5 x 5 Submission 80 - Evren Artiran

Evren Artiran
BIO

Evren Artiran was born in Adana, Turkey. She received her B.A. in Painting and Drawing from Hacettepe University in Ankara in 2005 where she studied with Professors Zafer Gencaydin and Ferhat Ozgur. After graduation Evren moved to the United States. She is currently enrolled in the M.F.A. Painting and Drawing program at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.


ARTIST STATEMENT

I care about the innocence of nature. Thinking is an ongoing activity for me; it is constant. I think of how human beings have begun to abuse nature and how this abuse has become collaged over the innocence.

Collecting; I like to collect stuff— cardboard, clothes, wood, pillows— just stuff. I have always liked the idea of collecting and the fact that they have a history, or a trace of humanity. These collections build my collage paintings.

I like to describe my studio as a dumpster where the stuff is un-owned and together it becomes a composition

My paintings have more of a constructive nature like building a building, and they organically deal with layers, one on top of another. They build their own environment.

My Paintings derive from the alleys that I walk through.
And, my paintings derive from the light in fall, which shocks the eye to see the reflection of human traces in nature.
My paintings derive from the sky and its infinity.
Basically, they are all about the facts that are from the external world.

5 x 5 Submission 79 - Natalia Czajkiewicz

Natalia Czajkiewicz
Natalia Czajkiewicz's website
Natalia Czajkiewicz is an artist living and working in Seattle, Washington. Raised in California, her work is heavily influenced by living in the rainy gray city. Primarily drawing and painting females, she is inspired by women, human interaction, and hand-drawn type.

5 x 5 Submission 78 - Jessica Edwards

Jessica Edwards
Jessica Edwards' website
I’m currently working on a new series of assemblages similar to the attached image “a little thing”. “Chrysalis” was made from 7 years worth of journals, cut up, rearranged and coated with mold making rubber. Only a small portion of that piece is seen in the attached image, I have ~100’ altogether.

Bio
Jessica Edwards is an assemblage/book artist whose works incorporate printmaking, surface design and mixed media. Her artwork has been exhibited in the San Francisco Bay Area, New Orleans, Vancouver, Washington, Makawao, Hawaii and Columbus, Ohio , Rochester, NY and Norfolk, England. Her work is held in permanent collection at the Columbus Center for Paper and Book Arts. Jessica Edwards received her BFA in Textile Design from Academy of Art University. She studied bookbinding at Capricornus School of Bookbinding and apprenticed with Peter Koch Printers. In 2008 she launched Odd Duck Press, a letterpress studio and book bindery. Jessica ,her husband Geoff and their dog Annabelle live in Port Townsend, WA .

5 x 5 Submission 77 - Susan Melrath

Susan Melrath
Susan Melrath's website
Statement
My work has evolved over an art career spanning thirty years, with it’s roots in
illustration. Figurative work is my passion. While family, friends and intimate
settings populate my canvas, my true focus is on the shapes created by the
human form. I simplify, flatten and distort these shapes. This allows me to
explore color and edge and how their relationships reflect a mood or express an idea. Using the human form, feelings are communicated through a pictorial language of color, shape, form and composition.

Biography

Susan’s formal study of art began in 1978 at the Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia. Her dream was to be a freelance illustrator. For a short time she worked as a technical illustrator for an aerospace company. Here she honed her drawing skills, but rockets were not her favorite subject matter. In 1986 she set out on her own and after waiting a few tables, established herself as a freelance illustrator. By 1990 her clients included IBM, Miami Herald, Time Life Books and Reader’s Digest.

In 1997 Susan took a sabbatical from commercial work to raise her son. She continued to paint. The luxury of this time at home proved to be rich with discoveries (and a few dirty diapers). The freedom to play and explore allowed her work to continue to develop in unique ways. With no client or deadline her focus shifted from content to shape, form and color. This shift remains the focus of her current work and is reflected in her new paintings. Susan works in watercolor, acrylic and oil. Her works have been exhibited in numerous shows and are included in several private collections. Susan enjoys living and working in Redmond, WA with her husband, Brian Landgren and her son, Nick, who is no longer in diapers!

5 x 5 Submission 76 - Kevin Gosselin

Kevin Gosselin
Kevin Gosselin's website
Bio:

Kevin Gosselin is a sculptor/illustrator living in Seattle Washington making custom toys and sculptures for commission and sale to private toy collectors. A graphic and web designer for nearly ten years Kevin recently discovered for himself the low brow, urban vinyl art scene and quickly embraced it for its pop culture influences and playful character design. Through this medium and genre Kevin creates new and familiar characters based in the world heavily influenced by sci-fi and fantasy art. With each sculpture Kevin narrates to the viewer a world defined by the personalities of the characters we see.

In the Fall of 2009 and with no prior experience in toy making, Kevin jumped head first into custom toy design when he entered and won world premier toy designer KidRobot's custom toy contest. Along with four other winning artists and over fifty world renowned toy designers Kevin was commissioned to design a custom toy for their Munnyworld Toy Exhibition. Kevin was one out of only eleven artists that would sell his work during the three day event and it would mark his first successfully commissioned piece sold in a gallery. In his first six months as a custom toymaker Kevin has been dividing his time between commissions and work for gallery shows. He has shown in the Fall Gallery in Vancouver, BC and in The Gallery Underground, in Fort Collins, CO.

Kevin is currently working on a limited production of a custom toy design while continuing to accept and complete commissions. Kevin has plans to develop and mass produce his own Do-It-Yourself platform toy. As always his focus is to continue to develop his sculpting skills and techniques while pushing his creative concepts and developing a world of his own.

Kevin Gosselin grew up in the tiny New England town of Northwood, New Hampshire. Although heavily influenced by many genres and artists, Kevin owes his career in the arts to his twin brother. It was only by following the career choices of his brother that Kevin decided to go to art school to develop his skills. Both brothers attended the Honors Art Program at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston their senior year of high school and then moved to Sarasota, Florida to attend Ringling School of Art & Design.

After earning his Bachelors in Fine Art and Illustration Kevin got what he considers his real art education while working a local art supplies store in Sarasota. At the store Kevin received hands-on knowledge of the tools and techniques of all the different mediums. He also garnered the advice from local artists and after picking up the framing trade Kevin was hired as a painter by Hagen-Wallace, a props shop for Feld Entertainment. Here Kevin learned how to paint faux finishes and would eventually find himself in the sculpting department where he would discover his true passion. Kevin would leave sculpting behind for nearly ten years working as a graphic and web designer before he would gather the courage necessary to pursue his dreams.

After just six short months Kevin continues to build his portfolio and reputation enjoying what he considers his dream come true. Mark Mohr of Hello Vinyl, a popular toy critic site, says of Kevin, "Kevin is without doubt one of the rising stars in the custom scene, just have a look at the amount of work that goes into his customs."

5 x 5 Submission 75 - Tenaya Sims

Tenaya Sims
Tenaya Sims' website

Tenaya Sims currently runs the Georgetown Atelier, which is an apprenticeship style school that offers both part-time and full-time programs. The school is located in the heart of Gerorgetown the on the second floor of the bottling plant of the old raineer
brewery.

After earning a B.F.A in painting and drawing at Carnegie Mellon University (2001), Tenaya worked several years as a commercial artist for Activision. He began his classical studies at the Jeff Watts Atelier in Encinitas, CA, and then moved to Seattle where he completed four years of full-time study at the Juliette Aristides Classical Atelier within Gage Academy of Art.

For the past few years Tenaya has been teaching regularly at Fall City Fine Arts Studio, and opened the Georgetown Atelier in Sept. 2009. He has also taught several classes at Gage Academy of Art, Pratt Fine Arts Center, and workshops in Montreal. Tenaya was in a two-person show at Elka Rouskov Gallery, a his work has been featured in International Artist and Southwest Art Magazine in the 21 under 31 issue.

5 x 5 Submission 74 - Luke Pulliam

Luke Pulliam's website

5 x 5 Submission 73 - Anna Wetzel

Anna Wetzel
Anna Wetzel's website
ARTIST BIO/STATEMENT:

Anna Wetzel is a Seattle based artist, born in Kansas City, MO. She
received a BFA in Painting from Kansas State University in 2006, and
participated in California College of the Arts' Oax-i-fornia project
in 2008. Her work has been shown in Seattle, as well as in Glasgow,
Scotland and Oaxaca, Mexico.

Influenced by living in different cities positioned amidst the great
wide open, Anna's work often explores the figurative symbolic ways in
which societies build identity in relation to surrounding landscape
and wildlife. Through her signature attention to textures, subtle
value shifts, and a limited palette, Anna's recent self portraits
evoke a delicate power struggle between herself and animal alter egos.

Anna's current work is headed in a more collaborative, three
dimensional direction, wherein nostalgic land- and soundscapes beckon
and the figural role is assumed by the viewer.

5 x 5 Submission 72 - Knena Williams

Knena Williams
Artist Biography and Statement

Knena Williams is a talented artist from Tacoma, Washington. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interior Design from Washington State University, Pullman. As a recent graduate she is currently creating a new body of work that explores the relation between art and interior spaces. Her work consists of conceptual sculptures with an emphasis on plaster and clay. Knena’s work can be found in private collections. She works in various mediums including photography, collage, print, painting, and sculpture.

I like creating stories to stir up images and concepts that I later take to construct several visual compositions. Unlike a story board, the viewing experience does not tell a story of sequenced events, but of environments. Light and shadow is the driving inspiration behind my work which sheds an ethereal view on everyday materials. Creating sculptures and exposing the interior surfaces with light or darkness is captured with digital photography. The common connection among all humans is the concept of shelter. Space. Interior design is so basic in relating to our human needs and social environments. The idea of wrapping space around or opening it up closely examines how we cultivate the very skin and bones of our society. This fascinates me.