July 2018: Andie Furtado & Cary Weigand

Cary Weigand creates delicate yet striking ceramic figures. They conveys narrative and spirituality through the juxtaposition of human and animal figures. ”In my work, my figures represent the dream world. The forms of the figures are opportunities to express our interconnectedness, the hand-positions might be like a beak ready to pluck the fruit, or maybe the hand is morphing into drops of water as it reenters the sea of conciseness. Each piece comes with its own story,” she says. “Each story feels like a poem that does not have to make logical sense but engages the senses with inspiration that comes from the impenetrable shadows of madness, or from the liquid flow of existence, day after day after day... “ Her pieces are filled with symbolic elements and explore death, rebirth, transition and/or innocence. “Sometimes I cut and fold the clay, like wet origami, to relieve stress in the clay that would come from pushing it out. The clay is worked in variations of slabs, from thick to thin, building upward and pushing outward. The figures originate from the torso, getting built out in both directions at the same time. An arm is two slabs made circular, cut and attached. Joints are puzzled together with smaller triangular shapes, moving into the hands and face to build up the surface outward until small details are smoothed out, creating the final finished surface.

Andie Furtado "Skins" oil on canvas Andie Furtado is a oil painter exploring themes of gender and identity. Her current series, VEIL, revolves around gender dysphoria and the idea of identity as fabricated. Although these topics can be dark, which is a quality apparent in the series, the pieces also carry tender moments that bring optimism and beauty into them. Instead of focusing on the overwhelming nature of the theme, she pushes the viewer to explore the fine, colorful details and view the body as a work in progress. VEIL is about the body as a platform for change, growth and liberation from its limitations and imprisoning aspects. This collection of work is an anthem for those relinquishing the imposed responsibility to make others more comfortable. Her The Tattoo Series, focuses on women. It draws from photo-documentation of tattoos and tattoo culture past and present while using the pulling and smearing of the medium to  create dimensionality, weight and movement into the work. This collection of work also carries tones of empowerment through its rejection of societal ‘beauty’ and gender constructs and shines a raw light on the femme and queer body in contemporary tattoo culture.