Tree of the Week 4
Art is collaborative
Making art sometimes requires a blending of talents. Pieces may be large and complex, incorporating elements of structure, electronics, light and sound effects, logistics and artistic design. Working with others with skill sets different that yours can add dimensions to a piece that are synergistic.
But collaborative art can also be a challenge, when you incorporate differences in artistic vision, budget, or size. Imagine then if your collaborator is also your spouse…
Meet Kim Rask and Missy Douglas, two sculptors that make beautiful art in Seattle. Here is what they say about collaboration in their art.
“When we tell people that we are married and run a studio together as full-time sculptors, we are often met with a mixture of amazement and amusement.
People either assume that to be in a relationship with your colleague inevitably leads to a loss of objectivity. Or that daily life in the studio is punctured by marital bickering about who last took the garbage out. And never mind the tacit misogyny: the temptation to airbrush out Missy’s contribution to the creative partnership and instead see Kim as the lead - or artist ‘with assistant’ - is overwhelming.
Despite these challenges, we’ve forged a strong, equitable artistic partnership over the last ten years. As in any professional situation, personal issues are left at the studio door. A sense of mutual respect opens up a safe space for clear communication, constructive criticism and a dynamic exchange of ideas. Rather than being a hindrance, emotional intimacy can help us surmount obstacles. When one partner is despondent, the other can read the situation instinctively, take on extra responsibility and lift morale. Such is our artistic and personal bond, we couch everything in terms of 'we’ and ‘us', not 'I’ and ‘me' to honor the collaboration and propel us resiliently forward.
Whether it be a public art piece or a gallery show, we follow a creative process which exploits our shared skills, combined experience and individual personalities. This journey begins with research. We immerse ourselves in books, catalogues and drawings to create something which is both true to our artistic voice and can resonate with the viewer. While Missy writes up the concept of the piece which helps focus our train of thought, Kim researches materials (as we work in mixed media, the intrinsic relationship between concept, form and materials lies at the heart of our practice). Once we embark on the lengthy making, installation and promotional phases of the project, we work alongside each other in the studio - or pass the mantle from one to the other – to get the best out of the partnership and see the piece to completion.
Working as part of a team, whether it be a modest partnership like us, or a larger collaboration can bring untold rewards. It’s fantastic to have someone beside you when times get tough (as they often do as professional artists!) and to breathe a sigh of relief once a sculpture or series of work is finally realized. “
Their tree is called B(L)OOM!
Compressed into a single explosive moment, B(L)OOM! represents the unfurling and growth of a nascent sapling tree. This sculpture stands at around 8ft tall and is composed of a hand-cast fiberglass shell fitted with internal LEDs, and encased in a highly colored, highly textured, tinted resin and stained-glass exterior.
B(L)OOM! reimagines the rotund, smiling humanoid forms - and indeed repurposes the base materials - of Kim and Missy’s Odd Jelly Out sculpture series of 2017-19. An invisible blast to the torso’s technicolor bubbles and brickwork forces OJO’s body into a state of dynamic torsion. Feet swivel, arms are flung open, and the neck of the OJO shoots upwards into space. An elongated trunk of twisting leaves and organic forms spirals upwards, eventually bursting into a crown of budding OJO heads which erupt with flowers, succulents and other delights.
B(L)OOM! is a fantastical and quirky piece of maximalist sculpture which speaks of extraordinary regeneration and transports the viewer – via the duo’s customary use of vibrant colors, bold shapes, manipulated scale, shimmering light and delicious textures – into a space of childlike wonder and playful whimsy.
