[ad_1]
Every fall for the past 22 years, Southwest Art Magazine has hosted a showcase for young artists.
As the title “21 Under 31” suggests, this is not a comprehensive guide, but a carefully curated one.
“The editors worked with art galleries, art schools, studios, studio tutors and many other sources to find candidates for this particular function,” reads the note. “We also accept submissions.”
One of the most recent submissions is from 29-year-old artist Emma Kalff, a plein air painter who works in oil and lives in Ridgway. Kalff isn’t from Ridgway; she stumbled across the area during an artistic journey she calls “Finding America.”
At this point, you might be wondering (like this reporter), how did she pay for her artistic journey, a cross-country trip?
“The idea was to make myself aware of the current state of America, away from the filters of pop culture, and create paintings wherever I travel,” explains Calf — not necessarily conjuring up images of a struggling artist . Especially when you’re a young woman, someone more vulnerable than the opposite sex, say, who wants to stay safe on your trip.
When your plan is to live on the road, it’s not just a few months — maybe summer, with nice weather — but two years.
But Calf, a classically educated painter who grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and studied at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, had a strategy.
“I work on a farm,” she explains matter-of-factly. “There’s a program called WWOOF,” short for Global Organic Farming Opportunity, “and it has a map of all organic farms around the world, and it will give you three meals a day and a place to sleep in exchange for so many hours of labor.
“For the most part, it’s a really good program and people are friendly,” she said. “That’s how I supported my travels, learned a lot about organic farming, and created a lot of work.”
guided by wwoof.netMaps, Calf found steady work, room and board, and artistic inspiration in states including Florida, Arkansas, South Dakota, Georgia, Arizona, and California. Kalff explained that she first came to Ridgway when she was prompted by a friend “who knew someone who could surf on the couch with me”. In 2020, at the end of her journey, “I’m back”.
Calfe wasn’t intimidated by rural America.
“I find it easy to meet people,” she said. “They usually look out for each other in a way that’s a little different from my experience growing up in the shadow of a big city”. “Nature’s End,” a stronger connection to the rural landscape, inspires “people to take care of each other. The continuity of my travels allows me to get a lot done,” she adds.
The next step is to be seen. After returning to Ridgway, she exhibited at a local art show in Telluride. Kate Jones, executive director of the Telluride Art Company, happened to “tell me I should have a solo show,” says Calf.
The result was “Finding America,” a solo exhibition at Telluride Art Headquarters two fall.
“That show really got me excited,” Calf said. “It’s a good exercise in, ‘What type of art do you want to make and how do you want to talk about it?’ I have to do that at the opening.”
Since the show, Calfe has continued to paint and worked hard to help pay for it, most recently with Horizon Maintenance, a landscape firm in Ridgway. She met an oil painter, “who was kind enough to let me share the studio space. My colleague lives with him,” explains Calf. “Having a physical space where I can paint means everything. For years, I’ve been painting in my car.”
Kalff’s work incorporates subdued landscapes and figures, drawn from life but evoked by dreams. You won’t find a human face in these paintings; human gestures, colors, and surroundings will suffice. “One’s identity is not that important to me,” she explained. “Telling a wider story, and people themselves, is symbolic in these dreams.”
Kalff via the Professional Artist Site.
“It really helped me,” she said. “I paid a flat fee and got tons of modules, legal resources and templates on how to get in touch with galleries. People say you have to wait to be discovered. That’s a myth. You have to advertise yourself.”
Classes are where Kalff learns about Southwest Art’s “21 Under 31”. She applied in May and appeared in the September 2022 edition of the magazine. A Q&A with the artist accompanies a painting she started in the desert of southeastern Utah and finished in Ridgway, “after stratifying an abandoned train station near downtown.”
Calf left the desert after a spooky night outside the Mexican hat.
“It’s very haunted and it scares me,” she said, but it produced a 12″ x 12″ wood oil titled “Boogieman Is Real.”
The painting was recently purchased by Telluride locals.
Follow Emma Kalff’s work by signing up emmakalff.com/email-newsletter.
[ad_2]
Source link