Dim Media » Uncategorized

Have you Seen Steve?

blainegarrett — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:38:52 +0000

Starkiller’s New Hope – Star Wars Inspired Artwork On display June 18 – July 7th, 2010

blainegarrett — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:51:54 +0000

Dim Media and Karnak Gallery Present
Starkiller’s New Hope – Star Wars Inspired Artwork
On display June 18 – July 7th, 2010

Karnak Gallery
106 3rd Street North, 3rd Floor
Downtown Minneapolis, MN 55401

Starkiller’s New Hope is a collection of work in a variety of styles derived from a certain 6 part space opera. The artists involved include Joe Lipscomb, Ivy Sendrijas, Charles Denton and Blaine Garrett of Dim Media, Jacob Alexander, Matt Eng, Brian Priefer and Cassie Garner. Expect a wide variety of work ranging from abstract distortions to vivid painterly concept artwork. The exhibit will be up from June 13 until July 7th at Karnak Gallery above the Ugly Mug downtown Minneapolis.

Opening Reception June 18th. Featuring musical guest “Mechanical Hand for a Quarter” performing Staw Rar Christmas Special, a musical collage of samples from Star Wars related media. This reception is free and open to the public, from 6:00 pm until 8:30pm.

Starkiller’s New Hope post-reception will be followed by a musical event Videodrome: Star Wars Edition featuring Solvent, The Claps, Memoire and DJ F@ckstorm. This event is $10 and begins at 9:00 pm, also at Karnak Gallery.

“Star Wars is both an inspiration and an artistic hindrance. It’s brutally difficult to draw a fantastic creature, a space ship, or a robot without in someway invoking a Star Wars reference.” Joe Lipscomb, artist and curator at Karnak Gallery.

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ARTIST STATEMENT (for digital works)

blainegarrett — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:25:48 +0000

I create psychoanalytical digital experiments utilizing Photoshop and a Wacom tablet. These experiments are snapshots into my polluted psyche, one over-stimulated by our culture’s continuous stream of enticing but disposable information. Although both physical and conceptual processes are vital in producing my work, my intentions are to keep the end results open to interpretation, like a Rorschach test, but without the pressure of proving one’s sanity.

Psyche

I am a child of the early 80′s and I had a television. Because of this, I’ve been seduced by Saturday morning cartoons and their sponsors. They persuaded me to collect plastic figurines and form emotional bonds with their ethical storylines- mere fronts to sell more plastic. This upbringing left me cynical, yet alas unable to break my connection to the animated aesthetic or the concept of duality.

Dualities are motivating: nature versus technology, fantasy versus consumer lifestyle, caricature versus portraiture, and comedy versus horror. Duality is humorous because it tends not to be mutually exclusive. Technology stems from nature, and advertisements use fantasy to sell a consumer lifestyle. It is an ideological concept in a dim world where “good” guys are seldom always good, and “bad” guys rarely admit they are bad.

Some of my favorite and current artistic influences include Naoto Hattori, Dr. Seuss, and Hieronymus Bosch. They all paint imaginative creatures rendered in their individual styles. I appreciate this other worldliness, and aspire to emulate a personal window to a foreign realm.

Process

I have a repressed surrealist vision that subtly leaks out through aggressive abstraction. This vision is filtered through improvisation and reiteration. If I find something interesting but unintentional develop in my work, I embellish it. Like highlighting scary faces in wood grains I explore the canvas, searching for clues that lead to its final appearance. If something is alluring in one digital painting, I will copy and paste it into another. It becomes an experiment in how transplanted imagery can adapt to a new environment.

The Dinosaur Sequence is a great example of how I toggle these processes. First I created a somewhat symmetric black and white collage using a photograph of a dinosaur skeleton. I increased the contrast creating the first in the sequence. Then I duplicated Dinosaur Sequence #1 and improvised over select parts, creating Dinosaur Sequence #2. Like interpreting an inkblot, I searched for imaginable characters hidden in the first sequence and embellished them in the forefront of the second. For Dinosaur Sequence #3 I improvised over Dinosaur Sequence #2 and so forth. I continued this reiteration process for 15 unique digital paintings, each interconnected by source material.

Reflection

The best part of digital painting is actually painting. That is when the mind is active and possibilities rapidly appear and disappear. Once the work is printed it becomes like a trophy, the head of some wild beast. Aesthetically pleasing, but no longer threatening.

Yet aesthetics are what entice the viewer, the lure of dialogue and I value an honest interpretation. The experiment is to test what I can see in a work versus what someone else can

Celeb Series @ Dunn Bro’s Show up – Go Check it out!

blainegarrett — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:50:25 +0000

We just got back from moving the Celebrity series from the Dunn Bro’s in the Library to the North Loop Dunn Bro’s! After a minor snafu or two, the show is up and ready for your onslaught of gawking… just like real celebrities. Unlike, real celebrities, these lovely paintings will be hanging out all of June at your favorite neighborhood Dunn Bro’s. Pictures below. Yes some are from the 3rd St. Dunn Brother’s – we had a 3 hour showing of the series there, but will be back with them soon too. Think of it like a preview show

Jingoistic

blainegarrett — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:33:05 +0000

Acrylic on Canvas
2008
$400

Kindred Gathering

blainegarrett — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:44:04 +0000

Acrylic on Canvas
2008
$400

Dyadic Strangers

blainegarrett — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:59:32 +0000

Acrylic on Canvas
2008
$400

Non-Formalized Encounter

blainegarrett — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:06:40 +0000

Acrylic on Canvas
2008
$400

Global Perspective

blainegarrett — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 06:12:56 +0000

Acrylic on Canvas
2008
$400

Communication Channels

blainegarrett — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:30:09 +0000

Acrylic on Canvas
2008
$400