Art on Deck

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805 Living Pulse Jun 2019

Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Inga Guzyte, courtesy photo.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Inga Guzyte, courtesy photo.

Using recycled skateboard decks as her medium, Inga Guzyte (ingaguzyte.com) transforms her passion for skateboarding into sculptural art. Her new #RebelWomen series spotlights women from around the globe—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Malala Yousafzai, Frida Kahlo—emphasizing their strength, courage, fearlessness and wit.

“I am hoping to share rebellious and empowering stories,” says the 34-year-old artist, who lines her Santa Barbara studio with floor-to-ceiling stacks of skateboard decks (recycled from the nearby Lighthouse Skateshop) and waits for the right colors to show up before creating her sculptures. Born in Lithuania, and raised in Germany, she came to Santa Barbara at age 21 to learn English and immerse herself in the California skateboarding culture. Making her way into the male-dominated sport influenced her work.

Inga Guzyte self portrait, courtesy photo.

Inga Guzyte self portrait, courtesy photo.

“Inga’s work is an exciting combination of vision, originality and high craft,” says Nathan Vonk, owner of Sullivan Goss Gallery (sullivangoss.com) in Santa Barbara, where a solo show of Guzyte’s work appears from June 1 through July 23. “While her pieces are made from brutal, broken materials, the finished products are both sophisticated and delicate,” he says. “With her #RebelWomen series, she has added to that appeal by including a message that is powerful, important and uplifting.”  

Originally published in the June 2019 issue of 805 Living Magazine.

 

Reflections, A Solo Show by Andrew Roy

Andrew Roy, "Dusk to Dawn." Courtesy photo.

Andrew Roy, “Dusk to Dawn.” Courtesy photo.

Local artist, Andrew Roy displays 26 stunning works in a solo show, Reflections, at the Faulkner Gallery West in May. Opening night is Thursday May 3 between 5 and 8:30 p.m.

A member of both the Abstract Art Collective and the Santa Barbara Art Association, Roy’s works are in private collections throughout the United States. Born and raised in Alaska, he made Santa Barbara his home in 2012. Working with oil pastels on paper and also with acrylics on large canvases, Roy’s art is vibrant, powerful, unique and compelling.

Andrew Roy, "Reflecting." Courtesy photo.

Andrew Roy, “Reflecting.” Courtesy photo.

“Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure, a sense of nothing having been done before, of complete freedom to experiment,” says Roy. His award winning art has been shown in numerous galleries and shows in Santa Barbara and elsewhere, including Sullivan Goss, Gallery 113, CASA, the Santa Barbara Tennis Club and ArtSEE/JCC.

Faulkner Gallery West is located at 40 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The show is on view May 3-31.

Andrew Roy, "From Ashes." Courtesy photo.

Andrew Roy, “From Ashes.” Courtesy photo.

For more information about Andrew Roy, visit www.andrewroyart.com and http://abstractartcollective.com/andrew-roy/.

Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on May 2, 2018.

 

Phoebe Brunner: Breathe

Phoebe Brunner, "Silver Threads," oil on canvas, 30 x 54."

Phoebe Brunner, “Silver Threads,” oil on canvas, 30 x 54.”

Sullivan Goss Gallery presents new work by acclaimed local artist Phoebe Brunner in her second solo exhibition for the gallery, titled “Breathe.” The show opens April 5, with a 1st Thursday reception from 5-8 p.m.

The gallery describes Brunner’s latest body of vibrant work as “connecting to the earth around us as it regenerates from a long lack of rain. Poppies explode, scattering their seeds to the wind for the next season of flowers. Roads lead through winding hills verdant with fresh grass. Clouds settle in to canyons to coat the hills with moisture. While her views are primarily imaginative, we are drawn to them by sense of memory for a place we have visited or more accurately, the familiarity of worlds we have wandered in our dreams. This remarkable group of paintings reminds us to take a collective breath. Spring is coming, bringing regeneration and a continuation of nature’s endless cycle.”

Phoebe Brunner, "Rain, Happy Hour," oil on canvas, 30 x 22."

Phoebe Brunner, “Rain, Happy Hour,” oil on canvas, 30 x 22.”

Brunner earned a BFA from UCSB and trained at Otis Art Institute, Chouinard Art Institute and the University of Guadalajara. She has been exhibiting in the Santa Barbara area for 40 years and brings a local’s knowledge of the terrain together with a visionary artist’s sense of interpretation.

The exhibition remains on view at Sullivan Goss Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St., through June 3. For more information, visit www.sullivangoss.com or www.facebook.com/sullivan.goss or call 805/730-1460.

Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on April 4, 2018.