Ryan Molenkamp and nephew McRae
Of course I wouldn’t be saying this strictly because one of the artists just so happens to be my super talented brother, Ryan Molenkamp. Oh, who am I fooling? Of course I am. Well, at least a little bit.
Wednesday night the husband, the kids, and I got a sneek peek at Vermillion’s upcoming show titled “We Built This to Leave,” which includes work from three amazing artists - Trevor Johnson, Sharon Arnold and Ryan Molenkamp. Located in the bustling neighborhood of Capitol Hill, Vermillion is easy to find and accessible, even for country bumpkins like myself. In fact, it was so accessible that my kids had a hard time prying themselves away from the gallery, the peole, and most especially, the street poles covered in advertising, which they found supremely interesting. Wyatt will tell you that he also really liked the pay phone booth with the missing phone! And McRae enjoyed the window plastered in Van’s stickers – he thought that was the coolest thing…well, besides the art hanging inside the gallery. Katie will tell you she enjoyed the Pellegrino, which she guzzled like a sailor on shore leave.
Back to the art.
The gallery describes the work as:
“This show speaks to the obsessive creator in all of us. From our youngest memory of playing with blocks to the daily compartmentalization of our lives we are always building, organizing, and making something new. Each artist in this show explores what we are all so busy building, why we are compelled to do so, how those creations impact the environment, and what becomes of the left over materials.”
While standing there gawking looking at Trevor’s “cloud” installation, a mighty form you can see protruding as if from the wall itself upon entering the space, I knew this was the perfect show to bring the kids to. Any parent who has ever purchased their child anything larger than a matchbox car will tell you that toys, among other things we consume like televisions and computers and leaf blowers, come with a ridiculous amount of packaging. I have found my living room, on more than one Christmas morning, mostly unrecognizable under all the styrofoam that encased their gifts. I have also, on more than one Christmas morning, advised my kids that yes, they could play with the styrofoam for 1 or 2 days…but no more because my goodness it makes a lot of little styrofoam babies in the form of tiny pieces all over the house! And then off to the recycler we go…until the next birthday or holiday. And this tradition repeats itself over and over again until by the time my children have reached the age of twenty, I hate to think of all the packaging that has made it’s way to a landfill simply because of my 3 kids.
Trevor gets that. He gets the packaging and consumption part, and he gets the kid part. His pieces are moving and whimsical, but they also have a message. And my kids loved them! Although I stood like a hawk over them to make sure they did not touch the artwork, viewing the pieces was something we all enjoyed.
Speaking of not touching the artwork…Sharon Arnold blew that all to pieces. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. Since we were there for a “sneek peek,” the gallery was not too crowded, which was nice. When Sharon approached my kids and asked them if they “wanted to touch her artwork” I nearly fainted. Touch the artwork? Are you kidding? But an assured smile and nod from her and the next thing I knew she had my daughter’s hand and was leading her, with the boys following, over to one of her pieces, a fascinating and familiar installation that looked like toilet paper rolls…except much prettier.
Sharon’s pieces are a feat in meticulousness, you can tell that by looking at them. When I asked her how long it took to create each individual roll for her most fascinating (in my opinion) installation, she said “30 to 40 hours per roll.” If memory serves me right, and you never know about that these days, there were twelve rolls comprising the piece. That, in itself, blows me away. Her pieces all evoke some sort of mischief in my inner child. The temptation to pull on those rolls, like a toddler left unattended in the bathroom while mommy paints her toenails, is powerful. And that is just what she asked my kids to do! “Go ahead,” she urged them, “Give it a yank. A good pull.” They looked at her. They looked at me. I nodded and away they went, silly, giddy smiles on their faces – amazed at what they were actually doing.
Sharon Arnold sharing her work with children
And this, is what art is all about.
I’m not certain if everyone will be invited to pull on Sharon’s pieces, but it sure was a cool experience for my kids and they’ll never forget it.
As for Ryan’s work, I’m really at a loss as to what to say without sounding biased since he is my one and only brother (whom I teased unrelentingly in our childhood and will forever be apologizing for that- and I will always thank him for letting me tie his wagon to the back of my Big Wheel and tow him around our patio with impressive speed…without a single injury – I’m sure these experiences translate themselves into his painting in some way or another), but his work is so interesting it hurts. I’ve watched his talent grow and grow and grow and only get stronger with each piece he unveils. They are small, they are large, they are in the middle too – in size. They are intricate, they are surprising, they are unique – in form. When I ask him if a certain painting is of a landscape from our hometown he answers, “It could be,” with his trademark raised eyebrow (a trait only the males in our bloodline inherit). His pieces have a message too. They speak about the impact of people on the environment with their contrasts of the man-made and the…not. The urban sprawl and the way it makes it’s mark upon the landscape are familiar themes that run through many of his pieces. But what I think I love most about his work is that it is unlike any I’ve ever seen, and he doesn’t argue with you if you say you see a floating lily pad (even if it is not, indeed, a floating lily pad at all and you were just saying that to see what his reaction was).
Ryan’s work is grand and it is intelligent. My favorite pieces are those with a lot of color, but the black and whites hold just as much impact. And I could be completely swayed because we share the same DNA, but I think this is his best show to date, even though he wouldn’t invite you to touch his artwork, like his lovely co-artist would.
All in all, “We Built This to Leave” is an eclectic blend of 3 different viewpoints on basically the same thing, our world. The show is a great one to bring kids to as it can spark not only their creative spirit, which seems to remain right beneath if not plastered all over the surfaces of our children, but a good conversation about how humans affect the environment. The show opens tonight, November 6th, and runs through November 29th.
Carrie Blankenship is the author of the blog Stop Screaming I’m Driving, where she attempts to tell her story of motherhood, as only she can. She likes long walks in the park, dancing in the rain, and can be bribed to do just about anyting for a vanilla latte, extra foam. Contact her with column suggestions or just say “hi” at carrieb[at]seattlemomblogs.com. Or, .
Things have been getting rough lately. Really rough. And I mean really really.