New Show Invitation 2025

Art of the State 2025

Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. Arvada, CO

January 16 – March 30

Opening Reception

Thursday, January 16th, 6-9pm

ART OF THE STATE 2025 is a juried survey of contemporary art from across Colorado. Every three years, this major show fills all 10,000 square feet of the Arvada Center Galleries. This triennial had 2,503 entries submitted by 911 artists. The jurors selected 149 artworks by 146 artists.

It was very exciting to install the third iteration of The Tea Party for this show. I was honored with a three-walled niche in the main gallery to create an immersive art experience with. When a viewer enters my little tea room tomb, one leaves the outer world behind, and goes down a rabbit hole filled with joy and wonder.

••finalcompblack — Photo composite of Tea Party installation space - side walls 108", back wall 72" -hand-painted wall paper, molding, Peeps, painted fake foliage, fabric, ceramic ware.

Main image on back wall - 42" x 62" - pigment ink print on canvas, hand embellished with oil paints and 3D gel build-up. The original studio photo was done in two parts and stitched together digitally with additional work in Photoshop. Models, Randy Rushton & Sabin Aell, were actually painted blue and pink, and were inserted into a hole in the table top.

Statement

Humor, in light of the gravity of the world condition today, allows me to distance myself from my fears and despair. In so doing, humor functions as a type of defense mechanism that encourages me to go on despite the horror that surrounds us.

Reality is often quite absurd. As I see it, life is not black and white, but dichotomies and opposite truths that coexist simultaneously; a lie spoken a hundred times will become a truth; an untruth can exist in opposition to any established fact. The world of kitsch reflects this irony from a humorous perspective, giving credence while denying credibility.

The Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice in Wonderland is a wonderful epitome of the blurred line between sense and nonsense. The Mad Hatter says at his tea party, “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be.”

“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. “I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone, “so I can’t take more. “ “You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter, “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.

This “Tea Party” installation is a Mad Hatter’s tea party in celebration of nonsense and all things Peep.

Please consider coming to the opening reception, seeing this massive show, and saying “Hi.” It would mean a lot to see some of my friends there. It will be a great opening and I hope you can be a part of it.