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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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...

In her new show, Vernacular, Susan Gans works with words and images, with what is seen and the potential back-story–a sort of collective memory to trigger engagement. Using urban Seattle as the visual cue, you’ll see familiar places and images in a different context of words and ideas.

Susan Gans, Driving to the Center

Home: Ellen Hochberg’s intriguing and beautiful images come from a personal exploration of home/not-home.  Perhaps we sometimes feel as much at home in another country or another time as we do in our own living room, perhaps what we thought of as “home” is really just a construct.  Whatever the case, the images Hochberg works with reflect an increasingly wide-lens view of Home.

Ellen Hochberg, Home

About the artists:

Ellen Hochberg participates in international shows, as well as here at home–Shift gallery and Columbia City Gallery and her own studio in the Tashiro Kaplan building. Her work can also be seen at ellenhochberg.com.

Susan Gans is a printmaker and photographer exhibiting in multiple venues throughout Seattle. You can see more of her work and projects at susangans.com

Kamla Kakaria: thinking and doing

Kamla brings an engaged presence to her work: ““I make simple accordion books and pages whenever I am in between projects.  In this current show I am displaying that work, that visual thinking.  It is not planning or diagramming it is just thinking and doing.”

Romson’s intriguing mixed media prints act as a portal to a different perception of recognizable symbols: “This new series of mix media prints float in the exploration of past/future collective consciousness…purposed to hold pieces of information in an environment of possibilities, visions, and echo.”

Artist reception at Shift this coming Thursday, Oct 6, 5:30-8pm

Shift Collaborative Studio

306 S. Washington in the upstairs corridor of the TK Building–just follow the crowds

Make your way to Shift this coming First Thursday in Seattle, we look forward to seeing you.

Alice Case and Kerstin Gaudins @ Shift in Pioneer Square

Alice Case and Kerstin Gaudins present new work this Thursday at Shift Collaborative in Pioneer Square, 5:30-8pm.  Energetic works to engage the imagination and senses.

You won’t want to miss this show, meet the artists during our First Thursday reception–see you there.