Featured Artists: Candace Wark and Shirley Nannini

Inversion by Wark and Nannini

Inversion by Candace Wark and Shirley Nannini
Find out more about the artists at:  www.windflowphotography.com
Inquiry is at the heart of our work.  Our art looks at an ever changing dynamic of patterns that evolve and move.  The images we produce are interactions of wind and light that create distinctive pieces; they capture a single unique moment in time.  As educators by training we hope to stir your imagination as well as our own.  Making you look, and then look again in an interaction with the pieces, connects us to our audiences in a mutual voyage of discovery.
Our current work uses an innovative and novel approach to capture the essence of wind movement and convey its transient nature.  We introduce smoke into a wind tunnel and allow it to flow over various objects.  As the wind and smoke interact, the intrinsic laws of nature produce extraordinary patterns in the wake created behind the objects. These patterns are  dependent upon many factors including the shape of the object, the speed ofthe airflow in the wind tunnel and the location of the camera with respect to the object. “Ethereal” and “organic” are words others have used to describe the abstract yet naturally occurring patterns we have captured.  While drawing the viewer into an evolving dynamic view of nature and art, our photographs also allow one to directly experience a part of nature rarely seen.

Featured Artist: Meredith Dytch

53rd Street – Hyde Park by Meredith Dytch

53rd Street – Hyde Park by Meredith Dytch
I paint the city, choosing scenes that are informed by my belief that
there is beauty to be found in many places that aren’t normally
thought of as having aesthetic value. Abandoned buildings, rusting
viaducts, overgrown vacant lots and trash-filled alleys present their
own authentic face to the world – we just don’t usually see them as
places worth paying much attention to. Our eye skips over them as we
flash by in our cars or trains.
I had been painting overpasses and alleys for several years when I
came across the work of British-born, Yale-educated artist Rackstraw
Downes. In his insistence on finding aesthetic value in the most
mundane scenes, his sensitivity to the precise placement of line and
form, and his willingness to de-glamourize the art of landscape
painting, I felt a kindred spirit. I had been struggling for some time to
articulate just why I was attracted to painting the particular scenes
that I did. As I read his essays and interviews I found many
commonalities, and came to a deeper understanding of my own
interests and motivations.
I am not interested in idealizing or glorifying what I see, just in
capturing the essence. I believe that the world around us does not
need to be idealized – that there is beauty in the unadorned honesty of
crumbling concrete, rusting metal, peeling paint and scaling brick.

Featured Artist: Ann Ponce

Montrose Beach, Day of Chicago Air and Water Show 2010 by Ann Ponce

Montrose Beach, Day of Chicago Air and Water Show 2010 by Ann Ponce 8 Feet by 10 Feet
Find out more about the artist and Ponce Studios at www.annponce.com