Kasmira Mohanty

2018 has been an outstanding year for me. My artwork was displayed at the Decumanus Gallery in Croatia, Provincetown Art Museum, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Patchogue Arts Council Gallery, East End Arts, Main Street Petite Gallery, and the Memorial Gallery at Farmingdale State Collage. My artwork was also featured on the cover of Dan’s Paper.  I currently have work up LI Biennial exhibition at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington until November 11, 2018. Also, folks should look out for three public installations of mine that will be installed shortly in Patchogue and Huntington and a third article to be published in School Arts Magazine. I need a nap.

It’s really been a fun and exciting summer exhibition season. East End Arts Gallery did something experimental for their National Juried show this year. The theme was The Gallerist, The Artist, The Critic, & The Kid. So in a nutshell, four different jurors selected four different exhibits from the same pool of 730 entries.

The exhibition will be up until Sept. 21st.

You can check out a great video and more about the exhibition by clicking on the following link and checking out the information below.

http://www.eastendarts.org/gallery/national-show-2016.html

The Jurors were:

The Gallerist: Peter Marcelle

Director, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, NY; and Owner, Peter Marcelle Project, Southampton, NY

The Artist: Eric Ernst

Internationally renowned artist and columnist

The Critic: Joyce Beckenstein

Art historian, arts writer, contributing editor to Sculpture magazine, and a contributor to the New York Times, Woman’s Art Journal, and other professional arts publications

The Kid: Celina Jones, 12-year-old from East Hampton, NY, chosen by lottery

Peter Marcelle selected my piece “Joel”.

Eric Ernst also selected two of pieces, “Falling Jillian” , which received an Honorable Mention and also“Abstract #10”.

I cannot say enough about Dan Welden. He is a warm and generous man. It's been a privilege to be able to complete a few solar plate prints under his watchful eye. It’s been truly invigorating to create solar plate prints from work that I completed using traditional and digital methods. I was able to output my mixed media digital creations onto acetate paper that was later used to etch my image onto a plate for printing. There was a similar excitement I felt waiting for the print to come out the other side of the press that I used to experience while waiting for an image to appear in the darkroom. I can’t wait to make some more prints in the future with Dan.

I also have to mention that I am now an extremely proud owner of a Dan Welden original that is on display in my studio. It’s turned out to be a great inspiration as I’ve turned my attention recently to creating some abstracts. The image Amelia I created using this method was also displayed at East End Arts Gallery during the Contemporary Portrait exhibition and it received an Honorable Mention. Very Cool.

Back in January I was part of a 4 person show at the Main Street Gallery in Huntington. Like I said, trying to catch up. The other artists included in the show were digital artist Alan Richards, sculptor Andrea Davide, and painter Ginger Balizer-Hendler. The exhibition demonstrated how traditional techniques and concepts are being combined with digital platforms and evolving techiniques. The artwork I included in the show focused on my interpretive portraits. All but one of the images I selected for the show exude color and pattern while the individuals themselves have been given my semi- surrealist touch. To my surprise the lone black and white piece I included was a favorite amongst the attendees at the opening. In regards to my own work and that of my new friend Alan Richards, whose work showed next to mine, I’m grateful that the artistic community is finally beginning to deem digital pieces of artwork just as important as traditional forms of art. It’s a huge turn around even within the last five years. I’ve experienced artistic prejudice so many times in the past because of the medium I have chosen to work in. Most recently an art invitation I recieved specfiically states "no giclee prints".  Why send me the invite?  Do they not understand what I do and that's one of the ways I output my work. Geez! Getting back to the opening, I was moved by how many people were curious about my process and influences at this particular exhibition. I was touched to see in attendance at the opening my mom who had had brain surgery the week prior, her friend Joan, Nora and Drew, Jim, Amy, Allen with a bad cold, Gil, my fellow art teacher Kristen Singer, former art student Kean Ferin who served and brought the wine for the event (yeah awesome kid), another former art student of mine Gabrellia Ferrara, who is now working in the textile design industry and the list goes on.  I only had time briefly at the end of the night to grab some pics. The gallery was packed. Everyone had a great time and the party continued well after. Can't wait for the next time!

For any artist it would be worth it to take a day to ride the NYC subway in search of great art. I lived in NYC for several years and during that time I shamefully did not take the time to slow down and look at my surroundings when using the subway. That oversight was corrected a few weeks ago while bumming around NYC with some friends checking out a few of the many artworks the subway has to offer. Don’t overlook Penn Station and delve deeper when you hit Grand Central Station, where you can also find New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex & Store at Grand Central Terminal. I know what you are thinking, but worth checking out. If you need more you can go to the New York Transit Museum located at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights. These are just a few snaps I took while on my subway art safari. Many more stops to visit in the future.

While you are jaunting about the city in search of subway art also check out St. Peter’s Church. You’ll be enlightened by Vignelli’s imaginative reinvention of a church’s interior, plus you’ll find the work of Louise Nevelson in the Chapel Of The Good Shepherd upstairs at Saint Peter’s Church.

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/artwork 

http://massappeal.com/heres-your-guide-to-nycs-subway-art

Just posting some pictures from the invitation only opening of the Rumney Guggenheim in Brooklyn back on October 8th. I was lucky enough to get an invite after becoming friendly with artist BOXHEAD. I met her by accident at a gallery opening in Amsterdam that included her work and 3 other artists. She let me know she would be in New York and was open to anyone who could help her paint the 4-story building directly next to the Rumney Guggenheim gallery as part of the inaugural opening of the gallery. The day before I was supposed to go help her paint I broke my ankle in two places. I was super deluxe model pissed, since I had been looking forward to helping 2 months prior to the ankle incident. I did rally with the help of my awesome fella to make the opening though. We had a great time in spite of my inability to walk or stand. The bank has been restored beautifully and it was awesome to get to see the work of Swoon in addition to BOXHEAD's awesome art!

I am unhappy that it's the Brussels attacks that has brought me back to my blog after a long hiatus. I was busy creating art, meeting other artists and enjoying life. That was shattered by the Paris attacks. I struggled to reach acceptance that a place I had spent several summers when I was young with my mom now too had the scares of this awful organization. The Brussels attacks have had an even more profound effect. It was the last stop after visiting Copenhagen and Amsterdam. It's irksome to think that where the bomb went off at the airport is somewhere I had been. I keep getting lost in thoughts of what these extremists hope to gain out of these acts. I could labor here about all aspects of this issue and try and make sense of it all, but I've turned to art for comfort and insight. I took the picture below while visiting Brussels this summer, obviously before any of this happened.

Here's a link I found comforting as well.

http://www.estevanmercury.ca/opinion/columnists/belgium-s-manneken-peace-1.2216032

It is with a very heavy heart to share that Sparkboom will be no longer. The state decided not to continuing funding. I could get on a soapbox and go on at length about how I feel about this but it really sucks I think sums it up best. I have immensely enjoyed working with Raj Tawney and Michelle Carollo who sought out new and exciting artists.  Their events were pleasently quirky and I enyoed attending and particpating in every one I could. SPARKBOOM™ was nobaly created to provide opportunities and venues for emerging artists. An Advisory Circle of young, dynamic artists worked tirelessly with their twelve partners to create events and to feature arts and artists. SPARKBOOM™ was driven to provide help to inspire the work of emerging artists and connected an ever growing artistic family on long island with opportunities and networking. They showcased a variety of talents and jumpstarted emerging careers. It is sad that the state does not realize what an amazing service they provided.

Pics from the last event.

Had a great time hanging out with Chip Kidd. Great personality and advice!

Chip Kidd's advice: Try, Fail, Try Again, Fail Better.

Chip shared some of the works he attempted for various projects before creating the final product. Some of his designs did not succeed because he discovered during goggle searches someone else had done a similar design or simply when the design got to the people making the final decisions had objections, concerns, didn’t get it or flat out didn’t like it. He acknowledges, similar to Paula Scher contends that you do not have to draft after draft. This is a myth. Sometimes the idea is just there and simply needs to be executed.  He told me not to worry about what other people think and that I needed to design for myself. Don't put too much stock in to other peoples opinions. They are only taking about how they would design a piece and not how you should approach your own work. Ultimately there are going to be people who don't like your work. Just keep working and at some point someone will recognize the value of what you are trying to accomplish with your craft. The best-case scenario is you’ll get paid and hopefully a lot!

http://www.ted.com/talks/chip_kidd_designing_books_is_no_laughing_matter_ok_it_is?language=en#t-57117

The SPARKBOOM opening at ARTSPACE in Patchogue was a huge success! Kudos to Michelle Carollo for organizing and curating the show. The artwork was edgy, youthful, quirky, humorous and unique. Such a breath of fresh air! You have to get yourself over to the exhibition if you missed last night. One of my favorite pieces, Dong Hee Lee's sculpture "Fecundity", is made entirely of white hot glue. I love artists who take ordinary materials and elevate them. Another artist who did this was Jeffrery Allen Price with his piece "Long Island, All Washed Up" comprised of used household sponges. I was elated to see a digital artist other than myself, Krista Biedenbach. Her piece "Haters Wanna Know My Antidote" was a perfect backdrop to the wonderfully talented musicians that perfectly complimented the show. One musician that stood out was Chris Trietsch, who plays the Ukulele. You can check him out on YouTube. I also must mention St. James Brewery for providing tasty free beer and Mia River Avenue Deli for the yummy eats. Amongst the large crowd was my dear friend Amy Altobelli and my amazing chiropractor Dr. Dark. Super deluxe model night.   I hope to be able to partcipate again next year.