artist profile: merna lum

From the Creativity Explored studio in San Francisco—a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art—comes the quirky and playful bunny on a skateboard pillow

Born in 1956, artist Merna Lum Is a long-time member of the studio, first attending in 1988. She works in a variety of media—both 2- and 3-D—and is always open to working with new and different tools to create art.

Nature is a constant influence and is reflected in her rich and heavily textured ceramic pieces and in the plant and animal subjects of her paintings and drawings.

To spend one minute with Merna Lum in the Creativity Explored studio, go here.

artist profile: hung kei shiu

From original artwork done at the Creativity Explored studio in San Francisco—a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art—comes this lush and plush pillow.

Created by artist Hung Kei Shiu—one of the first artists at the studio, he left for a number of years and then re-joined in 2006.

Shiu’s known for his cryptic compositions—the tiniest of marks, a small hatched line segment, miniscule circles, or a short block of color—and the digital blue pillow is a visual feast of these marks with reflections from the shallow to the deep end of the pool. Much like the multiple layers of our personalities, the result is complex and rich.

To spend one minute with Hung Kei Shiu in the Creativity Explored studio, go here.

artist profile: anne connolly

Continuing our partnership with the Creativity Explored studio in San Francisco—a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art—painter and printmaker Anne Connolly deftly layered 12 colors to create an energetic abstract piece for the color field rug.

Born in 1951, Connolly has been an artist at Creativity Explored since 1987. While often using contrasting colors for greater impact, her distinctive style features bold, forceful brushstrokes that create multiple layers. The interaction between layers produce interesting results—when opaque, one layer obscures another underneath it. And when diluted or transparent, the layers combine to produce new colors, dynamic compositions, and visual depth to each piece.

To spend one minute with Anne Connolly in the Creativity Explored studio, go here.

the carsten höller experience: new york

photo by: Mesaj What: Carsten Höller: Experience
When: now thru January 22, 2012
Where: New Museum

Experiencing art is an individual, emotional experience—different for every one and perhaps never quite the same for a revisiting viewer.

The Carsten Höller: Experience exhibit at the New Museum brings new meaning to this idea as it toys with and challenges engrained perceptions of the outside world.

Drawing on inspiration from scientific experiments—and through amusement parks or playgrounds—he attempts to manipulate viewer’s physical and psychological sensations creating uncertainty and doubt.

artist profile: vincent jackson

From our friends at the Creativity Explored studio in San Francisco—a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art—the graphic lady runner depicts a provocative figure.

Like the complex lady depicted in this wool runner, large-scale figurative oil pastels define the work of artist Vincent Jackson—notorious as one of the longest practicing artist in residence at
the studio.

Via a sum of geometric shapes—with elements of traditional African and oceanic imagery, and almost Cubist, her full figure takes form within these densely layered bold linear shapes and softer patterns.

To spend one minute with Vincent Jackson in the Creativity Explored studio, go here.