COLORADO SPRINGS, CO.- The Fine Arts Center announces a site-specific art installation Wendy Mike and De Lane Bredvik: Ragnarӧk Anthropocene, on view July 15, 2017-Jan 7, 2018. Hailing from the Pikes Peak region, visual artists Wendy Mike and De Lane Bredvik prove that art is inherently powerful and transformational.
The installation is inspired by Ragnarök, a series of future events in Norse mythology in which the death of major figures, various natural disasters, and the complete submersion of the world in fire and water ultimately result in a fertile rebirth, reconciliation of the gods, and re-population of the human race. Given the destructive wildfires and floods that have wreaked havoc on the region in recent years, Ragnarök serves as a cautionary tale, asking us to consider our sacred and practical responsibilities to the earth, to think of our family as something far beyond our kin, and to envision a more holistic world in which our roots may literally be found in the forest.
Wendy Mike’s Artist Statement
“Art has the capacity to bypass the intellect and go straight to the heart. From there, new ways of thinking and feeling can emerge. Transformation becomes possible. This kind of holistic experience is what I’m after. My past involvement in various art forms, such as dance, singing, and acting, as well as visual art, influences this desire to engage as many of the senses as possible in the apprehension of the artwork. As such, collaboration with other artists, choreographers, and musicians becomes a natural state.
Materials are selected more for their sensual and communicative qualities than for familiarity. Creating something sublime from humble materials is appealing: the lowly material is exalted (and redeemed) to the lofty role, in the case of Ragnarök, of defining the Gods. Unlike the permanence of bronze or stone, the ephemeral and disposable qualities of plastic are essential: mundanity becomes transcendent.
By offering illuminations of the Gods in motion, spiraling through the story of Ragnarök locked in battle with the unseen giants, I hope to share an experience of profound terror and beauty captured in something as fleeting as a gesture; the barest breath of form sculpted nearly from the atmosphere it occupies, infused with light: a moment of presence to reflect upon our roles and responsibilities in the Anthropocene.”
De Lane Bredvik’s Artist Statement
“Art communicates knowledge about reality by utilizing a form of cognition that is difficult to quantify. We feel, as well as think, about a work of art. Consequently, a viewer may understand something new when looking at art, but not be able to describe it. This ephemeral process of feeling, thinking, and understanding provides the structure for my work.
My art is influenced by a wide variety of public and private concerns and experiences, as well as the compelling sensual quality of materials and the intimate interior world of the mind. Although my process is infused by academic rigor gained from earning a Master degree in architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and undergraduate degrees in studio art and art history, I rely heavily on emotion and the creative process to develop and communicate my ideas.”
