Elements of the Cosmos: Grant Recipient Asia Scudder

Guest Author: Laura Reese, OVAC Intern

Asia Scudder, ”Escape from Eden” Baling Wire. 2001.

Asia Scudder is an Oklahoma City artist who transforms baling wire from merely a heavy duty material into delicate lines by which her works become otherworldly.

Scudder was inspired by her grandfather, a sculptor of regional-fame, to create “artistic representations of [her] own personal life experience.” Her work brings in aspects of storytelling with, as she described, “quantum timelessness”, through her simultaneous investigations of early cultures, such as the Mayans, as well as her expression of human emotion.

“I work to involve elements of the cosmos”, said Scudder. The combination of the mysterious early cultures of our world as well as the deep search for meaning and compassion she employs create an ethereal experience.

Asia Scudder, ”Creation” Baling Wire. 2008.

She hopes her works help create a “new vocabulary” with which one can “reach for compassion and agreeableness” when it comes to conflict based on our own human errors. Her work Escape from Eden uses gestural lines of the wire to create a tumbling motion; the subject has fallen out of Eden, out of the “cultural mythology of marital bliss” that Scudder implies in the title, and challenges the viewer to draw upon various sources, transcending the zeitgeist, to evaluate the parables she creates in her work

Scudder’s more recent work has moved from delicate wires to heavier materials, such as water-jet-cut steel, such as the work Compassion, to make her works sturdier and more complex. She was recently selected for a Creative Projects Grant from the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, to give her the means to transform several of her wire pieces into steel for an upcoming show at the Leslie Powell Gallery, opening July 7, 2012.

You can see her work at the exhibit Mayan Icons in Wire during the month of February at Istvan Gallery in Oklahoma City.

Allied Arts: Our Ally

As a fan of the arts, we thought you'd like to be a part of this united drive for the arts in Central Oklahoma (if you aren't already). Learn more about Allied Arts in this video, which gives a great overview of the importance of the arts to our communities, education and economy. 

One gift to Allied Arts of any amount supports arts education, performances, exhibitions and more cultural programming in central Oklahoma! The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, along with many other cultural organizations, relies on Allied Arts to serve the community.

Allied Arts has been uniting the arts for over 40 years, and has set a record-breaking goal to raise more than $3 million for the arts this year. Please join this huge campaign for our local arts community with a gift of any amount and show how much central Oklahoma "hearts" the arts!

Learn more and donate today at www.alliedartsokc.com.

Furniture Made Out of Porcelain: Margaret Kinkeade

Exploring feminine and masculine roles in traditional culture, Momentum Spotlight artist Margaret Kinkeade is creating a Shaker-style kitchen using surprising materials. Her project includes a kitchen table and chairs made of delicate porcelain juxtaposed with wall-hanging quilts made of plasma-cut steel.  


Learn more about  Kinkeade in our recent issue of Art Focus Oklahoma magazine.

See her project at Momentum OKC this March 9 and 10.

Living History: Marcus Kesler Exploring Oklahoma’s Past and Present.

Guest Author: Jennifer Barron

Marcus Kesler, Back To The Future, Photography, 20x30, 2009

All that remains of the town of Eudora, Oklahoma is a cemetery. “Having to photograph that was pretty interesting, based on how old the gravestones were,” said Marcus Kesler. One that particularly caught Kesler’s interest was the headstone of a sergeant in the 34th infantry. Originally from South Carolina, he had fought in the Civil War and later, had relocated to this town in Blaine County, Oklahoma. The few details available to Kesler created a picture of a restless life, and he reflected: “It made me wonder if he ever found what he was looking for.”

Eudora was one of over fifty of Oklahoma’s all-black towns, founded in a period between 1865 and 1920, a product of the brief hope that Oklahoma might become an African-American state. There were more all-black towns in Oklahoma than in all other states combined.

Kesler’s project for Momentum Spotlight explores this part of Oklahoma history by visiting and taking photographs in each of these towns, which, today range from nonexistent to well-populated. Towns like Langston- home to Langston University- and Boley- notable for its annual all-black rodeo- are still thriving today.

Marcus Kesler, The Road Runner, Photography, 20x30, 2009

While visiting these towns, Kesler tries to spend enough time to get a sense of the town’s former life: “I try to get a mental picture of what this place may have been during its heyday, and how people used each location.” The evidence of past lives- families, businesses, people- is particularly interesting to Kesler. “A lot of times,” he explains, “you’ll find abandoned houses with furniture still left. I wonder: Did somebody die? Did somebody leave? What happened to leave the scene this way?”

“Other times you might find a child’s toy left in the middle of a room. In the past, toys were important and a child might have only had one or two... Whatever happened, it happened so quickly that they left toy behind.”

After encountering several of these abandoned locations, Kesler is somewhat philosophical about the stories held by the buildings he photographs: “In some way, I wonder- do buildings or objects have residual emotions/ memories?”

Even Eudora, whose only evidence is its cemetery, is a presence still felt. “People visit the cemetery,” Kesler states, “Even though nothing is left of the town, people come back and lay flowers on gravestones.”

Kesler’s walk through Oklahoma’s past and present will be on display at Momentum, Oklahoma City on March 9 and 10.

Sam Lamb Brings Props

Guest Author: Jennifer Barron

Samantha Lamb, Whole Hearted & More Rabbit Than Bear, Photography,  2011 

At a small table at Flip’s Trattoria where we met for an afternoon interview, Samantha Lamb reaches into her bag and produces some unexpected items: a polished brass pocketwatch, a mason jar full of fresh honey, and two age-worn cotton handkerchiefs. As she begins discussing her planned work for Momentum Spotlight, she quickly arranges these items into a miniature installation that sets the tone for our discussion. The objects in front of us are often the subjects of her photographs. They are also symbols of the farm life that inspires and informs her art.

Upon opening the pocketwatch, she points to the curving shapes in the clockworks and gears. “It’s full of these feminine shapes and curves, and I’m drawn to those kinds of shapes- you can see that femininity in the handkerchiefs as well.” She pauses and smiles. “I just love being a woman.”

Samantha Lamb, Girl Like An Orchard, Orchard Like A Girl, Photography, 2011 

Textures, colors, warmth, and femininity are all explored- and vividly portrayed- in Lamb’s work.

But her farm life, while a source of beauty and joy, is also frankly experienced. She raises several animals and does not spare herself any of the related duties. “I raised my own pigs,” she recalls fondly, “I treated them like characters in a Disney movie. And then I killed them myself...  As someone who eats meat, I want to be a conscientious meat eater.”

It is a reminder that for Lamb, the authenticity of her farm life is crucial. Since arriving in Hobart, she has become a part of the town’s community, from participating in the local farmer’s market to offering kitchen haircuts to a few local men.

Fully conscious yet fully joyous, Samantha Lamb’s art shows us a world of rustic beauty, cast in warm light. To take a few steps into this world, don’t miss her installation at Momentum Oklahoma City this March 9 and 10.

Momentum Emerging Curator: Candace Coker

Momentum Emerging Curator Candace Coker
with OVAC Board Member Margo Shultes von Schlageter

Candace Coker has seen all sides of Momentum, from participating to artist and committee member to curatorial intern. Now serving as Emerging Curator alongside guest curator Alison Hearst, Coker said the experience “feels completely different” and is "exciting." 

Coker and Hearst just completed their first visits to the Momentum Spotlight artists’ studios. Coker said she has enjoyed the challenge of talking with their artists about their work. She hopes to push them while ensuring the artists retain control of their projects. Next she and Hearst will select the artwork for the general survey exhibition from entries due by January 31.

Coker serves as Project Coordinator at City Arts Center in Oklahoma City where she assists with exhibitions, youth and adult studio classes, and more.  She received her BFA from the University of Oklahoma. She was a member of the 2010 Leadership Arts Class of the Oklahoma Arts Council.

Working with the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition before, she interned for the inaugural Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship and assisted Momentum OKC’s curators in 2010. She continues as an active volunteer for OVAC as well as Individual Artists of Oklahoma and Paseo Artists Association. Also a photographer, Coker has exhibited her work regionally.

Submissions for Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still are due by January 31 at 5 pm. Oklahoma artists aged 30 and younger are eligible. The event opens March 9 and 10. 

Guest Curator: Alison Hearst

Luckily for us, Alison Hearst will be visiting Oklahoma artists quite a lot this year while serving as Guest Curator for both Momentum OKC and the Residencies for Concept/OK: Art in Oklahoma. Her background should help the community and artists she meets greatly. Now she’s working with the Momentum Spotlight artists on their projects that will debut in March. Her next tasks will be choosing finalists for the Residencies that she will visit in person (entries due January 20) and selecting the juried portion of Momentum OKC (entries due January 31).

Hearst is an art historian and writer living in Fort Worth, TX. She completed her MA in Art History from Texas Christian University and Bachelors in Art History from the University of North Texas. She has a long association with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, serving first as an Assistant to the Director and now as an Assistant Curator. 

Hearst co-founded an experimental art collaborative Subtext Projects. She and her curatorial partner create exhibitions, publications and film series designed to promote discussion about the issues and practices of contemporary art.

Also a prolific writer, she has published reviews in Art Critical, Art Lies, Glasstire, and …might be good. She is an editorial advisor and review contributor for a new publication, Pastelegram. 

Hearst has interacted with Oklahoma’s art community before as part of the 2010 Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship and contributing an essay about Liz Rodda for the Art 365 exhibition catalog.