The Fantastic Ocean - an art installation by small people

February at Emerson Space Case was teeming with sea life!  The kindergarteners & first graders of Beverly Cleary Hollyrood's after-school Camp Fire program created a masterpiece of paper, paint, and cardboard.

It happens to be my job to teach arts & crafts to these kids, so I decided to introduce them to the world of installation art.  We worked for three weeks on making creatures, water, sky, and boats.  It all came together to create a gigantic scene that filled the windows with bright colors and fantastical imagery.

We also created masks for the kids to wear, in which I photographed them.  Each kid's photo was inserted into the scene, to show them frolicking around in their own art.

" Crystal Crag " - - - - - by Emily Nachison

Join us for the opening reception!

Wednesday, October 6th

7:00 - 9:00 pm

NE 30th & Emerson

Look forward to refreshments & radical art.

Emily Nachison says:

"My artwork explores space, natural growth and the human perception of nature. I create naturalistic environments out of man-made materials by mimicking plant growth patterns and geological accumulation. This juxtaposition of natural versus artificial is an investigation into the cultural creation of landscape.

"My aesthetic combines imagery from New Age culture, the Victorian era, storybook illustrations and the natural world. I use monochromatic color palettes and surface treatments to classify, illustrate and group objects. This system suggests a shared narrative about environment, origin and history."

Delectable Island, here now!

We had a lovely little celebratory gathering at Emerson Space Case on Last Thursday (June 24th) to unveil an installation, entitled Delectable Island, created by Stephanie Brachmann (that's me!).  The work is inspired by the creatures and imagery of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan stories, which I encourage you to read immediately, if you haven't already.

This installation will be on display until the end of July.

Ilan made a beautiful Lite Brite sign for the occasion, and we made a cake shaped like a crocodile!

Here are photos of the finished piece...

     detail of the tree trunk (including wolf!)

    This giant tree trunk (papier mache with fabric/paper attached as bark) is the entrance to the underground dwelling of Peter Pan and his entourage of children.  The light inside flickers like firelight.

Here's the nest of the Neverbird, which Peter Pan turns into a boat when he is being rescued by the bird.

And here is the Neverbird herself.  Peter thinks she is a piece of paper drifting on the water when he sees her from afar, but alas she is paddling over to come to his aid.

Here's the silly crocodile who wanders around the island hungering after the Captain.  She makes a tick-tock sound everywhere she goes.

This crocodile also has a whole world of men playing at war upon her back.

I had to adjust some lighting during the opening celebration....

Croc cake!

"Delectable Island" is in progress...

So the Sea Cave is gone from the Space Case; we've said our tearful goodbyes to those mysterious cave walls and eels.  That reminds me:  Does anyone know what to do with a giant papier mache whale's head?

It's now my turn to create some ridiculous objects, which I've been diligently doing.  This next installation (by me, Stephanie Brachmann) is inspired by the imagery and creatures from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan.  There are a giant bird and a crocodile involved; also a nest, a papier mache tree trunk, and lots of fabric, branches, and yarn.

Here's a sneak peak at some critters and textures: