@Shift in March: Sharon Birzer and Yun Hong Chang

Treat yourself to new works by Sharon Birzer and Yun Hong Chang: texture and flowing lines, layers and delicate filaments capture the complex beauty of nature and time.

Sharon Birzer, Anenome @ Shift Collaborative through March

Yun Hong Chang, Untitled, @ Shift Collaborative through March

Sharon Birzer, Lichen, @ Shift Collaborative Studio through March

Medusae Fossae is a new body of works on paper by Sharon Birzer that meld drawing and painting with elements of digital reproduction and Hanga, the traditional Japanese woodblock technique. Birzer’s imagery emerges from juxtaposing unexpected elements that somehow resonate with one another: a tiny lichen on a rock, a master painting from the Louvre, tentacles of an octopus in a tank … Enlarging, layering and fragmenting these sources, she amplifies their detail and allows for a closer look, bringing together isolated fragments that explore personal narratives.

In Memory, Yun Hong Chang uses porcelain and threads of her own hair to create a series of delicate porcelain sculptures to visualize and capture the fragility of memories and emotions. This exhibition is in conjunction with the annual NCECA conference in Seattle March 28-31.

Yun Hong Chang was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Washington in 1996.  She earned her Bachelors of Fine Art degree in Ceramics from University of Washington in 2005.

Artist Reception, First Thursday Artwalk Pioneer Square–March 1st, 5:00-8:00pm
Shift hours: Friday & Saturday 12-5pm
Special hours during NCECA conference: Tuesday March 27, 6-9pm, Wednesday & Thursday March 28-29 12-5pm
Or by Appointment: info@shiftstudio.org
More about Shift Collaborative Studio here

Shift Collaborative is going to Stockholm!

See, there’s a Supermarket in Stockholm.  Not that kind of Supermarket.  Supermarket 2012 in Stockholm is an exhibition organized by and for artists, and is a ginormous international show of art work by artists from Australia, Bosnia, Czech Republic, Singapore, Spain, Japan, South Africa…maybe it’s the world cup of art shows, and Shift Collaborative Studio is participating this year.

Ted Hiebert @ Supermarket 2012

Paula Stokes @ Supermarket 2012

Romson Bustillo @ Supermarket 2012

There’s everything: performance, photography, painting, sculpture–stunning, provocative, interactive, fun…it draws huge crowds, and the collective creative energy is what makes Supermarket so unique.  At its core, Supermarket Art Fair is a happening, in the original sense, and takes on a very new sense in the collective social environment of today.

The show starts February 17 with what promises to be a rowdy kick-off and will gain energy each day from there.

Shift Collaborative is thrilled to be a part of this global arts initiative.

More of what’s in store: Feb show at Shift Collaborative

In the last post we mentioned some of the artists who’ve been invited to participate in a show about us (recall the Hollywood line, “but enough about me, let’s talk about you. What do YOU think of me?”) called (re)Shift.

Well, here are a few more artists for your perusal.  The show’s coming right up, and we’re pretty psyched about it.  Hope to see you this coming First Thursday, 2/2, from 5:30-8pm.  Be there.

June Sekiguchi

Jite Agbro

Victoria Raymond

Isabella Leary

Betsy Best-Spadaro

Mary Coss

(re)shift: what we have in store for you in February

Bend by Ken Barnes, artist participant in (re)shift

It’s new. It’s different. It’s going to be very interesting….In January, we had a well-attended, very well-received group show that contemplated the idea of shift…shift in perspective, position, approach, shifty characters, you get the drift.  And if you don’t, you can read more here.

That show will be followed in February by (re)shift, a group show of a different stripe.  Each Shift member invited an artist to respond creatively to the work in the January show–and that work will be on display at Shift in February.

It’s sort of interesting to not know what’s coming, but to know it’s going to be good.  How could it not be?  Here are a few of the artists invited to participate (and stay tuned, we’ll be adding more to this thread as we lead up to February):

Ken Barnes–sculpture

Rickie Wolfe–mixed media & sculpture

Larry Calkins–encaustic & sculpture

Shaun Doll–encaustic & sculpture

Deborah Walker–mixed media

Doug Jarvis–conceptual artist

And that’s only half the list.

Opening reception:  First Thursday ArtWalk,  Feb 2nd, 5-8pm.  You’ll wanna be there.

Opens First Thursday: The Whole Crew at Shift

Shift Collaborative Group Show 2012

A beautiful and intriguing show is in the works.  Come on down this First Thursday as the members of Shift Collaborative share interpretations of the theme “shift“. With references from a wide range of possibilities — the shift key; a shifty character; shapeshifting; a shift in perspective — the exhibition explores what it means to be a member of Shift Collaborative Studio.

(Re)introducing ourselves to the Seattle arts community, this first show in the 2012 calendar of exhibitions will feature original work in a variety of media, showcasing the shifting practices and possibilities of the collective.

Opening First Thursday January 5 5-8pm
Shift hours: Friday & Saturday 12-5pm
Or by appointment: info@shiftstudio.org

Versatile Blogger Award for Shift Collaborative!

how's about them apples?

Kevin, the as-yet-unmet, yet admired blogger from Oregon College of Arts and Crafts nominated the Shift blog for the Versatile Blogger Award–thank you Kevin!  And I will undoubtedly return the compliment, since your blog is really one of my faves.

So, what is this Versatile thing? It’s a way to pay it forward and share some love for the bloggers that make the world more interesting.

These are the rules for the Versatile Blog Awards:

• Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.
• Inform the bloggers of their nomination.
• Share 7 random things about yourself.
• Thank the blogger who nominated you.
• Add the Versatile Blog Award picture on your blog post.

Here goes:

1. The view from the canoe
2. The alchemist’s kitchen
3. 4 Culture
4. The Hank
5. Another bouncing ball
6. Olympia Dumpster Divers
7. Poorworm
8. Little Somethings
9. Luminously Trivial
10. Best of 
11. Kate Vrijmoet
12. 9 Pound Hammer
13. Molo’s Sketchbook
14. City Arts
15. Vintage Seattle http://www.vintageseattle.org/

And seven random things about us:

1. We have a moveable wall in the studio that is sort of like a monolith and could cover the entrance to a cave quite nicely.
2. Some of us, though not all of us, are shifty.
3. We all like meetings just so very very much!
4. If you laid us all out, head to toe, in a line, we would reach the counter at Caffe Vita on the corner and call it good.
5. Many of us are from somewhere else.
6. Others of us are from here.
7. One of us is an alien who can read minds.

Thanks again, Kevin–that was fun!

Time enough/ revealed: new work by Cass Nevada and Adele Eustis, First Thursday artwalk Dec 1

Time and change, history, words, stories and dreams…these are themes that are woven into the new work by Cass Nevada and Adele Eustis.  The two artists have created individual bodies of art that contemplate these themes in different, complementary ways.

Their show opens this Thursday, Dec 1 at Shift Collaborative Studio, with an artist reception from 5 to 8pm.  Hope you can make it!

Bundled books of fabric or rice paper, natural dyes and pigments, stories, dreams, thoughts...

Don’t miss the First Thursday Opening Reception!

Tashiro Kaplan Building

305 S. Washington upstairs, where the crowd is

Thursday Dec 1,  5-8pm