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September 2005
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Page 2
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Sandy Brunvand | photos by Kim Driggs ~ text by Jules Augson
Five years ago, Sandy Brunvand set out to buy a new home in the Avenues. Not long after her search began, she discovered what was to soon become her studio space – the third-story attic of a Victorian home. Nestled amidst a variety of tall trees, Brunvand’s “bird nest” studio is functionally divided between a workspace and a sitting area, the latter richly supplied with books about inspirational painters and printmakers. Along with several windows, two skylights situated in the steeply pitched ceiling provide the space with an abundance of natural light. Interspersed between ordered stacks of paintings, shelves abound with tubes of acrylic paint, brushes, plastic containers and the subjects of her paintings – plant forms, seeds and rusted objects.
Brunvand’s studio extends well beyond the physical confines of her home. Each morning she and her husband Erik, along with their dog Scruggs, hike the foothills in search of new iconography. The plant forms and rusted pieces she collects on these outings appear in her paintings not only as metaphors of life and death, but also as the representation of the struggle to persevere. Shortly after hiking, Brunvand tucks herself away in her studio and proceeds to paint until late afternoon or evening.
Brunvand’s approach to painting is quite dynamic. Her technique incorporates several processes: building up a surface by “piling on paint,” sanding down the surface to reveal particular areas, and, at times, actually “digging” into the layers of paint. In this fashion, she develops an interactive relationship with her work, encouraging the panel or canvas to reveal its own path. Moreover, Brunvand typically works on a number of paintings simultaneously, allowing the influence of particular forms, colors, and textures to cross-pollinate between them. When Brunvand is not painting, she spends a considerable amount of time sitting in her favorite wooden chair, studying her paintings and contemplating her next brushstroke.
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Aou News
Artists Unite! Our Artists Email List
As Artists of Utah has continued to grow, we have realized the need to create some specific email lists.We are creating an artist-specific email list that will be used to contact artists about announcements, issues or developments that are specific to artists, but would probably not be of interest to our art lovers.
We hope this will aid us in creating an even more effective dialogue in the artist community, while not overly burdening the email boxes of those who just want to tune in to read 15 Bytes.
With our artist-specific email lists we can begin work on a variety of projects that have been suggested that could benefit the aritsts in the state. For instance, should there be a Venue Vybe section in our Forum where artists can leave their comments about their experiences with a specific art fair, show, exhibition, etc? Or is there a way we can establish a barter community, where artists could receive services (medical, legal, etc) in exchange for donated artwork? Or where can an artist recently graduated from a University find an apprenticeship with another professional artist?
These are the type of issues we might want to discuss that would be specific to the artists in the community. If you would like to be included on this email list, please send us an email with "Sign Me Up" as the subject to the following email address:artists@artistsofutah.org
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Special Feature: In Plain Air
New Public Art at the U of U
The Utah Arts Council, in cooperation with University of Utah Health Sciences Education, VCBO Architects and the Division of Facilities Construction and Management, announces the completion of three public art works for the new Health Sciences Education Building on the University of Utah campus. The art selection committee, representing these agencies, the community and the architect, awarded these commissions in late 2003 after a nation wide search for artwork proposals that would be site-specific to the Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB).
One is by Utahn Doug Soelberg of Provo. He created a 100 ft. stained glass work for the West side of the bridge connecting the new facility to the medical library. Owner and designer of Architectural Art Glass (Orem), Soelberg taught glass design through the BYU Art and Design Department through the 80's and has exhibited work in Utah, California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Japan. "Glass has an inherent architectural quality that has the ability to transform light and enhance it with a lively character," Soelberg says of his work.
The colors of his work for the HSEB are based on the the four humours - blood, choler, phlegm and melancholy - proposed by ancient doctor Galen (400 BC) as being necessary for the maintenance of good health. Galen's doctrines regarding these four humours survived even into the 17th century as a basis for medical practice. Soelberg created his work with the intent to complement the architecture by adding human imperfection to the building design. His goal was to draw people into the facility and to inspire faculty and students.
The other two new public art works are by out of state artists, Ray King and Nancy Braver. King, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, created a 43-foot sculpture, titled Utah Cascade, for the main lobby of the new building. The sculpture is suspended by stainless steel cable in the five story atrium lobby and consists of 2400 pieces of 2-inch-thick dichroic glass. The sculpture creates a waterfall effect of color and light reflecting and transmitting gold and blue light throughout the lobby.
The third public artwork, by Nancy Braver, of Los Angeles, California, is a four-part sculpture of slumped glass and LED lights installed on four of the facility's five floors. Each sculpture is suspended at the end of a corridor over small lounge areas. Braver choreographed a program that changes the LED lights gradually in each part of the sculpture, with moments where all four synchronize. The sculptures can be experienced in each lounge or as a whole viewed from outside the building.
For more information about the Utah Arts Council's Public Art Program please contact Jim Glenn at (801) 533-3585 or jglenn@utah.gov or visit their website
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Salt Lake City artist Brad Slaugh On the Spot . . .
1) What are you reading lately?
The New Yorker faithfully and four separate half-read books promiscuously:
Everything and More: a History of Infinity by David Foster Wallace (bogged down in the math)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (a bit too glib, I think)
The Moral Animal by Robert Wright (for the second time)
The Raw and the Cooked by Jim Harrison (been almost done for about three months)
2)What hangs above your mantel?
I don't even own a mantel but recent local acquisitions are a Jared Gillette portrait, a Stefanie Dykes Tree of Life woodcut, and a small piece of Peruvian folk art, by an artist whose name I can't read, depicting a bunch of skeletons getting completely tanked in a bottle-lined bar.
3) If you could choose any artist (living or dead) to paint or sculpt your portrait, who would it be and why?
Alice Neel, because Egon Shiele and Chaim Soutine were just too unpleasant to spend long periods of time with, and Paula Rego might require the wearing of a tutu, though I'm not worthy to unloose any of their shoe's latchets.
If you have enjoyed this edition of 15 Bytes, please consider contributing to the magazine or becoming an underwriter.
Contribute now and help support Utah's growing visual arts community.
send your checks to:
Artists of Utah
PO BOX 526292
SLC UT 84152
artistsofutah@netzero.net
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