For the 2023 PINK PROGRESSION: SYNERGY exhibition I created a series of works entitled Past Present Future (You Are Here). This work explores the ever-changing nature of Earth’s geographic boundaries beginning with the supercontinent Pangea and ending with a look 250 million years into the future when it’s predicted Earth’s continents will merge once again to create another supercontinent, Pangea Ultima.
Zooming out and viewing boundaries and borders in this larger global context presents the opportunity to step outside of the world where we currently exist and explore the shifting nature of our geographic boundaries.
Crossing Borders explores the ways in which we navigate physical and invisible boundaries set by our emotional and cultural landscapes. This exhibit is curated and organized by Angela Astle & Anne Meyers with Athena Project and Melissa Furness & Anna Kaye with PINKPROGRESSION.
40 West Gallery, 6501 W. Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO
Exhibit dates: October 6-28, 2023
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
In the spring of 2023 I participated in the Artist in Residence Program at the Children’s Museum of Denver. For three months I worked with young artists in the Artist in Residence Open Studio as we created a small-scale city from recycled and craft materials.
At the culmination of the residency I was invited to create a leave behind artwork inspired by my time there which can now be found in the Energy Exhibit on the second level. Named by a young guest, Create City encourages viewers to explore the miniature scene, discover new details with each visit, and hopefully, leave with a new perspective on the world around them.
Images courtesy of the Children’s Museum of Denver.
In the Summer of 2022 I was invited along with a group of local artists to create a work of art for the Landscape Studio at the Denver Art Museum. This installation was on view from October 2022 to December 2024 on the first level of the Hamilton Building. For this commission I created a winding river scene that served as the center tile of the sign representing the letter S in the word Landscape.
For the 2022 PINK PROGRESSION: SYNERGY exhibition I revisited my collaboration with artist and fellow RedLine Alum Ashely Frazier, entitled Untitled Collaboration with Eggshells, that was first debuted in 2020 as part of the PINK PROGRESSION: COLLABORATIONS exhibition.
In this series Frazier and I merged our artistic practices to explore the different meanings that can be inferred from an eggshell. Through out history eggs have been viewed as a symbol of hope and purity as well as fertility and the circle of life. By reimagining eggshells in a sculptural context it is our intent as artists for the viewer to explore the works and find their own associations within the scenes presented. Collaborating during a pandemic added another layer to the work as we worked separately in our own spaces the collaboration reveals itself in the final installation as the works come together like two halves of a whole.
PINKPROGRESSION is an open collective that explores social issues and concepts, such as human rights, equality, gender, identity, feminism, and more. In 2020, PINKPROGRESSION organized a series of exhibitions that featured collaborations. A selection of eight artworks from these shows are featured in SYNERGY. The synergy between artists in this exhibition inspired multi-faceted works with diverse approaches. Collaboration involves a leap into the unknown, a place of vulnerability, a way to find humility, and the blending of minds to obtain wisdom + common ground.
PINKPROGRESSION: SYNERGY
O’Sullivan Art Gallery, Regis University, 3333 Regis Blvd, Denver, CO, 80221, NW Denver Campus
Exhibit Dates: August 23-September 23, 2022
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
In 2022 I was invited to exhibition one of the pieces from a new series of sculptural works entitled Models for Future Altars at the Arvada Center’s triennial exhibition Art of the State.
This series entitled of works deals with our ever evolving relationship to nature. Looking towards a not so distant future when we'll have to deal with our over production and consumption of plastics and reconcile our relationship with the natural world. Each of the works from this series places a natural object at the center of a scene built entirely of collected and reclaimed pieces of plastic.
Tap here to listen to an audio explanation of this artwork.
Every three years, all 10,000 square feet of the Arvada Center Galleries is filled with a celebratory survey of the incredible diversity, quality, and depth of work from Colorado Artists. After its start in 2013 and iterations in 2016 and 2019, Art of the State 2022 continues the legacy as a juried exhibition showing off the powerful scope of contemporary art from across the state. This open call open to all Colorado artists garnered 2,067 submissions by 734 artists. The jurors worked diligently to select a comprehensive overview of work that strives to capture a wide scope of art from across the state. From those entries, 149 artworks by 142 artists were selected.
Jurors:
Louise Martorano, Executive Director, RedLine Contemporary Art Center
Ellamaria Ray, Artist/Anthropologist, Professor of Africana Studies, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Collin Parson, Director of Galleries and Curator, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
Art of the State 2022
January 20 - March 27, 2022
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
City Streets and Nature Retreats is an exploration into the often unseen and overlooked areas of our daily lives.
There is so much to focus on in our daily lives. Constant streams of information coming in at all times. In an effort to refocus our attention on the finer details in the world around us I have captured a series of small moments through the introduction of 1:160 scale figures into familiar settings. I always have a small tin of hand painted figures on hand, along with my camera, so when inspiration strikes I am ready to go. It has become a meditative practice for me in many ways. In moments where I’d typically turn to my phone to fill the passing time, I instead refocus my energy to the world that surrounds me and try to find these small moments of exploration by examining the impact of scale and environment.”
This exhibition consisted of two parts. Miniature installations which can be found embedded in the cracks and crevices of the reclaimed palate wood walls throughout the interior of Baere Brewing Company’s taproom and framed photographs. Each installation features figures interacting with their surroundings, creating microenvironments to explore.
These same figures can be found featured in the framed photographs interspersed throughout the space, enlarging the figures that stand only a 1/2” tall in reality. These photographs depict scenes found in the nature of Colorado and the City of Denver. Each photograph gives the viewer an opportunity to lose themselves in a micro moment of exploration and enjoyment.
This exhibition of miniature installations and photography was exhibited in the summer and fall of 2021 at Baere Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado. The miniature installations were so well received that they have become a permanent fixture at this locally owned business.
Stories about the places that live on in our memory.
Shannon Geis is a freelance audio and multimedia producer and an oral historian. Becky Wareing Steele is an artist specializing in small scale sculpture. Together, they’re launching a new collaborative art project which translates individuals’ memories of spaces they’ve occupied in the past into auditory and visual installations in the present.
Visit personalgeography.org to learn more and submit your memory of place.
The series of film stills are from the first stop motion animation of this series Alaskan Drive.
Event photos taken at TedX Mile High November 2019.
For the 2020 PINK PROGRESSION: COLLABORATIONS exhibition I partnered with artist and fellow RedLine Alum Ashely Frazier to create a series of small works entitled Untitled Collaboration with Eggshells.
In this series Frazier and I merged our artistic practices to explore the different meanings that can be inferred from an eggshell. Through out history eggs have been viewed as a symbol of hope and purity as well as fertility and the circle of life. By reimagining eggshells in a sculptural context it is our intent as artists for the viewer to explore the works and find their own associations within the scenes presented. Collaborating during a pandemic added another layer to the work as we worked separately in our own spaces the collaboration reveals itself in the final installation as the works come together like two halves of a whole.
PINK PROGRESSION: COLLABORATIONS took over all three of the Arvada Center's galleries in a spectacular celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women's right to vote. The exhibition recognizes the consecutive dates in which all women received the right to vote in America and the complex struggle for universal suffrage today.
The artist collective PINK PROGRESSION rose out of the 2017 Womxn's March to inspire social change and explore ideas of feminism, equality, inclusivity, gender identity, unity, and community through creative expression. For PINK PROGRESSION: COLLABORATIONS, creatives fused their narratives into multidimensional works, ranging from site-specific installations, video, performance, and traditional fine arts.
Click here to view a PDF of available works from this series along with pricing information.
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
Utopia: A New Society for All, is a society that exists in concept as well as in physical form as diorama based installation art. This is an experiment in both artistic practice as well as civics and communal living.
The modern world and its push for a virtual reality to escape everyday life is working against our instinctive need as humans for community. This project aims to give people an escape from reality while still connecting with people in real life situations.
This first iteration of this installation was exhibited at RedLine Denver as part of the Land Trust Exhibition in 2017. Since then Utopia has grown to a society of over 80 citizens from around the world. This exhibition included the 5’ x 7’ diorama based installation of Utopia, interior and exterior building sketches, the Official Utopia National Anthem composed by Utopia Citizen and Composer Dr. Nathan Hall and the First Official Flag of Utopia thanks to the guidance of Utopia Citizen and Textile Artist Shawna Doering. Visitors were also invited to share their vision of their ideal world on the visitor response wall as they exited the exhibition.
Click here for more information on this project.
Exhibited in 2019 at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. Curated by Blair Huff. Installation photos courtesy of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.
“A Household Divided” explores different interpretations of the concept, a divided household, which are conveyed through the exterior and interior finishings of a segmented dollhouse. This work was first exhibited in January of 2019 as part of RedLine’s Annual Resident Artist Exhibition. Curated by Nicole Crawford of the University of Wyoming Art Museum, “Now That I Have Your (un) divided Attention” explored the notion division through identity, culture, space, and time, each artist presented their distinctive and personal vision using a wide variety of materials and techniques, which in themselves became part of the division.
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
Large Spaces and Small Worlds featured new works by Leo Rivera and Becky Wareing Steele. Contrasting styles, methods of creation, and context, this two-person exhibition will pair large scale non-objective paintings in direct relation with miniature architectural prototypes, using sculpture as a means to add punctuation to a sentence created through paint. A site-specific collaborative installation will bring these two artists together, combining content and creating a single voice.
On view April 6th-April 28th 2018 at ReCreative Denver, 765 Santa Fe Dr, Denver, CO. Curated by Drew Austin.
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
The second iteration of Gaps was installed for the RedLine Denver 10X Exhibition. This exhibition opened in February of 2018 as a celebration of the 10 year history of the resident artist program, showcasing works from over 70 current as well as alumni residents. Gaps deals with the concept of passive communication vs actual engagement. Modern forms of communication continue to move us away from quality communication and foster a culture of broadcast communication. Putting our ideas out into the world for others to consume but not necessarily creating space for dialogue. From a technological viewpoint we are more connected then ever but the lack of quality communication had led us down a path of isolation. The fragmented crystals are symbolic of our fractured society. Now more than ever we need to find ways to bridge the gap.
Curated by Cortney Lane Stell.
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
Gaps deals with the concept of passive communication vs actual engagement. Modern forms of communication continue to move us away from quality communication and foster a culture of broadcast communication. Putting our ideas out into the world for others to consume but not necessarily creating space for dialogue. From a technological viewpoint we are more connected then ever but the lack of quality communication had led us down a path of isolation. Now more than ever we need to find ways to bridge the gap.
Installation photography by WM Artist Services taken at the Susan K. Arndt Gallery at Red Rocks Community College 2017.
Utopia: A new society for all, is a society that exists in concept as well as in physical form as diorama based installation art. This is an experiment in both artistic practice as well as civics and communal living.
The modern world and its push for a virtual reality to escape everyday life is working against our instinctive need as humans for community. This project aims to give people an escape from reality while still connecting with people in real life situations.
Click here for more information on this project.
Exhibited in 2017 as part of the Land Trust exhibition at RedLine Denver. Curated by Libby Barbee and Kirsten Walsh.
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
"Art, Life and Work" is a series of 3 wall mounted peep hole dioramas that was included in the exhibition, "Nice Work If You Can Get It" at RedLine Denver in January of 2017. Curated by Daisy McGowan.
"Art is about order, it’s the development of a practice; a routine. This artistic practice does not solely exist within the studio but is present when I’m starting my morning at home, in the quiet moments between tasks at work; inspiration strikes at anytime and often when I’m not actively focused on it. It is in this way that my daily activities, whether present in the studio or not, influence my creative process.
So much of life is a delicate balancing act. At times I am in awe at the amount I can accomplish in one day. Other days come and go and I feel like I’ve been unable to accomplish even the simplest of tasks. Scheduling times to be creative is challenging but as an artist it is essential to have a structure in place in order to support the artistic practice. There is a balance to everything; art, life and work.
I am meticulously organized, everything in my life works because of this structure as well as my ability to let go of the structure from time to time. In order to function as an artist in a rapidly changing landscape, it is necessary to find that balance between work, life and art. The rising cost of living can make it challenging for artists to support themselves solely through their work, which makes it even more imperative for artists to find that supportive environment in which they can grow their practice with time as well as financial freedom."
Also included in this exhibition was a stop motion collaboration with artist and studio mate Esther Hernandez entitled "Studio Life." Click here to view the video.
Curated by Daisy McGowan.
Installation photos by WM Artist Services.
I remember my childhood well, at least my version of it. Talk to other family members and you may hear a conflicting story about the highs and lows of traveling with a teenage girl. I believe we all hold on to this idealized view of who we were and how we behaved in our youth, when in reality we were total hormonal assholes. I remember traveling with my family and camping out in National Parks and how much I learned, but my mother and brother share different memories of a moody teenage girl who often came unprepared for hikes wearing flip-flops and complaining when she couldn’t keep up.
We all share in these common memories of family vacations, huddled in the corner of the campsite complaining that we weren’t able to stay home alone and go to a friend’s party while their parents were out of town. This new series of diorama based works hones in on this often overlooked phenomenon of family vacations with teenagers. Each work focuses on a different National Park, showcasing the beauty of this serene environment and inserts a family dealing with a teenager, all the while attempting to hold on to some semblance of a memorable trip. It’s this difference in scale between the beauty of the environment and smallness of the figures that I use to really show how unimportant all of these teenage outbursts are in the scope of things. These teenagers grow up and see the error of their ways and often even become productive members of society. Each piece is accompanied with a caption that gives the viewer a glimpse at the dialogue occurring during the particular scene they’ve stumbled on to.
I would like to thank my family for taking me on such wonderful adventures and never leaving me behind.
This exhibition was on view at Lowbrow Denver in the Summer of 2015.
The past 6 years of works for the Annual Low Brow Toy Show sponsored by Kid Robot.
The Adventures of Henri & Evelyn is a photo series following the travels of a miniature couple. Evelyn met her free-spirited husband Henri many years ago while studying Art History oversees in France. Coming from the mid-west, Evelyn comes from a conservative background but in her years together with Henri he has taught her to tap into her adventurous spirit.
This exhibition was on view at Fancy Tiger in Denver, CO in 2014.
A series of collaborations from Becky Wareing Steele & Sara Guindon spanning from 2012-2016
Learn more about Sara Guindon and her art by visiting: saraguindon.com
