I'm having an art show at Land, the sweet little shop/gallery that Buyolympia.com opened in Portland. There will be birds, foxes, squirrels, moths, and.. an echidna. And vino and the Korean taco truck!! Kimchee tofu tacos! But the most exciting part is that the radical Mecca Normal of Vancouver, will be PLAYING at the opening!
April 30th - 6 pm - Land Gallery - 3925 N. Mississippi - Portland, OR.
CONVERSATION
between SARAH UTTER and Mecca Normal's JEAN SMITH
Jean:
I like the idea of Mecca Normal doing something to make the event cohesive as opposed to us doing a set of unrelated songs.... you know, unless the critters in your paintings have been doing more online dating than I suspect...
Sarah:
I'm so excited that Mecca Normal will be playing at the opening! -- and yes, in a way it is maybe an odd pairing. Fairly non-subversive paintings of penguins and owls with your music, but what I think is interesting about our two different representations of 'art' is the confrontational aspect.
Jean:
David and I are at the beginning of a project called The Black Dot Museum for Political Art and Music. The museum will be online with traveling exhibits, some of which will include our lecture "How Art & Music can Change the World". I'm trying to figure out where your work fits into what we're doing.
Sarah:
My work is very much about repetitive patterns in nature colliding with man-made imitations such as textiles or wallpaper. I've always been a bit of a 'maximumist', overloading each painting with bright colors and graphic elements. It's a busy environment, but what remains still/quiet in each piece is the stare of the fox or egret or echidna -- unblinking, looking right at the viewer. I feel like Mecca Normal is also unblinking, looking right at the listener. It can be uncomfortable, in a way, but in a good way!
Jean:
The idea for the museum is to have artists submit their work to be archived, featured and in some cases exhibited. If general promo and the museum name are available as infrastructure to share, then this may create a way to have centrally-curated group exhibits reciprocally hosted in cities and towns, here and there, encouraging artists to travel to their openings to give talks and exchange ideas etc. I dunno... like an indie music touring structure for painters.
Sarah:
Compared to the music I've made, painting and visual art has always been my happy place, a space I go to feel good things and play.
Jean:
For myself, I see almost everything as 'political' or it seems that I can look at things in that way, whereas I notice other artists take the term literally and create narrative art intending to have the viewer understand a specific political perspective or event, let's say. I intend to make political a broader and more inclusive idea. It isn't essential to me that the viewer "gets it".
Sarah:
I don't have much interest (right now, at least) to make paintings that explore the darker realms of existence, because I feel like that's what I do all day long when I'm going on walks or grocery shopping or whatever. Having my little existential crises peppered with bouts of laughter, but mostly over-thinking life and the world and what it all means, etc. So then I go to my studio and play with bright colors and talk to squirrels and it is a major release from everything else there is to think about. It's a more automatic way of working; I rarely plan out a painting or do any sketches, I just pick a starting color and go with it.
Jean:
What I'm getting at here is... is your art political?
Sarah:
I've always had a difficult time with the word 'political' in relationship to my own music or art. As a woman in a loud rock band, putting out albums on a label known for its roster of very political female artists, I often felt critiqued for 'not being political enough'. When I was asked by interviewers about my lyrics, why they weren't more feminist or radical or whatever, I always felt baffled. Like, 'hey -- I am a woman who has taught herself to play electric guitar, who has composed music, who has written words to go with this music, who has driven herself and her friends around the country playing shows without financial help, who has led workshops to teach guitar to young women, who has endured sexist creeps at every turn to continue doing what it is I want to do, to not have a 9-5 life and/or a marriage and kids -- that's not radical enough for you??!' I think I've always felt that my approach to being a feminist is to live this life as an artist free of guilt or self-judgment (still working on that, btw), and to remain prolifically busy with my hands.
Jean:
Can you tell me about the art for the show at Land (in Portland Oregon)?
Sarah:
I'm super stoked for the April 30th show/performance/party and feel honored that you have written 'Blue Sky and Branches' especially for it!! All of my work is on my website at http://www.sarahutter.com, just click on the 'art' tab. There will be 6 new big paintings of the animals at the end of the alphabet, u - z, those are hanging right now at the Tacoma Public Library and haven't been photographed, and then I'm going to make a bunch of smaller pieces this month on wood panels. Not sure if they will just be birds or what. Like I said, I'm kind of a spontaneous worker!
And also, the Reading is Sexy limited-edition letterpress print is available in the shop. So much going on!
