April 2024: The Introvert - Sean Gallagher & Andy Greenlee
The Introvert
Andy Greenlee & Sean Gallagher
Thursday, April 11, 2024 6-9pm
Show runs through 4/27/24
About this show, from Andy Greenlee: "I have spent my life a severe extrovert. Almost aggressively extroverted as a child. In my adult years, I am a mother with three very different children. Arguably, the more extroverted two are the challenging in the most overt ways. It is the other child whose introverted temperament who has propelled this work. I have always been someone who experiences other humans through touch. My introverted child was less hungry for that stimuli. Occasionally, I touched her hair, working my primitive plaits into her tangles. I would sit her with her sister and let them work their quiet animal games together; sisters in braids and observe the push and pull of their own personalities. I felt lost and sad, broken and a failure. And so I began this series of paintings while grappling with my approach to loving my introverted daughter. It was in this need to more expressively explore my love for her that I began this study with the portrait Ruby#1 with a tender look at her pallor and her hair. I chose to work largely with linen, bringing a soft and frozen quality to my portraiture. An arrested and seized capture. She gazes away but there is nothing she grabs to see. It is an observance of nothingness; a spectral field where there is no striving or searching; just soft self study. Turning inward."
About Andy Greenlee is an artist who has worked with fiber arts, costume design, ceramics, and surface design. At her core, she is a painter. Her work draws inspiration from Bo Bartlett, Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent, and the intimate narrative tones of Kiki Smith and Jenny Holtzer. Andy began her studies since 1999 as a student of Fashion under Tim Gunn, transitioning to Costume Design at Cornish College of the Arts. She then became an educator of arts; drawing from her heritage and passion around humanitarian activism and her lifelong relationship with visual art. Since 2013, Andy has returned to her core form of expression which stems from subject-based imagery and centers around oil, tempera and watercolor media in the post-impressionist mien. Additionally, Andy travels internationally to document milestones with her paintings; an a la prima gesture of her love of community and sharing her painting process quite publicly.
See more work at Celebration Paintings IG: @celebrationpaintings
Sean Gallagher says: "My interest in King Island art and craft came from my family heritage. While growing up, my grandmother told stories of the island. Observing my Uncle Lou’s stone carvings strengthened my sense of craftsmanship. The interacting designs and Arctic figures captured my imagination. Spending time with my family gave me a sense of being from a place of ice, snow and the walrus. Learning the precision of carving and construction, allowed me to establish my own contemporary style, focusing my creativity. My descent into studying the old ways of construction was done by building replications of skin boats from the 17th to the 19th century, an endangered craft. The research and construction led to redesigning kayaks to custom fit kayaks. Through participating in Northwest Inupiat Dance Group, I produced an Umiak build and documentary film. The documentary, “Umiak Travels”, features how the Umiak changes the lives of people in the dance group. Desiring to widen my horizons led me to continue building my repertoire through carving masks under the influence and direction of renowned artist, Larry Ahvakana. After becoming an apprentice, I started to blossom, as an artist no longer confounded by limitations of form of function. Teaching myself how to forge carving tools further expanded my woodworking abilities and skills, as a blacksmith. Utilizing knowledge of ancient technologies and self-exploration, I produce work that identifies with the past and future. International Indigenous artist gatherings, participation in Yehaw, and community all support my growth and serve as inspiration for my creative endeavors."
About Sean Gallagher, Asuruk, Inupiat, is a visual artist and traditional watercraft vessel builder who specializes in carving, two and three dimensional art in multiple mediums. His works are influenced by traditional teachings and current experiences with a reverence for the future. Themes include Environmental Justice, making visible endangered traditional works, and the experiences of essential workers including carvers and labor. Becoming a father inspires Sean's work through depictions of arctic animals in a way relatable to storytelling and the imagination. Although, a lot of loss and hardships are currently being experienced, it is important that works engage youth and impacted community to create safe spaces for them.
Carving masks under the influence and direction of elder Larry Ahvakana (Point Barrow, Inupiat) increased Sean’s skillset and connections to fine art, similar to learning from his uncle and other Indigenous visual artists. Sean creates traditional Skin on Frame kayaks, which often show up in his works and informs his values around connecting to place and beings in a respectful way.
Currently, Sean is exhibiting a lifesize figure made from Cedar at the Bellevue Art Museum. Sean is based out of White Center, just south of Seattle in Washington.
Instagram: IG@nativekut
