Vignette: Tracey Ippolito

Guest User · March 2, 2018

"I Only Have Today" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x30in, 2016, $850 — "I Only Have Today" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x30in, 2016, $850

The fantastical in art often exists in a gray area between fine art and genre, yet the Surrealists are a movement that reached farther than is often acknowledged. Everyone knows Salvador Dali, of course, but when looking at the work of Tracey Ippolito, we are reminded of less famous Surrealist painters such as Leonid Afremov and Jane Small. Ippolito, who is mostly self-trained, claims a different classification in describing her work, but the debt to Surrealism is clear.

“All my life, I have been an artist, thirsty for exploring, sharing, and making new discoveries,” explains Ippolito. “In the midst of creating my art, I began to gather a collection of ideas to bring something new to my images. This became a lifelong project, Universalism.”

“I have always utilized my own life as a medium in my art, using my own journey to punctuate and hopefully illuminate the journey for us all. I have always felt a strong, inherent responsibility to others to create experiences, such as I have had whether due to mental illnesses or spirituality, awakening us to something higher than what we know, or who we think we are.”

"The Angel and the Apparition" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x36in, 2016, $950 — "The Angel and the Apparition" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x36in, 2016, $950

“I approach my canvasses as if they are open windows that anyone can look through to see into another world. The intention is for the viewer to see so deeply into the painting, that eventually, the line of sight reconnects with the individual. This is to bring about a unique, all-encompassing experience which not only heightens the personal notion of “self”, but increases the concept of oneness or co-consciousness through the merging of worlds. Through exploring a compendium of subjects on one visual plane at a time, we enter wholly into the pursuit of finding ourselves, remembering where we came from, and discovering what we mean.”

LIke so many artists, Ippolito is striving to communicate something so intensely individual in broad enough terms to connect the viewer’s own, equally individual spiritual sensibility.

Ippolito has exhibited in several local group exhibits in 2017, including Cherchez lez Femme, at Prophecy Ink, and The Enduring Nude at Kaviar Gallery, both in Louisville.

Permanent Collections
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville KY
Nelson Atkins Museum, Rochester NY
Royal Palace, Kingdom of Bahrain, Middle East

Hometown: Gilford, NH
Education: Self-taught
Website: www.artofuniversalism.com
Instagram: /Artofuniversalism

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"Recluse" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x36in, 201*, NFS — "Recluse" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x36in, 201*, NFS

"Ladyhead" by Tracy Ippolito, Oil on canvas, 16x20in, 2016, $675

"Chrysalis" by Tracy Ippolito, Oil on canvas, 30x40in, 2017, NFS

"The Battle for Sanity" by Tracy Ippolito, Oil on canvas, 22x26in, 2016, NFS — "The Battle for Sanity" by Tracy Ippolito, Oil on canvas, 22x26in, 2016, NFS

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Photography

Vignette: Ku Hone

Guest User · February 9, 2018

“An air of alienation, desolation, despair, aloneness is often pungent in my photos.” – Ku Hone

"City under Abstraction" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2016 $200 — "City under Abstraction" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2016 $200

Ku Hone is a photographer whose images encapsulate a fluid sense of place. His images seem to be taken at a very specific location, yet do not necessarily hold the information to identify exactly where we are. They are at once one, specific place and many other places. “Brooding Alley” includes what we assume is a street number, a salient detail by which to gain one’s bearings, but “Lines of Decay” and “Forms in White” speak on mostly abstract terms, the former image evidently modern architecture but the latter proves more elusive, much harder to pin down place or time except as an instance in the mind of the photographer.

Born in South Korea in 1974, Hone has been living in Louisville since 2010. His interest in photography started in early teenage years, but, while holding multiple academic degrees, he has received no formal training in art or photography.

"Lines in Decay" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 16x20in, 2017 $200 — "Lines in Decay" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 16x20in, 2017 $200

“My work attempts to gain new perspectives on the ordinary. I believe that only in a state of confusion can one’s mind spring out towards a new direction. Objects, patterns and such are no longer amusing once one makes the association between the subject and a preconceived idea of the subject already in one’s mind. I often strive to de-construct space in order to gain new (and often confusing) views of ordinary objects. The ultimate goal of such attempts is to kindle the viewers’ imagination and help them appreciate the beauty of the mundane.

“I also thrive in empty space or void. I believe negative space is not simply used to counter-balance positive space but to facilitate a new creative space where the viewer is able to project oneself into the scene. In that sense, it is an invitation to explore and to contemplate. For this reason, simple and minimalistic compositions of lines, curves, geometrical shapes, symmetrical and asymmetrical patterns and textures are abundant in my work. I believe that our innate perception of beauty in nature and objects is based on recognition of basic forms and shapes found within them. And this is how arrangements of simple (and seemingly meaningless) forms can give rise to beauty, meaning, and ultimately, emotions.”

“My work harnesses the absurdity of life. It is what alienates oneself from the world and the life itself. However, one must live on in the face of absurdity, forever searching for the elusive Emperor’s clothes. I believe streets of urban life reflect this struggle. Abandoned objects and disintegrating walls clash with and clutter our life. Exotic and vivid colors clash with one another, juxtaposed with neutral tones. The old clashes with the new. I believe my job is to find beauty and balance in such scenes in an attempt to find hope in the absurdity.“

"Fantasia Nebbiosa" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 16x20in, 2017 $200 — "Fantasia Nebbiosa" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 16x20in, 2017 $200

Hone is participating in Abstract in Kentucky, a Juried Exhibition running through February 24, 2018 at Kaviar Forge and Gallery in Louisville. He will also be a part of the Mellwood Art Center Spring Art Fair, February 24 & 25, and, later in 2018, the Open to Interpretation exhibit at the Community Arts Center in Danville, KY.

Hometown: Seoul, Korea
Education: BS, Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA; MS & PhD, Toxicology, University of Rochester, New York
Website: https://500px.com/kuhone
Instagram: /ku_hone/

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"Brooding Alley" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2017 $200 — "Brooding Alley" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2017 $200

"Forms of White (in Dark)" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2016 $200 — "Forms of White (in Dark)" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2016 $200

"Mama I Feel The Void" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2017 $200 — "Mama I Feel The Void" by Ku Hone, Photograph, 11x14in, 2017 $200