September 2019: Jamila Clarke, Gretchen Gammell, Kurtis Hough and Ceramics by PCC-Rock Creek

This September brings a bevy of talent to Art At The Cave in downtown Vancouver, WA including photography by Jamila Clarke, paintings by Gretchen Gammell, video work by Kurtis Hough and ceramics from the 32 x 32 show at PCC Rock Creek. Please join us for an opening reception from 6-9pm on Sept. 6th, and an artist talk Saturday, Sept, 14th from 11am-12. The work will remain on display thru September 28th.

From the Book I Series by Jamila Clarke

Women in a Situation by Gretchen Gammell

Corpus Flower by Maddie Duyck

Storytelling is a common thread through the photography of Jamila Clark and paintings of Gretchen Gammell, whose works are displayed in the front gallery of Art at the Cave. Kurtis Hough’s high definition video in the black box titled “Too See More Light” explores dreams, and patterns found in nature. In the upper gallery, students and staff from PCC-Rock Creek exhibit their 32 x 32 Show; a daring challenge where the final piece must weigh 32lbs and have a 32” dimension.

Stills from To See More Light by Kurtis Hough

Artist Statements

Jamila Clarke - Short stories and folktales heavily inspire my work. These stories are brief, open-ended and yet they can weave complex tales by using the viewer to fill in the pieces – inviting them to provide their own answers. As a photographer with a background in psychology and theatre, I find myself drawn to these compelling stories; how they allow the viewer to explore the world of the character - putting themselves into their shoes. Each photo is a brief glimpse at a story already in progress – neither at its beginning nor its end. Some of these stories are fictional and some are inspired by real occurrences, emotions and thoughts, altered and exaggerated to become something far more surreal or hyper real.

Each photograph is approached as if producing a short film – locations are scouted, costumes and props are created and gathered, actors are cast. I use my camera to bring these stories to life, combining the seen and unseen through digital post-processing to stretch the truth to explore things that are experienced internally and usually unseen.

Gretchen Gammell - A couple decades of painting behind me and these days I find I know less about the work I make than my younger self claimed. She was so young, it was just too soon to tell.

I have been illustrating my life for as long as I can remember. Consistently I trust the term narrative to describe the context of my paintings. And while I often play lead role as I catalogue my own history, like every main character I can not predict where this is all headed, nor can I see the broader storyline as I navigate it in real time.

What interests me is not what the work is about, but how it got there to begin with. While I do so love that ease of tension in the back of my throat when I bring a piece to completion, that’s simply because I like to tidy things up along the way. The real power of painting for me is in the physical labor of narrowing down my ever-changing perspective into what ultimately becomes a flat, smooth, simplistic two-dimensional story.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, my paintings are the novel I’m still writing. And let me tell you, it is at least 1500 pages, heavy in footnotes, part two of a trilogy, prequel on record, sequel yet to come, and most definitely starts with this dedication: Hey mom, thank you for telling my kindergarten teacher to stop tearing up my drawings just because I wasn’t following directions.

Kurtis Hough - Artist exploring dreams and patterns found in nature. With a patent eye, Hough examines landscapes and organisms with timealapse photography and digital cunning, building rich worlds that surprise. With subjects ranging from slugs, lava, glaciers, to slime mold, each display a deliberate focus on rhythms found throughout the natural world. His 25 short films have gained over 175 screenings in theaters, film festivals, art galleries, and television, along with over a million viewers online.

PCC Rock Creek – Cheryl Cardarelli, Michael Robinson, Peter Irving, Pam Winklesky, Carol Schallberger, Thomas Kohler, Jasmine Kwatra, Sue Svoboda, Janice Fisher, Rodger Beretbitsky, Brad McLemore, Donna Cole, Kathryn Kleine, Marcia Bianchi, Maddie Duyck