucas Thornton when they think of murals in 20 years,” says Lucas Thornton. Confident and proud after completing his latest large-scale achievements both at home and internationally, the local artist and up-an-coming muralist spares no syllables when discussing his long-range plans. “If I could have a mural lined up […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Breakdancing With the Spirits
A relative once told painter Sheldon Skillie that if he listened closely to the language, songs and dances of his Native American Haida culture, he would see them reflected in their visual art forms as well. He followed that advice, imbuing the lines of his paintings with the movements of his language. While Skillie’s confident, […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Up, Up and Away!
There’s something about that one-time shot. That now-or-never, do-or-die, decision. Hesitate, and you lose. Act, and you’re a hero saving the day. Well, OK. At the Malia Matsumoto Pop-Up Show, acting fast may not save the day, but it will score you a fine piece of original, hand-made art. And that hero part? Totally true! […]
Posted inArts + Scene
eARTh Week Outreach
Like ants, they’re crawling all over the concrete. On hands and knees, small groups of students congregate here and there while others strike out on their own. Brightly colored chunks of dusty pastel smudge their fingers with pinks, yellows, and greens.. It’s Earth Week, and McKinleyville High School’s quad has a festival atmosphere in anticipation […]
Posted inNews
Carving Space
Robert Sataua’s black-rimmed glasses reflect the evening light that streams into his Arcata Bottoms home. A shock of dark hair stands up straight on his head. Neatly trimmed whiskers line his chin. He’s in the thick of organizing the show Hungry Ghosts, which opens this weekend at the Ink People’s Brenda Tuxford gallery for Eureka’s […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Have Can, Will Travel
Who the hell allowed this to happen? Graffiti art? At the Humboldt County Airport? Well, yes and no. Bands of masked graffiti writers did not invade the airport and spray paint the planes. But four well-known artists from the Humboldt graffiti scene have installed a show that, while leaning toward street art, still holds tight […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Metal Pin Cushion
“When I was in grad school I was making art in little boxes,” says Sondra Schwetman. “I realize I’m back to making art in boxes, but the boxes are really big now!” For March’s Eureka Arts Alive!, Schwetman and her husband, Patrick Williams, will be taking over the space at Piante Gallery. Their show, “Between […]
Posted inArts + Scene
I’m Vic James!
On a wall in a gallery, there’s no safety net. It’s not like the front of a refrigerator — mom’s soothing words making you feel good about your finger painting. No, no. Once that painting is hung on a white wall, the artist is exposed and vulnerable. Maybe that’s why Jim McVicker, one of Humboldt’s […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Multiplicity in a Post-singularity World
Some artists work in fastidious repetition, creating works that rarely deviate from whatever prescribed formula they’ve set for themselves. Ananda Oliveri is not one of those artists. He freely admits that his work is all over the place, recklessly mixing materials and wrestling with different formats. It’s no surprise then that his new show, “The […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Laughing, Dancing and Drooling Cats
“It’s getting harder and harder to make people laugh or smile,” says multimedia artist David White. His wacky, comical characters have a life of their own. Somehow, though, we can all relate to them, laughing with instead of at them. White likens it to theater, noting that “through laughter, you can slip in a truth.” […]