Search Results: AJF Live

Color and Form: Brooke Marks-Swanson

You may have noticed that we are featuring six galleries each month on the AJF website homepage  and I wanted to get the low down about some of the shows that are up in February. I was curious for more insights from either the gallery owners or from the artists. Taboo Studio in San Diego, California, is the first up. They are presenting a show called Color and Form running from February 10 to March 23, 2012. The show features work by Brooke Marks-Swanson, Heather Guidero, Ananda Khalsa, Valerie Mitchell, Joan Parcher, Munya Avigall Upin, and Barbara Uriu. Joanna Rhodes and Jane Groover, co-owners of Taboo Studio, thought that an interview with Brooke Marks-Swanson would provide a flavor of the show and offer special focus on an artist they represent. Marks-Swanson is from South Bend, Indiana and studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Susan Cummins: How long have you been represented by Taboo Studio?

Brooke Marks-Swanson: I was first invited to be in a show in 2008 and then Jane saw my work at the AJF Geography show this past summer and was gracious enough to invite me again for the current show, Color and Form.

Given your participation in the Geography show, would you say that what you do is influenced by where you live?

Absolutely.  For the longest time I was drawn to the infinite horizon; mostly with the point of contact where the land and the sky meet. Upon further study of my surroundings, I am more interested in the connection between a sense of place, elements from the natural world and the dialogue that develops between the two.

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Color and Form: Brooke Marks-Swanson

Brooke Marks-Swanson, Pink Form- Brooch/Pendant, 2012, copper, acrylic, 18K gold, 22k gold leaf, cobaltoan calcite, 4.25x2x.5”   Susan Cummins: How long have you been represented by Taboo Studio? Brooke Marks-Swanson: I was first invited to be in a show in 2008 and then Jane saw my work at the AJF Geography show this past summer…

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Maker’s Tool

Sergey Jivetin Looking Closely Since I constantly experiment with new materials and techniques, the set of tools I employ varies significantly from idea to idea, object to object. Given that for every new process I either acquire an already traditionally associated tool, sometimes alter it, or devise and make a totally new type of tool,…

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Maker’s Tool

Helen Carnac’s Rolling Mill Rolling Mill  I often think about the tools around me and what they mean. I have many since I collect them as well as use them to make my work. It’s really hard to pick out a particular favorite and my thoughts on this waver between a pencil and a scalpel….

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Klaus Bürgel: The Restive Line

Klaus Bürgel, LOOP XIV, brooch, sterling silver It is another frequently unacknowledged fact that during the late Medieval and early Renaissance periods tapestries were valued as much as paintings—and in certain parts of Europe, even more so. Outside of Italy, tapestries solidified dynasties in a way that paintings could not. The nobility throughout Europe and…

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Collective Efforts: Donating Contemporary Jewelry to a Museum

How does a piece of jewelry graduate from your personal wardrobe to an institutional collection? I have embarked on this journey several times in the past, but the rules have changed and the museum acquisition process is more formal now. Recently, I began the process again with three pieces of art jewelry, each acquired in…

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Newsletter Archive

Back Issues of AJF Newsletters 2023 June 2, June 5, June 6, June 8, June 12, June 19, June 20 May 1, May 2, May 7, May 15, May 16, May 22, May 26, May 29, May 30 April 3, April 4, April 7, April 10, April 13, April 17, April 18, April 19, April…

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Similes and Metaphors: SNAG Conference 2011

I have a habit of making calendars, almost obsessively – in my sketchbook, by the computer and pinned up in my studio. So I know that it’s only been a month since I returned from Seattle and the SNAG conference, but it feels like a full season has passed. Somehow I’m still scrambling to avoid…

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Namita Gupta Wiggers in Conversation

Namita Gupta Wiggers is curator at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, where she leads the exhibition, collection and public programs. Wiggers combines a background in art history, museum education, anthropology, design research, teaching and writing into a program that explores craft, design and curating…

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Notes from SOFA NY 2011

Opening night at SOFA NY The Park Avenue Armory is much as the name suggests: a building completed in 1881 for the Seventh Regiment of the National Guard. SOFA NY (April 14-17, 2011) is held in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall, a huge space of about 200 by 300 feet with a barrel-vaulted roof spanned…

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