True or False:
The theory doesn't matter as much as the practice itself?
We believe that creativity is a spiritual experience. As Carl Jung so aptly stated, "I do not believe. I know." In other words, creation can be viewed as being done by faith rather than sight. Through faith sight is channeled.
The challenge of the artist is to get beyond our internal censors to the field of time where imagination is free to play; to our interior where we find both our creator and our creativity. The mission is to straddle the balance of the light of insight with the force of power that can be used both to destroy and to create.
And in surrealism, it's all terra incognita.
Because, reality- well, how do we all stand it? We do so by standing knee deep in the flow of life and paying close attention. See, life is not about success or failure and has little to do with it's actual quality. The quality of it is in direct proportion to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of attention. And so, if survival lies in sanity, sanity lies in paying attention.
Art is born in attention, delivered by detail. This wordless world of image and symbol is forever chased by words of explanation yet the exact crux of it is that the process of creation is about the mystery rather than the mastery. That's the journey.
And in times of great pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past is too painful to remember, artists pay attention to and react to the right NOW.
As our neighbor and friend, Craig Tracy, once declared, "All my friends are artists!" Artists love other artists. And so, naturally we take great honor and pleasure in showing, sharing, and selling our artist friends as guests at Myth Gallery.
We take great care in curating and tailoring the emotional intake experience for those who visit our gallery by imploring these different works, styles, mediums, messages, and evocations. Life is a lot like one of Betsy's mosaic works in terms of the layers of incidentally collaborative exposures mixed with the relativity and processing of the individual. We enjoy playing with the symphony that all these very different yet equally profound artists provides to the orchestral experience that is the overall experience of visiting Myth Gallery.
Please enjoy this post that details each of our guest artist's styles, influences, processes, bodies of work, history, and dreams for the future. We enjoyed creating it to share with you and encourage you to reach out with any questions or comments.
FATHERLESS PRINT POSSE
Fatherless hails from the US and is a collaborative screenprint effort best described as a “Visual Mixtape of Shenagination.” No two prints are ever alike. Influences are many and certainly captured by what we have coined as a “Rust Belt Power Pop.”
After the balance of power shifted to the dark side, the defending of lies with the now infamous term “Alternative Facts” sparked us into action. This exhibition was a direct response to our current situation at home and abroad. Images of war, inequalities, and greed are all represented and play a part in our work. Asking the questions ‘How did we get here?’ and ‘What can we do to make a change?’ And simply looking to maintain some level of sanity during those chaotic times.
The righteous rage, that fight the power energy, that they drip beautiful neons on to make the medicine slide down our throats more easily as we gulp down their powerful messages is what we love best about exhibiting the work of the Fatherless fellas within our surreal world at Myth Gallery.
TOUR THE GALLERY
"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music- the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasured, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself."
-Henry Miller
NANCY JOSEPHSON
1955-
NYC born artist, Nancy Josephson has spent much of her life mining whimsical, beautiful and often controversial subjects. As an artist, author and musician Nancy traverses the world of spirits and secular. As a visual artist using sequins, beads and found objects Nancy fills empty space with beauty. As a musician Nancy uses words and voice to fill the air. She (like nature) abhors a vacuum.
"Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconciousness- I wouldn't know, but I am sure that it is the antithesis of self consciousness."
-Aaron Copeland
“I have spent large portions of my life embellishing my surroundings..from whole rooms to every vehicle I’ve owned (even “tricking out” my own cremation urn that reads “Does this make my ashes look big” on the back)…transforming the mass mundane into celebration of the individual.
My work (whether sacred or secular) is imbued with joy, sparkle, beauty and an ironic touch of humor.
The use of nontraditional art materials and non mainstream trajectory (having been a road warrior musician for much of the time others may have been in school) speaks to my self taught status in the art universe. Much of my work is based around the beauty and meaning of sacred objects. The spiritual connection of art and object is a constant source of interest and art making. My travels around the country and the world have been a profound source of information and inspiration. Telling visual stories, making visually compelling beautiful work is a passion and an honor…
Part Deux
I’ve been standing in the kitchen for what seems like years just stirring. This damned roux won’t brown up. I’ve spent so much time getting all the ingredients together just so; the turkey brined, cooked, made into stock. The okra was a deal to find. The vegetables were easy. But the roux! I know, give it time. It’ll brown and the rest of the ingredients will meld together to make this gumbo the labor of love and technique that speaks of a deep understanding of what it takes to get this thing right.
I started in music. I only wanted to do ‘real’ music...rootsy, soulful and elemental. I wanted to get to the core of what music is in the way it lifts the spirit from the inside. Music took me on the road. I went ‘off road’ to search for the ‘yard shows’ done by artists who would never think of themselves as ‘Artists’. The art was so much a part of them that they just couldn’t contain it. They WERE art, and they were everywhere; in roadside shrines commemorating a loved one’s passing, in hand painted signs that warned of our ultimate destination as Hell if we didn’t follow the rules, in the singular vision of a woman who knows how to make a pie that’ll make you weep.
Then I started using my hands instead of my voice. Visual art gave me a more solitary way to explore how to surround myself in physical beauty and meaning. Trial and Error was my alma mater. I played with all sorts of materials while creating shrines big and small. I ‘did’ cars (embellishing 9 over the years), cremation urns, taxidermy animal forms, etc.
Then I went to Haiti.
My first trip opened up questions about physical home, one’s spiritual ‘home’, how one ‘gets by’, what one must risk during the creative process, what IS the creative process. With every trip I found more questions as well as a few answers. For the last 2 decades I have traveled to Haiti several times a year to study and work with artists and spiritual mentors. In 2007 I wrote a book (long in the making) about the incredible artists who use sequins as their medium. Then, in July 2013 I became fully initiated into the priesthood.
Forming synapses that link my work in Haiti with my American sensibilities has been both a challenge and a joy. There is a leap of faith necessary to land in that place where serendipity, spiritual belief and the physical act of creativity meet.
So, I continue to stir the pot to try to keep the roux from burning and get that ‘thing’ right!”
See more of Nancy's career highlights here.
Nancy & Betsy Teach Workshops Together!
NEXT UP: The Museum of Beadwork
VINSANTOS
is a multi disciplinary artist living and working in New Orleans and Mississippi.
Vinsantos Art Dolls are sculpted from polymer clay painted with cosmetics and adorned with a vast collection of vintage and antique treasures. These assemblage art dolls are one of a kind and built into their own custom made casings and frames.
Vinsantos coveted commissioned dolls are the ultimate in personalized art. When taking commissions, he asks that the collector submits one to several dozen sentimental items, family heirlooms, and ephemera from their lives to create a direct link to the client. Often times, collectors will have themselves, their family members or their favorite icons turned into OOAK handcrafted treasures to pass down through the generations to come.
As a musician, Vinsantos coins himself as a Drag Cabaret act. He takes a modern approach on the traditional style of the Weimar Cabaret scene from the 1920s. Blending original and classic songs, storytelling, comedy, costumes and visuals, a highly intimate relationship is built with his audiences worldwide. Recently, Vinsantos found himself on tour with Peter Murphy and David J of Bauhaus fame and continues to work with his legendary forefathers to push his story forward and present a unique and theatrical approach to your normal everyday rock and roll show. You can listen to and purchase his solo debut album produced by David J along with a few select singles online. Expect a new album to be released in the coming months.
As Liberace once said,
"Too much of a good thing is wonderful."
"I have made my world and it is a much better world than I ever saw outside."
-Louise Nevelson
Vinsantos works in partnership with his collectors to create one of a kind memories in these unique collaborations.
Family heirlooms, life markers, sentimental ephemera and anything under the sun that holds a special memory for the collector is incorporated into the assemblage making an unbreakable bond between the collector and the art itself. You can have yourself, a loved one, your favorite icon created just for you. You can also submit a box of treasures to be used in making that dream piece that you've always wanted.
"We all carry things with us throughout our lives. We keep them in boxes, under beds and in drawers. These inanimate objects carry a value that you can't put a price on, but we often don't know what to do with them. We store them away in places unseen. I have created a way to take those irreplaceable items out of their hiding spots and breath new life into them so that you can enjoy them and the memories they hold forever and ever. This is my life's work and I could not be more honored to have such a blessed job and a way to connect with my clients."
-Vinsantos
We met Vinsantos when he opened Funeral Galerie on our beloved block of Royal Street, in the French Quarter. Fast friends, he participated in our group show to welcome Sally Ride to the gallery in 2018, Bunny Ball. We rveled in his performative success locally and jumped at the chance to carry his work exclusively when he decided to close his gallery in February 2020 in order to pursue more full time his myriad of other artistic endeavors.
LAST DANCE (Trailer) - Frameline46
Check out Vinsatos music here:
And procure a cookbook here
MELINDA RISK
My work has evolved into tiny creations that can be worn as jewelry, though sometimes the delicacy means only when you are relaxing on your throne. I am like a sponge absorbing all things good, bad and unusual that are then filtered through my thoughts to become a tangible, archival jewel.
Each jewel is a combination of many different techniques that I have acquired either learning from others or self-taught with much experimentation. I enjoy the challenge of having a story to tell and then learning new techniques to create the vision. My childhood memories are of making things and when I attended Kent State University, I had the opportunity to explore many different mediums and I chose metals. Over the years I have been adding different materials to my work so it often resembles sculpture and the wearable part is secondary. My work is covered in details all around and underneath with secrets for the wearer that can be shared if they choose. Creating is my form of mediation and I put all that I have into each Jewel.
My techniques include carving, casting, fabricating, granulation, painting and more. The materials I use include gold, silver, copper, bronze, diamonds, gemstones, porcelain, wood, bone, paint and glass. I create each piece myself from beginning to end in my studio.
We love how well Melinda's style integrates with the totemic symbolic emanations of Betsy and Scott's work. Her commitment to details secret only for the wearer and her inspirational well pull from the natural world that surrounds her in Indiana make her work a perfect fit for the Mythological storytelling we so enjoy sharing with the world.
"Creativity is...seeing something that doesn't exist already. You need to find out how you can bring it into being and in that way be a playmate with God."
-Michele Shea
KARL M. JAHNKE
1975-
Jahnke lives in the suburbs of Chicago where he paints, sculpts and raises ungrateful chickens.
"All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. Thie big art is our life."
-M.C.Richards
The defiance Karl masterfully portrays alongside his perfect juxtapositions of antiquity and modernity, the dualities and similarities therein, these are our favorite things about Karl's work.
Our newest guest artist, Karl, brings so much necessary drama to our assortment. Scott & Betsy discovered his work at a local art walk in their hometown of Rockford and immediately hit it off with fun Karl. This piece, Ms. Rychter, was the first we ever showed and will remain our forever favorite as it hangs in the home of an amazing local New Orleans couple. We think that though Karl is from Illinois his work absolutely belongs here in New Orleans.