From Susanna Bluhmm, Gallery Director at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery:

In the gallery this Summer…

Animals
Jean Burnett, Gina Coffman, Joseph Flood, Sean Gallagher, Thorly James, Ada McAllister, Stacey Neumiller, Brenda Scallon, Tim Suchsland

JUNE 12 – AUGUST 2, 2014
Reception and Artist Talks: Thursday June 12th, 6-9 pm

This exhibition came to be because the panel reviewing artists’ submissions last year (which consisted of Matthew Offenbacher, Gail Gibson, Susie Lee and myself) was particularly taken with “Night Lady” by Jean Burnett, a Puyallup artist none of us had heard of before. “Night Lady” is a manipulated photograph of a majestic leopard drawn in smoke or magic, emerging from dramatic fiery swirls. Matt suggested that I curate an
“animals” show around this piece and I thought that sounded perfect.

Gina Coffman collected dried slugs when she was eleven in 1988 and then they sat in her parents’ Bellingham house for over twenty years until she photographed them in 2012. Joseph Flood’s Israelites are trampled by a Pharaoh in a dinosaur chariot. Sean Gallagher works with materials and traditions passed down to him from his family–ancient inhabitants of the
Northwest–to create dance masks such as “Walrus Dance Mask,” in which “reverence for the animal is intrinsically understood, expressed through dance.” Thorly James’s otters peek out of the gallery wall as though popping up to play. Ada McAllister uses light-handed watercolor brushwork to capture beloved pets in portraits. Stacey Neumiller paints iconic goats and llamas that preside over idyllic farmland. Brenda Scallon’s “Always a Cockatoo in a Parakeet Cage” was done in response to a story by Rosebud Ben Oni. Tim Suchsland’s panda bear, elephant, and man-eating tiger float via collage on an abstract expressionist backdrop.

It has been my goal, curating this non-profit gallery space here in West Seattle, to welcome Seattle artists into this space—which had basically been a community gallery—without replacing the existing community. This show presented a great opportunity to do this.