“I wanted to create a mixed media piece that not only incorporates the atmosphere in which Maker’s Mark is typically consumed, but also literally uses the materials of Maker’s Mark to create the art. Items that I incorporated into my piece include labels, wax & barrel staves.”
Joen Pallesen (b. 1979) grew up in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1999 he finished his education of screen-printing at København Tekniske Skole. He has practiced and created graffiti art since 1994 and in 1997 created an assemblage of other graffiti artist under the name Open Your Mind, or better known as OYM. He has been a contributing member of the artist collective, Copenhagen Cruise since it’s beginning in 2002. He has exhibited his work at Øksnehallen in 2003, Støberiet from 2005-2007 for their monthly event, Rytmisk Legestue with fellow artist Mikel Kvisgaard. Over the course of the past decade he has been commissioned to paint several murals and facilitate art events for the city of Copenhagen. In May of 2011 he has recently moved to Louisville with his family and has had the opportunity to create artwork for events held by the Louisville Visual Art Association, Salvo Collective and Center for Neighborhoods.
Amy Lemaire is an artist and educator based in Louisville, KY. She received a BFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000, and an MFA from Pratt Institute in 2011, also with a focus on painting. In addition to her paintings and performative artworks, Amy has been working with glass since 1997, and specializes in flameworking, with an emphasis on soft glass sculpture, beadmaking, and botanical replication. She exhibits her work nationally. Additional information can be found at www.amylemaire.com.
Lemaire’s recent series of works contemplate wearable sculptures as political art. Historically, necklaces, headdresses, bracelets and other jewelry pieces have been worn to communicate status and rank, and to make a visual statement to others particularly regarding political and social affiliations. Displayed on the body, touching the flesh, a piece of jewelry is also intensely personal, reflecting the wearers individual style . It is through this duality of public/personal that a connection is made to political art.
BH Choker, by Amy Lemaire, was constructed from oak plugs which are used to seal bourbon barrels during the aging process. Once the bourbon is extracted from the barrel, the plugs are discarded. By salvaging, carving and refining these oak pieces, and combining the reworked pieces with flameworked glass, the plugs are transformed into a wearable, sculpted necklace which carry the history of the materials through the gravity of the wood and glass.
“Waiting is from a photo I took while taking a tour of the Maker’s Mark distillery. I made my canvas out of the wood slats that are inside the Maker’s “46” barrels. I painted my picture in acrylic paint and framed the piece with the same wood slats, clear coated the whole piece in a water-based clear coat and to top it off I melted the Maker’s red wax down the sides and a little bit down the front. This was a really interesting piece to make since we had to use out of the ordinary materials. Hope you enjoy it like I do!"
Chris Chappell is a 33 year old self taught artist, life long Louisvillian and a dabbler of several mediums. His passion is making instructional paint videos and public murals, and whenever possible, live painting. His subject matter could be anything on any given day, but mostly he likes to explore the idea of life consisting of 2 parts, 1 half joy and 1 half tragedy. His work, including videos can be seen at clchappell.com.
"Since my day job is working around glass, I wanted to do this piece in glass and make it kind of sculptural but for the wall. I am a painter so I always work 2 dimensional and wanted to challenge myself to something different. Basically I wanted to see how nice I could make something new & different with the tools and equipment that I have access to."
