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EMILY VERDOORN & JON KAMRATH
November 2, 2019 - December 21, 2019
LOCATED IN SWEENEY GALLERY (3RD FLOOR)
Emily Verdoorn
Through drawing, I form vital relationships with the world of my everyday experience. My process often begins by drawing on location. I enjoy drawing places and spaces steeped in the personality of their inhabitants. My drawings develop in response to time spent observing places and things – their habits, personality, rituals, and the people that frequent them. I love discovering the mundane glory in the commonplace. From observational drawing, I often collect marks, textures, and patterns which I draw in with other findings in my daily life. This process is more about listening than telling, more about responding than initiating. For me, making is a process of discovery, a conversation, a way to experience life more deeply for the maker and the viewer alike.
Emily Verdoorn has loved drawing and making things for as long as she can remember. As a child, it was simply unselfconscious enjoyment which encouraged her to make. Gradually, she discovered drawing as a means to more deeply engage with the world around her. In 2017, Emily graduated from Belhaven University with a BFA in Visual Art. Currently, Emily is continuing to develop her drawing process alongside teaching art lessons to children in her hometown, Des Moines.
Jon Kamrath
My “Block House” series was initially inspired by watching my own kids play with a wooden block set. I began considering ways to incorporate the same visual vocabulary into my own work, and to combine the whimsy of children’s toys with the long history of modern architecture. I found clay and wood to be the perfect medium for this. The trompe l’oeil wooden block appearance allows opportunities to explore surface texture, layering and color. Additionally, the clay construction methods present an opportunity to experiment with form, and build sculptures that appear to sag and slump in ways impossible for wood. I greatly enjoy the unique dichotomy between permanence and fleeting, hard and soft, serious and fun.
I use bright colors to invoke a splash of fun, then subtly mute these to carefully draw out the rich texture and tie all the pieces together aesthetically. When combined with multiple forms each piece visually and conceptually transforms, referencing evolving landscapes, urban development, and architectural relationships. The next step with these pieces was the addition of welded steel scaffolding. This allows the sculptures to grow in size and complexity, bringing the pieces to the next level conceptually as well as aesthetically. Solid construction pushes the bounds of visual balance and stability, while offering great physical strength and support. I am calling this new series “Structures”, referring both to the physical objects, but also the societal structures that create the building blocks and precarious foundations that many of us build our lives on.
Jon Kamrath works out of his studio in Mahtomedi, MN where he lives with his wife and 3 young children. He received his BA in Art Education from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. After marrying his muse, Jon moved to Iowa to earn his MFA in Integrated Visual Arts (sculpture) from Iowa State University. He has taught art at Fergus Falls Middle School and Eagle Ridge Academy. After taking a break from teaching to focus on his sculpture career Jon is currently busy creating large scale outdoor sculptures for universities and corporations, as well as smaller intimate pieces for galleries, homes and private collections.
Jon inherited craftsmanship skills, love of tools, and architectural appreciation from working with his father as a finish carpenter for many summers. He now blends these skills with the playful inspiration of his kids and the artistic vocabulary he learned through studying and teaching art. You can find more of Jon’s work at various galleries in the greater Twin Cities region, outdoor parks in the Midwest, or online at his website or Instagram.
