Vignette: Adrienne Miller

Artist Adrienne Miller

The Community Foundation of Louisville, in partnership with Louisville Visual Art, has presented Louisville-based artist and printmaker, Adrienne Miller, with the fifth annual Mary Alice Hadley Prize for Visual Art. The $5,000 award is an opportunity for local artists to enhance their careers through a targeted enrichment experience.

Miller will use the prize to research the landscape and art historical influence of the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. The two week trip will cover close to 2,000 miles in a loop through the Four Corners region and will include a variety of stops, including several different pueblo ruin sites, printmaking studios in Albuquerque, The Georgia O’Keefe museum and archives, several National Parks, energy vortexes in Sedona, and several large earth works in the region.

"Keep Out/ Stay In" by Adrienne Miller, 16x20in, acrylic gouache and colored pencil on mylar (2016), $600 | BUY NOW

“I want the experience to be transformative and immersive so that I come away feeling as though the experience really was a tipping point for me,” said Miller of the Hadley Prize enrichment experience. “I want to return to Louisville renewed to create a whole new body of work.”

"Come With Me Into The Void" by Adrienne Miller, 16x20in, acrylic gouache and colored pencil on mylar (2016)

Miller’s images are hybrids of the representational and abstract that explore the human experience of constructed space. “Within the tradition of landscape art, the term picturesque refers to a view where the human presence is apparent,” states Miller. “We are often presented with a view or vista for our consideration. When viewing a landscape we are allowed to be objective, but when viewing ourselves, does that perspective change?”

“Within the delicacy of the Mylar drawings, I am beginning to break apart the environments into tiny details such as potted plants, ladder rungs, or the tilt of a roof line. For me, the landscape I embody on a daily basis is the idea of the home, an interior and much more intimate space. In some, the details explain a building interior while in others it appears to be just outside, similar to a residential yard space. The fluttering of the Mylar layers serves to remind the viewer of the constant state of change these sort of psychologically charged places experience. Through changes in perspective and unrealistic coexistence, the work encourages the viewer to address their own environments as well as themselves.”

"Man Made Islands" by Adrienne Miller, 32x40in, acrylic gouache and colored pencil on mylar (2017), $1200 | BUY NOW

The $5,000 M.A. Hadley Prize is awarded from the George and Mary Alice Hadley Fund at the Community Foundation of Louisville. The endowment was established in 1991, and it supports the arts and humanities, particularly visual arts, crafts, theater and the Louisville Free Public Library. The award is a partnership between the Community Foundation of Louisville and Louisville Visual Art, which managed the application process.

Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Education: BFA, Studio Art with an emphasis in Photography, Murray State University / MFA, Studio Art with an emphasis in Printmaking, Northern Illinois University
Website: http://www.adrienne-miller.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ay_dree_un/

"Man Made Islands (detail)" by Adrienne Miller,

"Maintaining the Overgrowth" by Adrienne Miller, 32x40in, acrylic gouache and colored pencil on mylar (2017), $1200 | BUY NOW

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Q&A: Dorothy Kavka

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“I believe in a primordial sisterhood of women that links them beyond social and territorial boundaries." — Dorothy Kavka

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Dorothy Kavka sees herself as an artist who is a chronicler of women: “…both in the roles they are made to assume within their societies and their historical reality. I believe in a primordial sisterhood of women that links them beyond social and territorial boundaries. The ‘other,’ or cultural diversity becomes the guise they assume that is demanded by their fathers, husbands, religious leaders, and lawmakers. My work explores the tension created by the existence of these forces on every woman.”

Kavka was accepted into a prestigious Women's Gallery Show in Chicago and in exhibits at the Kaviar Gallery and the Gallery Janjobe in Louisville. Recently, she won first place at the Jewish Community Center's 12th Annual Mazin Art Exhibition, juried by Joey Yates from the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.

"Mood" by Dorothy Kavka

When did you first think you would be an artist?

I always knew I would be an artist. Even as a young child, I was always drawing, I took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago (giving up ballet because my parents could not afford both classes), and saved a few of the drawings from those classes; it still amazes me that I could do such detailed work at that age.

Who or what inspires you now?

Knowing that people like what I do inspires me. I just won first place at the Mazin Juried Art Exhibit, and that was a real thrill.

You describe yourself as a “chronicler of women” as regards how they are viewed by society. How do you feel your representation of the human figure captures that?

I find that although I have a number of studies of men, my focus has always been on women. That may be because in the workshops I took, we usually had women models. Then again, I guess I just find women more interesting.

Among the images here are nude studies of women. How does your work avoid some of the objectification of the female form that is still so common? 

I don't know. I just draw and paint what I feel at the time I do the work.

"Nude X" by Dorothy Kavka

What are you reading right now?

I am reading a book about George Washington and about to read “The Bone Clocks” by David Mitchell, who also wrote “Cloud Atlas”. I was an English teacher, and I do enjoy a good book.

Tell us about an important moment of transition for you as an artist?

I think that it happened as an adult, when I was able to start taking workshops with well-known Chicago artists, such as Ed Paschke and Lillian Desow Fishbein. They never tried to "fix" my work by drawing or painting over them, but would offer suggestions that allowed me to discover for myself what I need to do.

"Garden Party" by Dorothy Kavka

If you could do anything else but make art, what would it be?

I need to do art; it is a calling that I cannot ignore.

Has your style changed or evolved over the years? If so what do you think
influenced this?

Yes, my art has changed over the years. Remember that I started art classes when I was a teenager. However, I did not begin to really take my art seriously until I started workshops with Chicago artists. At first I was doing realistic drawings and paintings - which were good, but somehow not fulfilling. Then, I began to work into them, changing the focus, and suddenly I found my stride. 

Does art have a purpose? If so what is it?

This may sound trite, but I feel that art is the one thing that makes life enjoyable. 

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Age: 76
Education: BA in English Language & Literature, University of Chicago; MA in English; University of Wisconsin; studied at Art Institute of Chicago and in private workshops with Ed Paschke and Lillian Desow Fishbein

"Nude III" by Dorothy Kavka

"Nude II" by Dorothy Kavka

"Ballerinas" by Dorothy Kavka

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Vignette: John Brooks

A photograph of John Brooks in his studio.

"All Of A Sudden You Made Him Laugh" by John Brooks, 20x24in, oil on board (2016), $800 | BUY NOW

If you approach John Brooks’ with no foreknowledge of him or his work, his paintings may strike you as primitive, or an example of ‘folk art’. We might begin by acknowledging the limitations of visual art nomenclature, which often seems designed to pigeonhole an artist; semantics aside, that reading becomes fascinating when one hears Brooks speak about his work in such thoughtful and intellectual terms. In his artist’s statement he tells us: “Regardless of subject matter or media, within each work is contained its own emotionally charged atmosphere and each work seems to have both specific and nebulous meaning.”

Earlier this year, Brooks moved into a new studio space in the Portland Neighborhood, and he thought he would use the change of space to move his work in a slightly different direction. “I've been collecting overheard phrases for years and have used them in my writing but have never previously used them in my visual work. This work is a real departure for me - it's abstract but also features the concreteness of text. But what I like about the phrases is the ambiguity they take on because they have no context.  Some harmless phrases, like "Mommy Has It," even take on an air of the sinister.” 

"Untitled #1" by John Brooks, 30x40in, oil on board (2016), $1800 | BUY NOW

Yet Brooks found himself turning back to more familiar ground. “Thinking about the sinister and multi-dimensional meaning in that series of text-based paintings led me to return to my previous subject matter - faces - but with an eye on the mood of uncertainty that's seemingly overtaken the world, at least here in the US. This is a series still very much in progress, but they are about the zeitgeist, all that's happening in 2016: the fear of terror, the fear of unknown, the fear of ‘the other’.” Brooks certainly does see the new work as undeniably political, but he also believes they have an individual identity of their own; both personal and universal.

Brooks is a Kentucky native. He studied Political Science and English literature at the College of Charleston, in South Carolina, and art at Central St. Martins and the Hampstead School of Art in London, England. His work is held in private collections in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, and India. Brooks has exhibited extensively in the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as Art Chicago. He moved back to Louisville, KY after several years in Chicago, Illinois. His last solo exhibition in Louisville, It Is So Beautiful Here, was at Swanson Contemporary in May 2015.

Hometown: Frankfort, KY
Age: 38
Education: BA in Political Science, College of Charleston; Studied art in England at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design, the Hampstead School of Art and the Camden Art Centre
Website: http://www.johnedwardbrooks.com

"Untitled #2" by John Brooks, 24x36in, oil on board (2016), CFP | BUY NOW

"Untitled #3" by John Brooks, 30x40in, oil on board (2016), $1800 | BUY NOW

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2016 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Q&A: Sculptor Mike McCarthy

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"I can’t not do my art. My art is a part of who I have become." — Mike McCarthy

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McCarthy hard at work in his studio.

Mike McCarthy is a stone sculptor working in limestone, soapstone, alabaster and marble who does both abstract and realistic work. He is a member of PYRO Gallery in Louisville where he will be exhibiting with Debra Lott in a show titled Human-Nature, running August 25 –October 8, 2016.

When did you first think you would be an artist?

I knew I wanted to DO art at around age 8 when I first started carving wood with my grandfather. When I was in high school I started taking art classes and figured out pretty quickly that I really wanted to be an artist, to the point of deciding that I would major in art in college. But it was in high school that I first started identifying myself as an artist. I think I always considered myself an artist but never really knew what that meant until a few years ago. I didn’t really take my art seriously or truly make a commitment until then. So, I guess the bottom line is I really KNEW I would be an artist well after I THOUGHT I would be an artist.

Who or what inspires you now?

My wife. She is my biggest fan and my biggest critic, both of which are necessary, but without her support, it would be very difficult to spend the time and effort art required for what I do. She also puts up with me doing my art when there are a lot of things that need to be done around the house, listens to me while I am constantly talking about art, going with me to all the art events I love to attend, and generally being ok with my obsession with art. 

More specifically, viewing any type of art inspires me. I love to think of the thought process it takes to create a work of art. I am in awe of other artists and seeing their work. While some specific pieces of art do not inspire, the creative process always fascinates me. I think: “How in the world did that person get that idea.” Viewing other work, no matter what it is, always makes me have to go home and carve. 

As for local artists, Don Lawler, Meg White, Bob Lockhart, Matt Weir, Don Cartwright and Albert Nelson inspire me the most. I strive to make work that is on the same level as theirs. Beyond their work, I am very appreciative of their generosity of time, encouragement, and advice. It is not always what they create, but the fact that they created it that inspires me. 

Historically, my two inspirations are Michelangelo and Bernini. My wife and I visited Italy and went to see Michelangelo’s “David”. While it was absolutely stunning, the unfinished work leading up to the David was actually more inspiring to me. I would have loved to carve over the same lines and see what the stone and the tools told me. Just remembering it now makes me want to not finish the rest of these questions and go carve. 

“A View From Above” by Mike McCarthy, 17.5x12x6.5in, Brazilian Soapstone and Walnut Hardwood on a Steel Base. This piece will be available for sale at McCarthy's show opening.

If you could do anything else but make art, what would it be?

I can’t not do my art. My art is a part of who I have become. I am a happier and better person because of my art. After I graduated college, I lacked the confidence to really pursue it. I didn’t have a place where I could carve and I am color-blind so I never really felt confident in my ability to paint or draw. I went to work at a graphic design firm for a year, left that job and went to work for the YMCA, left the YMCA and started my own business, all of which felt so consuming that I thought I didn’t have time for my art. I didn’t really seriously start back until about 6 years ago. I often think now that I am close to 50 years old, how long will I be able to carve? It is really the only fear I have. I think: how can I carve till the day I die. What adaptations will I have to make to be able to carve when I am older. I haven’t answered the questions yet, but for me to be happy, I have to carve so I will have to find a way. I have been through a long period of time where I wasn’t doing my art and I never want to go back there again.

What advice would you give a young artist just out of college?

What ever it takes, keep doing your work!! The only regret I have in my life is that I didn’t continue to work on my art after school. I think, the improvements I have made in the past 6 years, I could have made 20 years ago. You can’t get that time back. Your life will be so much more satisfying if you just stick with your art.

Tell us about an important moment of transition for you as an artist?

Two events happened in 2012 that totally changed my art career. First, through the prodding of Bob Lockhart, I applied for and was accepted into the Yew Dell Garden Sculpture Show. My piece “Sylvanus” was selected as the program cover piece and sold the opening night. It was the first time I had ever worked on a monumental scale. That piece drove me to work even bigger. At the same time, Bob had been pushing me for some time to apply to PYRO Gallery. Bob invited me to show with him and I sold all but 2 pieces, the majority of them on the opening night. While I still struggle with self-confidence, these two events went a long way to helping me put my work out in public.

If you were given a $100,000 what would do with it?

Well, anyone who really knows me would laugh at this, but I would have to use at least a little to buy more stone. I am not a hoarder at all, but when it comes to stone, I can’t get enough. With the majority of the money though, I would buy a piece of land and create a sculpture park! At the park we could do carving symposiums. I attended the Indiana Limestone Symposium this past summer and it was AWESOME! There are not many symposiums around. We could also open the property up to beginning artists who didn’t have a place to carve. 

“Fearsome” by Mike McCarthy, 12x3.5x7.5in, Southern Oregon Soapstone on Wood Base, $600 | BUY NOW

What does art mean to you?

I carve every night. I get lost in it. I actually have to set an alarm on my watch to tell me it is time to stop carving and clean up and go to bed. If not, before I know it, the sun would be up and another day would be starting. If I am not making my art, I am thinking about it or looking at other’s work. People ask for the meaning behind a piece and I am always at a loss. The image or the “thing” I have created does not hold the meaning of the piece. The creation of the piece is the meaning of the piece. The creation of the piece is what I have to do, so the piece becomes me. Imagine putting yourself on a pedestal and inviting a bunch of people in to a big room and saying tell me what you think of me. That is why I collect art. Yes, my wife and I buy pieces that we like visually, but I am more likely to buy a piece from and artist at an opening where I can meet them and try to understand them. After all, I am buying part of them. 

How do you feel about local art scene in Louisville? Would you change anything about it?

Most artists I meet are great about sharing or helping or just taking time to talk with you about their art. I love the variety of work that is available. We have a great visual art community, but we are also rich in other arts as well. We have some amazing public parks that are art in and of them selves. The arts are some of the first to venture out to revitalize neglected areas. I would like to see more outdoor sculpture parks!! On a trip to Washington DC, I spent time at the Smithsonian Modern Art Sculpture Park, the National Mall, and the Hirschhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden. It was amazing. How great would it be if some of our parks took some of their vast land and created small sculpture parks! 

“From the Wild” by Mike McCarthy, 12.5x12x6.5in, Southern Oregon Soapstone and Steel on a Wood Base, $900  | BUY NOW

How long do you usually spend on a specific piece of art?

This really varies depending on the scale and type of stone I am using. Some of my small soapstone or alabaster pieces I can do in a day or two. Most of the time I have a few weeks in the medium sized pieces or marble pieces. Then for the monumental scale work I have done, I have not finished any of those pieces in less than 9 months. 

What's the most challenging part when starting on a piece of work of art?

Actually, starting a piece is never a challenge for me other than picking the idea I want to work on. I have more ideas in my head than I will ever be able to complete in my lifetime. For me, the more difficult thing is finishing. When I used to carve wood, if I didn’t it, it went in the fireplace. That way, I didn’t have to deal with the problem I was having with a piece. With stone, you can’t put in the fireplace, and for the large-scale pieces you need a crane to get rid of it, so it has forced me to work through problems. I think it is making me a better artist, although, some pieces still sit there staring at me because I can’t solve the problem with them. There are many times when I wish stone burned!! 

Name: Mike McCarthy
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Age: 49
Education: BA in Fine Arts, Bellarmine University
Website: http://www.mikemccarthysculptor.com
Gallery Representative:  PYRO Gallery and Revelry Boutique Gallery (Louisville), KY Artisan Center (Berea)

“Majestic” by Mike McCarthy, 23.25x20x13in, Black Pearl Soapstone, $3000 | BUY NOW

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