I saw the place the Karuk call the center of the world in a painting before going there for real. It was marked with a sleek isosceles triangle, blue magic marker on tinfoil — an emphatic shape that lingered in the mind. Standing before his painting, Brian D. Tripp turned to me in the oaken […]
Sculpture
Posted inArts + Scene
Ultra Marine
Multimedia artist Jessie Vala transformed Humboldt State University’s Reese Bullen Gallery for her new exhibition, turning the white cube into a blue sculpture grotto. The Eugene, Oregon-based Vala replaced the usual gallery spotlights with blue lamps, bathing viewers in azure light for an oddly calming effect. The marine implications of all this blueness are reinforced […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Fooling the Eye
As director of the ceramics program at Humboldt State University for more than 20 years, Keith Schneider has introduced multiple generations of students to techniques of shaping, throwing and firing clay. Most of his ceramic pieces involve elements that are thrown on a wheel, in addition to pieces that are molded by hand or slab-built. […]
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Long Road to Nowhere on McKinley Vote
“What the fuck? It’s been four fucking hours,” a frustrated audience member exclaimed incredulously at the end of Wednesday’s Arcata City Council meeting. “Why did you do this?” The remarks were directed squarely at Councilmember Susan Ornelas, who had just dropped her second President William McKinley’s statue bombshell in as many weeks. “At this point, […]
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Hot Bird: Public Sculpture Theft in Eureka
Somewhere between the night of Thursday, Dec. 3 and the following morning, someone pried one of the enormous metal birds off Jack Sewell’s “Following Current Events,” the kinetic sculpture at the C Street Market Square. The birds, made of 1/4-inch-thick aluminum, are positioned between 11 and 15 feet up, with wingspans of 5 1/2 feet. […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Breaking the Mold
Are you hitting the Open Studios circuit this weekend? Like the Magic Kingdom, it’s nigh impossible to see it all (peruse the guide in this week’s Journal — it’s daunting). Put glass artist George Bucquet’s workspace at 1485 L St. in Arcata at the top of your list. For one thing, he’ll be demonstrating the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Contemporary Traditions
In the angled October light of his Orleans home, Brian Tripp slips a simple hitch knot over the leg of his latest woodpecker sculpture and raises it to just above eye level. Like many of Tripp’s sculptures, the bird is a deceptively simple assembly of branches, shaved redwood fragments, matte-black acrylic paint and carefully selected […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Best Of: The Making of
Your picks for the Best Of 2013 are all over this week’s Journal, which is on stands today (and online tomorrow). If you grabbed the paper already, you saw Journalista and boss artist Lynn Jones’ magnificent hand-carved redwood frame adorning the cover. Check out this video of Lynn designing and creating the frame, with tunes […]