Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle, WA is having two simultaneous solo shows with new paintings by two of my favorites: Femke Hiemstra and Ryan Heshka. It opens Friday December 7th 6-9pm, and both artists will be in attendance. The show runs through January 5th.
Roq La Rue is very pleased to present two solo shows for our last show of 2012, with gallery favorites Femke Hiemstra and Ryan Heshka. Please join us for a festive opening party on December 7th with drinks and music. All are welcome.
Femke Hiemstra's meticulously tight, jewel like mixed media paintings and exquisitely rendered black and white drawings are homes to a dark fairytale land where inanimate objects come to life and frolic with animal neighbors. Lollipops become ship captains, strawberries become giant wrestlers, and vegetables become Halloween gods with lantern eyes. Femke occasionally uses typography in her work, using words from various languages and letters in her paintings to further enhance the narrative while still retaining a playful sense of mystery, or as a visual device to frame in the scenery, as if you were looking at her world through a secret window. She also uses found objects to paint on, such as boxes and wrappers, to create imaginary products with magical properties. Drawing from a range of influences, from firework wrappers to Japanese woodblock prints, Femke's use of both pop culture detritus and child-like fantasy create a vi! brant playground for the imagination, with each piece looking like a portal for a fantastic adventure, which is left up to the viewer to imagine the story that lies inside.
Ryan Heshka unapologetically pays homage to Golden Era sci fi pulp while creating a style that is also uniquely his own. He explores themes of man vs nature, (even though often the "nature" is from another world) as well as the exploring the ideology of pushing the limits of science as a tool to help and further mankind, and the technological terrors that can be inadvertently unleashed as a result. His work is usually acrylic painted on wood panel, heavily varnished and embellished with tags cut from pulp magazines, which serve as inspiration and explanation of each piece. This new show will feature a range of paintings including some of his largest works to date.
Femke Hiemstra "Let The Devil Wear Black"
