Kim Bruce - O, 11" x 14" Encaustic & Currency on board 2013

One “O” in Poor

Canadian Artists for the Poor put out a call on their Facebook page  for 25 artists for a really fun project. The project consists of one artist painting one of the letters in their name – Canadian Artists for the Poor. The format is 11″ x 14″ portrait orientation.  They’re going to put them all together and have an amazing display of different colours, styles and fonts at Calgary Art Walk.

About One “O” in Poor…

There’s a lot going on in this simple little piece called “O”, which is one of the o’s in the word Poor.

The work is a collage of foreign currency (the real thing not colour copies) in a bed of encaustic. The wax was built up and scraped back to only slightly reveal the bills below. You know there is something below the surface but it is inaccessible.

I cut out the center of the “O” as a metaphor for nothing or zero, with torn bits of the international currencies touching the border. Visually and physically stopped at the edge going nowhere.

One could make note that I used money that could have otherwise have helped the poor. A waste? Perhaps. But maybe someone will appreciate the irony of this piece and contribute to the cause.

 

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Starker Auftritt! Stepping into the Limelight!

Starker Auftritt!/Stepping into the Limelight!
GRASSI Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, Germany
March 28 – September 29, 2013
Alberta Foundation for the Arts

Kim Bruce gratefully acknowledges the grant support from the A.F.A. to produce the work in the Heels series.

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Step Lightly, Cast encasutic, pins & needles,vintage dressmaker pattern, 5″ x 2.5″ x 7.5″

© Kim Bruce- Step Lightly

Step Lightly, Cast encasutic, pins & needles,vintage dressmaker pattern, 5″ x 2.5″ x 7.5″

The Grassi museum presents: Over a 100 fascinating and surprising footwear creations from around the world. The selection shows the architecture in miniature shoes, shoes with socio- critical potential, with historical referenced shoes or shoes that are not obvious at first glance. The exhibition is complemented by photos and videos of shoe performances.

World renowned artists, architects and designers such as Keith Haring and Zaha Hadid have rediscovered the shoe itself. They present the amazing and bizarre, and provide a variety of aesthetic and cultural aspects. The range of materials used is far reaching: futuristic high-tech fabrics, ceramics, wood, glass, elephant dung, paper and of course leather and fabric were used as the starting material. Portable or not? The original and ingenious designs are unlimited. It’s all about the shoe as an art form, to be reshaped as sculpture.

(. An exhibition in cooperation with the Dutch Liza Snook It operates a virtual shoe museum: www.virtualshoemuseum.com ) Kim’s listing at the Virtual Shoe Museum http://www.virtualshoemuseum.com/kim-bruce

2013 Starker Auftritt! Experimentelles Schuh-Design. 28.03. bis

I Like Computer Code, there I said it

As I get to know more artists I’m finding that not only do some have day jobs but another passion outside of their art.

artbiz-supportI have found doctors, engineers, welders and technical drafts-people. What’s fascinating to me is that these disciplines are considered left brain while art on a whole is consider right. You know, math and science.

Personally I don’t think that creativity is limited to one brain hemisphere. Einstein was very creative.

I wonder if by keeping these other careers private we are trying to live up to the artistic mystic. When in fact they may add credibility to another wise known flaky artist. OR is it the other way around? Admitting the you are a doctor, lawyer or an accountant means you’re not a serious artist?

Well these are points to ponder and I imagine you have good arguments for both.

As for me, I freely admit that I LIKE COMPUTER CODE! As they say in the WordPress world “code is poetry”. My other passion is over at Artbiz.ca

SO DO YOU THINK IT A BAD CAREER MOVE AS AN ARTIST TO EMBRACE YOUR OTHER SIDE AND COME OUT OF THE PROVERBIAL CLOSET?

Thanks to Lori Zebier whose admission inspired this post.