'N-Sex Exhibit Opening: Success!

On Friday evening, more than 230 Phoenicians came 

to the opening of our ceramic insect exhibit at the Eye Lounge!

Here's the flyer in case you're looking to visit during the 1-month exhibit (until Feb. 15). 

We're expecting many more visitors on February 3, which as a First Friday brings thousands of people through local art galleries in single night.

A huge thank-you to all of our supporters, 

a slew of familiar faces from Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences, 

Social Insect Research Group, and School of Art. 

And much gratitude to David Bradley, 

Phoenix ceramic instructor, sculptor, and Eye Lounge member 

who initiated this entire project, contributed all of the raw materials, 

and organized the artist-scientist collaborations!

Please do visit if you get a chance. I'll post more pictures,

but it's definitely better in person!

--Kim

The Tree People

Pen and Muji sketchbook. Made in NYC, while remembering Panama.

Ceramic Bugs -- Open to the Public in 2 weeks!!

As of October of last year, I have been collaborating with a group of scientists from Arizona State University and local artists to create a ceramic bug exhibit.

The occasion is the first annual Arizona Science and Technology Festival, whose primary purpose is to showcase local innovations in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Our team of entomologists and artists is creating an exhibit which will open on January 20, 2012. It will be on display at the Eye Lounge in downtown Phoenix through the month of February. On February 3 (First Friday), we're expecting a large audience for the monthly free art walk through the galleries in the area. 

Please come by and take a look! Our goal for our show is to show what insect / bug research is being done at Arizona State University. Expect to learn a lot about all of the crazy behaviors insects have for the purpose of reproduction. 

Also, we're planning to sell select bugs. If you or someone you know loves bugs, these would make a unique gift! They have holes for wall-mounting, or are perfectly awesome free-standing, too.

Here are the bugs in progress!!

Bugs. Paperclay, low fire underglaze. From 8" to 14".

--Kim--

Papercuts

Dear readers,

Apologies for the delay! The past few months have been spent travelling the East Coast, and I have just gotten settled back at home. Rest assured there will be more posts now -- with inspiration derived from my artist friends in New York, and from museum-going and personal research, I'm excited to try out some new projects and styles of art.

First up is papercutting, which is completely engaging and satisfying. I'm working with acid-free sketch paper now, but hope to upgrade to silhouette paper when my shipment arrives. In the meantime, I'm honing my ability to control the knife and make precise, fine cuts. Here are two examples of "sketches" I made this morning (cutting is basically sketching with an X-acto knife in lieu of a pen).

A small bird:

Strathmore 60 lb paper, 2.5x3"

And a rabbit:

Strathmore 60 lb. paper, 8x8"

I'm getting inspired by reading more about papercutting -- especially in this book by Rob Ryan.

I'm nowhere near that level of detail yet, but am practicing and aspiring!

--Kim--