Wild West Series
In my most recent series, I have explored new territory as a painter. Please scroll down for artist statement and show dates.
Spill: The Wild West
Tabitha Blackburn (Brown) was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest by two artists, and began drawing and telling stories from a young age, winning awards and scholarships for art in school. She earned a B.A. from The Evergreen State College, where she was influenced by the late artist and poet Gail Tremblay. She earned an M.F.A. from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA, where she drew inspiration from painters Renee Foulks, William Scott Noel, and Didier William. Blackburn is also influenced by fellow painter and teacher SeungAh Cha, with whom she has worked at KidzWorkshop 2, an art studio that Cha owns in Bellevue, WA.
After returning to the Northwest, Blackburn became increasingly interested in the narrative imagery of the American painter Charles M. Russell, along with the mythological symbolism of the Wild West. She particularly gravitated toward the ideas of horses and cowboys falling from—or floating in—the sky, as if in a dream; of the implication of force or violence contained in the mere image of a horse or a gun; and of the metaphorical concept of “stampedes”—galloping frenzies caused by a mass escalation of momentum, resulting in a transfer of energy, and often concluding in a flurry of destruction. What does it mean for groups of animals, or even objects, to be caught up in such a frenzy, and how does a solitary person or thing change from a seemingly stable condition, to suddenly being the instrument of an uncontrollable, collective whirlwind, both causing—and being affected by—the ensuing wreckage?
In her work, Blackburn has begun taking note of the tension between “cartoon” art and realism. This tension, she remarks, seems to serve as a symbol or reminder of the tension between fact and fiction, both in Western art and in our historical and political dialogues—in other words, in the stories we tell.
She hopes you enjoy her paintings, as you ponder the significance of the myth and reality of the Wild West, and everything it represents today.
Guest Artist Show Dates: Sept. 5-Oct. 28, 2024
Location: The Gover Gallery, 236 Taylor St, Port Townsend, WA 98368
https://www.thegrovergallery.com/
After returning to the Northwest, Blackburn became increasingly interested in the narrative imagery of the American painter Charles M. Russell, along with the mythological symbolism of the Wild West. She particularly gravitated toward the ideas of horses and cowboys falling from—or floating in—the sky, as if in a dream; of the implication of force or violence contained in the mere image of a horse or a gun; and of the metaphorical concept of “stampedes”—galloping frenzies caused by a mass escalation of momentum, resulting in a transfer of energy, and often concluding in a flurry of destruction. What does it mean for groups of animals, or even objects, to be caught up in such a frenzy, and how does a solitary person or thing change from a seemingly stable condition, to suddenly being the instrument of an uncontrollable, collective whirlwind, both causing—and being affected by—the ensuing wreckage?
In her work, Blackburn has begun taking note of the tension between “cartoon” art and realism. This tension, she remarks, seems to serve as a symbol or reminder of the tension between fact and fiction, both in Western art and in our historical and political dialogues—in other words, in the stories we tell.
She hopes you enjoy her paintings, as you ponder the significance of the myth and reality of the Wild West, and everything it represents today.
Guest Artist Show Dates: Sept. 5-Oct. 28, 2024
Location: The Gover Gallery, 236 Taylor St, Port Townsend, WA 98368
https://www.thegrovergallery.com/
