Leaving the Nest, Luca Jesse Apel
Day-Break
Luca Apel
April 6 – 29, 2022
Artist talk: April 14, 2022 | 6:30-8pm | Zoom
Artist Statement
I am an entirely self-taught painter and mixed-media artist, raised in Missouri and currently based in East Van. My business and Instagram handle is @MizzYuriArt, an homage to my upbringing, but most of my current body of work is west coast inspired: the place I now call home.
My artistic practice combines two of my life-long loves: painting, and scavenging for lost and discarded treasures. I started painting at fourteen almost out of the blue; I had no artistic inclinations as a young child. A few years later I began painting the birds I saw in a National Geographic Magazine and found my niche. My proud parents would tour house guests through my bedroom studio and, although annoying when I was trying to study, their praise gave me the confidence to keep creating and improving. I didn’t (and still don’t) always stick to birds, but they have become the bread and butter of my artistic career for over a decade now.
However, these days my style is apparent not in my brushstrokes, but in the found and upcycled items that give my birds their form. Some perch on a branch that once belonged to a wreath, others spring from the nest of an old scarf, and others still have scraps of wire and cardboard for feathers. Sometimes the canvas itself is upcycled; one of my pieces for the proposed exhibition, Through the Looking Glass will place birds in the door of an old tea cabinet I found set by my apartment building’s dumpster.
My obsession with found items predates my artistic pursuits. As a young child with anxiety and autism spectrum disorder, I spent a lot of time gazing at the ground, avoiding eye contact. There I found a world of treasures, from coins to buttons to lost earrings. I began identifying with magpies, pilfering anything shiny I could find. Come university, I applied my skills to finishing most of my suite with items I found on the side of the road. Over time, I began to reflect on the impact litter, hyper consumerism and fast fashion are having on the environment and wondered what the world might look like if people reused and thrifted to the same extent I do. So, I merged my two talents, turning trash into treasure. I aim to use juxtaposition to inspire this same reflection in others, creating birds from the very items destroying their habitats.
My creative process varies a little from piece to piece. Sometimes I’ll find a cool item that I just have to use, like that tea cabinet door, and I form a piece around it. Other times I’ll envision a piece and go hunting for components. Once I have the concept down though, not much varies. I carve the bodies out of basswood or balsawood, hot glue them and the upcycled items to my canvas, and paint in the details.
Artist Statement
I am an entirely self-taught painter and mixed-media artist, raised in Missouri and currently based in East Van. My business and Instagram handle is @MizzYuriArt, an homage to my upbringing, but most of my current body of work is west coast inspired: the place I now call home.
My artistic practice combines two of my life-long loves: painting, and scavenging for lost and discarded treasures. I started painting at fourteen almost out of the blue; I had no artistic inclinations as a young child. A few years later I began painting the birds I saw in a National Geographic Magazine and found my niche. My proud parents would tour house guests through my bedroom studio and, although annoying when I was trying to study, their praise gave me the confidence to keep creating and improving. I didn’t (and still don’t) always stick to birds, but they have become the bread and butter of my artistic career for over a decade now.
However, these days my style is apparent not in my brushstrokes, but in the found and upcycled items that give my birds their form. Some perch on a branch that once belonged to a wreath, others spring from the nest of an old scarf, and others still have scraps of wire and cardboard for feathers. Sometimes the canvas itself is upcycled; one of my pieces for the proposed exhibition, Through the Looking Glass will place birds in the door of an old tea cabinet I found set by my apartment building’s dumpster.
My obsession with found items predates my artistic pursuits. As a young child with anxiety and autism spectrum disorder, I spent a lot of time gazing at the ground, avoiding eye contact. There I found a world of treasures, from coins to buttons to lost earrings. I began identifying with magpies, pilfering anything shiny I could find. Come university, I applied my skills to finishing most of my suite with items I found on the side of the road. Over time, I began to reflect on the impact litter, hyper consumerism and fast fashion are having on the environment and wondered what the world might look like if people reused and thrifted to the same extent I do. So, I merged my two talents, turning trash into treasure. I aim to use juxtaposition to inspire this same reflection in others, creating birds from the very items destroying their habitats.
My creative process varies a little from piece to piece. Sometimes I’ll find a cool item that I just have to use, like that tea cabinet door, and I form a piece around it. Other times I’ll envision a piece and go hunting for components. Once I have the concept down though, not much varies. I carve the bodies out of basswood or balsawood, hot glue them and the upcycled items to my canvas, and paint in the details.
Lost HeArts
Beata Kacy
April 6 – 29, 2022
Artist Statement
Discovering new mediums, techniques and combining together what "is not possible" is Beata's great passion. Lost HeArts is part of a limited jewelry/painting and wall art collection. Beata’s first piece was inspired by her trips to Kyoto dedicated to Geiko—female entertainers from Japan trained in traditional styles of performing art, such as Japanese dance, music and singing. The collection documents woman professions in arts that are vanishing.
Beata uses white, fine grained porcelain—almost translucent—to create the face part of the jewelry. It is fired in the kiln at high temperature, glazed, and then re-fired. The choice of the white porcelain was to emphasize the art practised by Geiko of painting their faces white, as during the times before electrical light, the geishas entertained under candlelight to make their face more flattering.
The intricate hair part of the piece is made from bronze and silver. Instead of a hair-like look, Beata made miniatures of Sakura flowers (cherry blossom) and momo (peach) which means “fascinating personality.” Along with Japanese koi, Amur carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor Koi ponds, Beata made shells and sea plants. The earrings contain over 50 symbolic elements.
The bronze used in the project is part of the metal clay family. Metal clay is a crafting medium consisting of very small particles of metal, in this case bronze, mixed with an organic binder and water for use in making jewelry, and fired afterwards in the kiln. It's not a coincidence that Beata has chosen that medium as it originated in Japan in 1990.
Beata is truly fascinated by metal clay and she has gone on to create bespoke recipes for her own bronze, copper and silver metal clay. She used her bronze clay in this project.
At the back of one of the earrings, Beata embedded a heart shape signature in resin which symbolizes the year 2020 pandemic and humanity united working together.
The next Lost HeArts piece will be dedicated to Pearl Diver. Beata is in the process of developing the art work.
Bio
Originally from Poland, Beata Kacy is the creator and founder of Soigne, Octopus Studios and it’s 20 resident artists. Soigne is the place where just about anyone’s artistic fantasies and crafting desires can be fulfilled.
With over 14 years of digital media experience, Beata has worked in many domains including software, interactive touchscreen, web, and over 8 years specifically in the console and casual gaming markets. With a Master’s Degree in Marketing Management and a Bachelor in Computer Science, Beata further honoured her artistic sense by attending Vancouver Film School and graduated with Certificate of Excellence. She is also a graduate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design where she studied Fine Arts in Practice. She holds a Precious Metal Clay Teachers Certificate by Rio Grande and Hadar Jacobson Art in Metal Clay Accreditation Program. San Miguel Allende, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver are some of the places she took her training in jewelry making.
After moving to Vancouver in 2001, she discovered her new passions became a skiing instructor under CSIA-Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance, as well as a rock climbing instructor under ACMG-Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. As a certified rescue scuba diver, Beata discovered her interest in human body motion under the water and she established her Underwater Photography project.
She pursues her life’s bliss in the outdoors, finding art in all its forms wherever she goes. A bohemian at heart, most of her life was spent studying, experimenting with, and learning the behaviors of different media. You can often see her expressing her creative passions on the streets of Vancouver with a camera, or in her art studio making jewelry and teaching. She has cultivated her artistic outlook during her travels around the ancient globe.
Contact:
Instagram: @octopusstudios.ca
Discovering new mediums, techniques and combining together what "is not possible" is Beata's great passion. Lost HeArts is part of a limited jewelry/painting and wall art collection. Beata’s first piece was inspired by her trips to Kyoto dedicated to Geiko—female entertainers from Japan trained in traditional styles of performing art, such as Japanese dance, music and singing. The collection documents woman professions in arts that are vanishing.
Beata uses white, fine grained porcelain—almost translucent—to create the face part of the jewelry. It is fired in the kiln at high temperature, glazed, and then re-fired. The choice of the white porcelain was to emphasize the art practised by Geiko of painting their faces white, as during the times before electrical light, the geishas entertained under candlelight to make their face more flattering.
The intricate hair part of the piece is made from bronze and silver. Instead of a hair-like look, Beata made miniatures of Sakura flowers (cherry blossom) and momo (peach) which means “fascinating personality.” Along with Japanese koi, Amur carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor Koi ponds, Beata made shells and sea plants. The earrings contain over 50 symbolic elements.
The bronze used in the project is part of the metal clay family. Metal clay is a crafting medium consisting of very small particles of metal, in this case bronze, mixed with an organic binder and water for use in making jewelry, and fired afterwards in the kiln. It's not a coincidence that Beata has chosen that medium as it originated in Japan in 1990.
Beata is truly fascinated by metal clay and she has gone on to create bespoke recipes for her own bronze, copper and silver metal clay. She used her bronze clay in this project.
At the back of one of the earrings, Beata embedded a heart shape signature in resin which symbolizes the year 2020 pandemic and humanity united working together.
The next Lost HeArts piece will be dedicated to Pearl Diver. Beata is in the process of developing the art work.
Bio
Originally from Poland, Beata Kacy is the creator and founder of Soigne, Octopus Studios and it’s 20 resident artists. Soigne is the place where just about anyone’s artistic fantasies and crafting desires can be fulfilled.
With over 14 years of digital media experience, Beata has worked in many domains including software, interactive touchscreen, web, and over 8 years specifically in the console and casual gaming markets. With a Master’s Degree in Marketing Management and a Bachelor in Computer Science, Beata further honoured her artistic sense by attending Vancouver Film School and graduated with Certificate of Excellence. She is also a graduate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design where she studied Fine Arts in Practice. She holds a Precious Metal Clay Teachers Certificate by Rio Grande and Hadar Jacobson Art in Metal Clay Accreditation Program. San Miguel Allende, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver are some of the places she took her training in jewelry making.
After moving to Vancouver in 2001, she discovered her new passions became a skiing instructor under CSIA-Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance, as well as a rock climbing instructor under ACMG-Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. As a certified rescue scuba diver, Beata discovered her interest in human body motion under the water and she established her Underwater Photography project.
She pursues her life’s bliss in the outdoors, finding art in all its forms wherever she goes. A bohemian at heart, most of her life was spent studying, experimenting with, and learning the behaviors of different media. You can often see her expressing her creative passions on the streets of Vancouver with a camera, or in her art studio making jewelry and teaching. She has cultivated her artistic outlook during her travels around the ancient globe.
Contact:
Instagram: @octopusstudios.ca
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