ArtXchange Gallery is a Season Partner of Seattle Public Theater

ArtXchange Gallery is pleased to announce our partnership with Seattle Public Theater, at the Bathhouse Theater on Greenlake. Throughout their 2016/2017 season, ArtXchange Gallery will be curating collections of artwork in the lobby that will reflect and enhance each production.

“We admire and support SPT’s commitment to community dialogue and integrating the arts into daily life,” says ArtXchange Gallery Assistant Director, Lauren Davis. “Their mission, to ‘create theater that provokes conversation and curiosity among us all’ is what we seek to do at ArtXchange. We look forward to exhibiting our gallery artists to the Seattle Public Theater audience.”

First up for the SPT season is a thriller titled On Clover Road, opening Friday, September 23!
Visit their website to learn more: www.seattlepublictheater.org

[colored_box variation=”red” bgColor=”#ab0303″]On Display through October 22, 2016 in the Bathhouse Theater: Joseph Songco, Alisa Lahti, Yuko Ishii, and Cora Edmonds.[/colored_box]

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Joseph Songco – Storefronts Series

“Storefronts are in many ways a cultural commentary of a society’s dreams, paradoxical characteristics, social beliefs, and they can even serve as geographical markers for various communities. My photographs focus on the iconography that these spaces include. The “eye candy” that storefronts provide can often times be a doorway to a society’s inner workings.

While living in New York City, I was attracted to shooting storefronts at night. At first I took the storefronts for what they were, advertisements to sell and buy. But as I started shooting different neighborhoods, I began noticing varying economic and cultural differences within the communities through these storefronts.

I tried to get these photographs printed as big as I could so that the viewer gets a chance to experience the various components that occupy these spaces. It is easy to dismiss storefronts as being purely commercial tools, but there are definite hints of a society speaking out through these spaces.”

Click here to view more of Joseph Songco’s work on the artist’s website. Inquire with ArtXchange Gallery for purchase or framed prints.

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Alisa Lahti – The Art of Cut Paper

Alisa Lahti was born and raised in the Seattle area within a large Polish-American family. Drawn to the process of cutting paper with scissors and knife, her work often includes traditional Polish cultural motifs based on the paper-cutting folk art of her heritage, contrasted with contemporary interpretations. She uses paper alone or combines it with other elements. In this way she hopes to keep tradition alive while also stretching her own creative boundaries.

Wycinanki (vih-chee-non-kee) is the Polish version of the art form of fine paper-cutting dating from the early to mid-19th century. It was traditionally created in rural areas of Poland using sheep shears and used as gifts and decoration for homes. Distinct styles developed from different regions, most notably abstract, whimsical versions of birds, animals, trees, plants and scenes from everyday life. These various techniques and styles evolved as they were handed down from generation to generation.

“Starting with the humble medium of paper, scissors and knife, I tell stories about my heritage, history, internal journeys and external environment. The process can be meditative and requires control, but also demands a certain amount of letting go. It is exact, yet often serendipitous. Looking closely, the imperfections create the interest and show the hand behind the work.”

Click here to view more of Alisa Lahti’s work at ArtXchange Gallery.

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Yuko Ishii – Mixed-Media Photographer

Yuko Ishii is an artist, musician, and poet who moved to Washington from Japan in 2001. She creates evocative mixed-media work that is a combination of photography, drawing, painting, assemblage and calligraphy. On display at the Bathhouse is a piece from Yuko Ishii’s collaboration with local butoh dancer Kaoru Okumura, the “Neko Yume (Cat Dream)” series. Also on display is a piece from Ishii’s “Bird in my Hand” series.

“My work explores themes of memory, dreams, paradox and symbolism. I wish to draw the viewers into my work, deliberately weaving many different narratives together. Each image contains some clues to the stories, but there is no explanation of the drama unfolding. No one reveals the hidden stories because this is not only visual but also poetry, which has to be inexplicable allusion. My goal is to capture special moments in time and space that make one slip into a completely different world – images that evoke enigmatic emotions between real and unreal.”

View all of Yuko Ishii’s available work on the ArtXchange Gallery website.

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Cora Edmonds – Photographer

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Cora Edmonds and her family moved to Seattle when she was twelve. She studied international business and began her career in commercial film production for international clients and later launched the first television campaign for Microsoft. In 1995 she decided to bring the adventurous, art-loving and philanthropic parts of herself together to create ArtXchange Gallery, dedicated to cultural exchange through art, film and photography.

Cora’s research of indigenous cultures and passion for photography has kept her traveling extensively throughout the world, trekking and exploring in China, Tibet, Southeast Asia, Morocco and South America, documenting global life and culture through the lens of her cameras.

View more of Cora Edmonds’ photography on the ArtXchange Gallery website here.

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