Thursday, January 6th 2022, 7-8pm |
| |
The story behind "Baby Names 1955-2020 - New Era Series"
💀 "Skulls and Roses" Closing Reception and Art Walk
Friday November 12, 5–8pm
artworksdowntown
💀 "Skulls and Roses" Closing Reception and Art Walk
Friday November 12, 5–8pm
artworksdowntown
Vicki Gunter . "Baby Names 1955-2020" Ceramic, 21 x 28 x 6
When I've shared this piece with others I was surprised to discover how many people didn't know any of the names I carefully pressed into the clay one letter at a time. I've been asked to explain. It is painful. Yet, I am grateful for this moment to share the story of why I created "Baby Names 1955-2020 - New Era Series".When shelter-in-place began I was motivated to take advantage of previously desired, now abundant, time. I completed three clay sculptures from March-May. That’s a lot! I felt tethered to our small, sheltered world and grieved those dying from COVID-19. When George Floyd was murdered, I was completely untethered, emotionally and creatively. I couldn’t continue on the same path. I wanted to hit the streets in protest, but having reached age 70, COVID-19 held me back. I mused... and woke one morning with a full vision of a new piece, memorializing victims, my grief, inspirations from BLM, and my previous work.
I researched lists on different sites: Black Lives Matter, press, wikipedia, universities, etc. I was moved when I found the home page of the Baby Names website had posted an extensive list of people unjustly murdered. All somebody’s baby.
The 44 names on the piece begin with Emmett Till whose 1955 murder sparked the civil rights movement. Each of these people are victims of unnecessary, often intentional police killings or white supremacist violence. They are all people of color, across the spectrum of age, gender and sexual orientation. Some struggled with mental health others were simply going about their daily lives. The 44th victim is George Floyd. My palette is primarily white because I was moved by the statement his family made by wearing white to his funeral saying, “This is NOT an end, but a New Era."
I chose the yellow of the cautionary canary, still alerting us. DNA is inscribed on the blooming rose, telling the story that this genetic code of molecules is evidence of the shared ancestry of all living things.
Tragically, many more black and brown lives have been taken. Yes, white people have also been unjustly murdered by police but black and brown people are disproportionally targeted. Historically we have been and are systematically divided by race. None of us are free until we are all free.
I have linked each person’s name to articles and sites that detail the end of their lives. You, of course, may choose not to click on these links.
I hope you will at least be moved to honor them by Saying Their Names…
Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Ahmaud Arbery, Stephon Clark, Aiyana Jones, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Clifford Glover, Sandra Bland, Bettie Jones, Walter Scott, Rekia Boyd, Claude Reese, Randy Evans, John Crawford, Meagan Hockaday, Alton Sterling, Jordan Edwards, Tony McDade, Pamela Turner
Oscar Grant, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Andy Lopez, Randy Lopez, Randy Evans, Amadou Diallo, Keith Scott, Jordan Davis, Corey Jones, Freddie Gray, Nina Popp, Ezell Ford, India Kager, Mary Truxillo, Janet Wilson, Eric Reason, Alteria Woods, Renisha McBride, Willam Green, Timothy Thomas, Mya Hall, George Floyd
When I've shared this piece with others I was surprised to discover how many people didn't know any of the names I carefully pressed into the clay one letter at a time. I've been asked to explain. It is painful. Yet, I am grateful for this moment to share the story of why I created "Baby Names 1955-2020 - New Era Series".When shelter-in-place began I was motivated to take advantage of previously desired, now abundant, time. I completed three clay sculptures from March-May. That’s a lot! I felt tethered to our small, sheltered world and grieved those dying from COVID-19. When George Floyd was murdered, I was completely untethered, emotionally and creatively. I couldn’t continue on the same path. I wanted to hit the streets in protest, but having reached age 70, COVID-19 held me back. I mused... and woke one morning with a full vision of a new piece, memorializing victims, my grief, inspirations from BLM, and my previous work.
I researched lists on different sites: Black Lives Matter, press, wikipedia, universities, etc. I was moved when I found the home page of the Baby Names website had posted an extensive list of people unjustly murdered. All somebody’s baby.
The 44 names on the piece begin with Emmett Till whose 1955 murder sparked the civil rights movement. Each of these people are victims of unnecessary, often intentional police killings or white supremacist violence. They are all people of color, across the spectrum of age, gender and sexual orientation. Some struggled with mental health others were simply going about their daily lives. The 44th victim is George Floyd. My palette is primarily white because I was moved by the statement his family made by wearing white to his funeral saying, “This is NOT an end, but a New Era."
I chose the yellow of the cautionary canary, still alerting us. DNA is inscribed on the blooming rose, telling the story that this genetic code of molecules is evidence of the shared ancestry of all living things.
Tragically, many more black and brown lives have been taken. Yes, white people have also been unjustly murdered by police but black and brown people are disproportionally targeted. Historically we have been and are systematically divided by race. None of us are free until we are all free.
I have linked each person’s name to articles and sites that detail the end of their lives. You, of course, may choose not to click on these links.
I hope you will at least be moved to honor them by Saying Their Names…
Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Ahmaud Arbery, Stephon Clark, Aiyana Jones, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Clifford Glover, Sandra Bland, Bettie Jones, Walter Scott, Rekia Boyd, Claude Reese, Randy Evans, John Crawford, Meagan Hockaday, Alton Sterling, Jordan Edwards, Tony McDade, Pamela Turner
Oscar Grant, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Andy Lopez, Randy Lopez, Randy Evans, Amadou Diallo, Keith Scott, Jordan Davis, Corey Jones, Freddie Gray, Nina Popp, Ezell Ford, India Kager, Mary Truxillo, Janet Wilson, Eric Reason, Alteria Woods, Renisha McBride, Willam Green, Timothy Thomas, Mya Hall, George Floyd
Vicki Gunter . "Family Gathering - Little Pete Meadow" 2 x 6.5 x 4.5 inches
currently showing in
Yosemite Renaissance 36 at Madera Arts Council
November 11 - January 14, 2022
currently showing in
Yosemite Renaissance 36 at Madera Arts Council
November 11 - January 14, 2022
At the magical age of nine (1959), my father & mother put an old wooden pack frame on my back, hung a Sierra Club Cup on my rope belt and we “hit the trail”. I discovered the earth could sustain me as it is and I could survive in it with little more than a spoon, a cup, dried apples, jerky and the body warmth of family. And wow, it was hard work, but so worth it, not only because of the extraordinary beauty — we were experiencing our life source.
When we reached Little Pete Meadow in the high sierras, we were gifted with Huckleberries~ one of our simple native delights that stirs us to defend what we stand on…! We mixed them with Bisquick making one giant blueberry biscuit over our campfire. My father actually carried a small cast-iron skillet for this purpose. Yes, crazy.
This “cup” and its huckleberries are made entirely of ceramic, simulating granite. The blueberry stems and handle are hand-worked wire. The plinth is an actual granite stone.
. . .
This is a time of year for family gatherings. To create new and continue old traditions together. I am not thankful for the traditional lies of Thanksgiving, hiding the genocide of the native people of this land, in order to claim it as the United States of America.
I am thankful for the gathering of family to cook together, to eat together, to remember together. To love, laugh, dance and play music. And, yes, even to argue together!
It can be a healing time.
I wish you and yours love and joy on your paths,
Vicki
When we reached Little Pete Meadow in the high sierras, we were gifted with Huckleberries~ one of our simple native delights that stirs us to defend what we stand on…! We mixed them with Bisquick making one giant blueberry biscuit over our campfire. My father actually carried a small cast-iron skillet for this purpose. Yes, crazy.
This “cup” and its huckleberries are made entirely of ceramic, simulating granite. The blueberry stems and handle are hand-worked wire. The plinth is an actual granite stone.
. . .
This is a time of year for family gatherings. To create new and continue old traditions together. I am not thankful for the traditional lies of Thanksgiving, hiding the genocide of the native people of this land, in order to claim it as the United States of America.
I am thankful for the gathering of family to cook together, to eat together, to remember together. To love, laugh, dance and play music. And, yes, even to argue together!
It can be a healing time.
I wish you and yours love and joy on your paths,
Vicki
click here to see this amazing show online!
juried by DONNA SEAGER & SUZANNE GRAY
August 10 – October 1, 2021
Artist Roundtable Discussion on Zoom
with Dr. Peller Marion:
Tuesday, August 10, 4 p.m.
POETRY: SUZ LIPMAnContinuing our 14th annual show devoted to women artists, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts is committed to amplifying the creative vision of today’s women artists across the globe and helping to bring more gender equity to the world of art.
Women Artists Making Their Mark 2021 is dedicated to living working artists know and yet to be discovered: women artists making their mark and changing the landscape of contemporary art.
August 10 – October 1, 2021
Artist Roundtable Discussion on Zoom
with Dr. Peller Marion:
Tuesday, August 10, 4 p.m.
POETRY: SUZ LIPMAnContinuing our 14th annual show devoted to women artists, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts is committed to amplifying the creative vision of today’s women artists across the globe and helping to bring more gender equity to the world of art.
Women Artists Making Their Mark 2021 is dedicated to living working artists know and yet to be discovered: women artists making their mark and changing the landscape of contemporary art.
Group Art Exhibition “It’s not one thing… it’s everything” opens November 6 at Canessa Gallery
A new group exhibition inspired by – and commenting on – current times will feature paintings, sculpture and video at the historic Canessa Gallery in North Beach. This powerful collection of recent works promises to move, challenge, delight and inspire, featuring work by artists Jon Altemus, Peter Brown, Vicki Gunter, Dana Lawton and Robert Perkins. The collection, which ranges from allegorical to purely abstract, includes mixed media, paintings, sculpture, and a video montage. The exhibition opens November 6 and will be available by appointment through November 27.
Location: Canessa Gallery, 708 Montgomery Street @ Washington, San Francisco
Make reservations at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/its-not-one-thingits-everything-tickets-124950055981
@Itsnotonethingitseverything on Instagram
A new group exhibition inspired by – and commenting on – current times will feature paintings, sculpture and video at the historic Canessa Gallery in North Beach. This powerful collection of recent works promises to move, challenge, delight and inspire, featuring work by artists Jon Altemus, Peter Brown, Vicki Gunter, Dana Lawton and Robert Perkins. The collection, which ranges from allegorical to purely abstract, includes mixed media, paintings, sculpture, and a video montage. The exhibition opens November 6 and will be available by appointment through November 27.
Location: Canessa Gallery, 708 Montgomery Street @ Washington, San Francisco
Make reservations at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/its-not-one-thingits-everything-tickets-124950055981
@Itsnotonethingitseverything on Instagram

TRADING PLACES
Canary & Elephant Series
Exhibited @ Epperson Gallery
in
WHAT LIES BENEATH
February 14 - March 15
2020
I would love to share my newest sculpture, Farewell To Spring, with you at Epperson Gallery. And I am happy to have a second piece, Humming Aquilegia, in this wonderful show.
~ CANARIES & CLIMATE DISRUPTION ~
It's a bitter success, this opportunity to share When Our Ship Comes In with you.
While walking the Berkeley Marina with my love, Peter, I saw a huge white and blue block, floating in the San Francisco Bay. It triggered memories of the faces of Alaskan glaciers and their calved icebergs.
When he told me it was a car carrier ship, I 'saw' an arctic iceberg slammed up to the backend of that car carrying ship. These weird looking ships carry 13 stories of 5,500 climate-changing vehicles.
This is a kinetic sculpture. Its ice-filled berg slowly melts, flooding the Americana scene of little red school house, corn field, white picket fence & American Gothics with apple pie & pitch fork. As the waters rise little messages in a bottle float. The cautionary, yellow, canary sits atop the American flag.
This year, floods and fires have destroyed & ended many lives. This is happening now, time is running out, no more waiting for $-our-ship-to-come-in-$. Our beautiful earth is the only ship that matters.
Melting Glaciers = Canary in the Coal Mine for Earth.
Fossil Fuels + Corporate Profit = Elephant in the Room.
I feel an urgency to create art in this revolutionary time and value clay’s infinite potential − mirroring our own.
With love, Vicki
Vicki Gunter
Manzanita Sky ...In Everything Series
Clay, Underglaze, Stain, Beeswax 26 X 36 X 6.5
. . . Vicki Gunter . Artist Statement . . .
All living organisms store genetic information using the same molecules –Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and/or Ribonucleic Acid (RNA). They are …In Everything.
This genetic code of molecules is evidence of the shared ancestry of all living things.
DNA forms a beautiful double helix that looks like a twisted ladder. Look closely at Manzanita Sky and see if you can see the DNA helixes on some of the branch tips!
Manzanita, Means Little Apple & Arctostaphylos means Bear Berry. One of our most beautiful native plants, it is also nourishing & healing. I caress their wonderfully smooth bark regularly on trails in our California hills.
As a native of California, the clay state, I love turning clay to stone. Inspired by its no-waste complexity, nature is my source and my anchor, in wild places and at home in East Oakland.
My intention is to share work that stirs the visceral will to face our many challenges, with hope & joy, in the beauty that is in us and all other life. Beauty, that is under our feet and setting sail at our backs.
Manzanita Sky ...In Everything Series
Clay, Underglaze, Stain, Beeswax 26 X 36 X 6.5
. . . Vicki Gunter . Artist Statement . . .
All living organisms store genetic information using the same molecules –Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and/or Ribonucleic Acid (RNA). They are …In Everything.
This genetic code of molecules is evidence of the shared ancestry of all living things.
DNA forms a beautiful double helix that looks like a twisted ladder. Look closely at Manzanita Sky and see if you can see the DNA helixes on some of the branch tips!
Manzanita, Means Little Apple & Arctostaphylos means Bear Berry. One of our most beautiful native plants, it is also nourishing & healing. I caress their wonderfully smooth bark regularly on trails in our California hills.
As a native of California, the clay state, I love turning clay to stone. Inspired by its no-waste complexity, nature is my source and my anchor, in wild places and at home in East Oakland.
My intention is to share work that stirs the visceral will to face our many challenges, with hope & joy, in the beauty that is in us and all other life. Beauty, that is under our feet and setting sail at our backs.
Two sculptures from my
...In Everything Series
have been selected by juror Jennifer Pearlmutter for
Arts Benicia's
In The Fields: Botanical Lore
...In Everything Series
have been selected by juror Jennifer Pearlmutter for
Arts Benicia's
In The Fields: Botanical Lore
November 10 – December 21, 2018
Arts Benicia 991 Tyler Street, Suite 114, Benicia, CA 94510 707-747-0131
Arts Benicia 991 Tyler Street, Suite 114, Benicia, CA 94510 707-747-0131