WOW! With just 52 hours to go and many more dollars to raise, we are really feeling the pressure! But we are also feeling such gratitude and warmth. Thank you so much for all your support and love.
Today we feature co-founder and artist Kendyll Gage-Ripa. Kendyll speaks so eloquently about the purpose of Here Now. Her short vignette, made with love by Leo Townsell, is truly a gem and one that deserves to be featured at this pivotal moment in our campaigning. Kendyll highlights the greater purpose of Here Now. This is not simply a pop-up shop or an art event, it is the beginning of a community and a support system that we are all in need of as artists and viewers. We can share together in this project – help us by supporting Here Now with whatever you can today!!
Artist Spotlight: Kendyll Gage-Ripa
Video by Leo Townsell. Music provided by The Grandparents (“Golden Isles,” from Fumes, c 2012).
Q. Who are you, where are you from and what do you make?
A. My name is Kendyll Gage-Ripa. I just moved to Portland from Massachusetts, where I graduated from Smith College this past May. I’m a visual artist who works across different mediums. Right now I’m working on a series of lamps that I make out of grapefruit peels, which I sew together with a needle and thread. They tie into some of my other recent work surrounding the idea of skin. I’ve been interested in the idea of skin for 2 years now, and have used a variety of different mediums in the process (spandex, liquid latex, leather, onion skins, tracing paper, thread, and now citrus peels). To me, skin is both a material and a metaphor–it is fundamentally flesh-like, but it also has invisible social significance attached to it. I’m interested in how skin serves as an access point to thinking about difference and identity.
Q. What work are you presenting at HERE NOW?
A. I’m really getting into this medium of citrus peels. I like the way they smell, the satisfying gesture of sewing them, the unpredictable way they transform as they dry out (not to mention the fruit inside!). The lamps I’m working on right now are kind of a design project, and a way of getting to know this material.
What I’d really like to do is create an installation using sewn citrus peels. I’m envisioning something like a quilt of citrus peels, pieced together in deliberate and intricate patterns. At Here Now, I hope to get a chance to make that happen! The installation will be performative, as I’ll be peeling and sewing in the space every day, adding more and more peels as the month goes on. It will change with time, as old peels dry and fresh peels are added.
Portland has great resources for re-purposed materials, and is all about salvaging, and re-use. In the spirit of Portland, I’ll also be cooking/canning marmalade from the discarded fruit. I’ll be leading a marmalade making workshop series in conjunction with the installation project, where visitors will learn to make marmalade and get a chance to take home a freshly canned jar of their own.
Self Portrait. 2012.
Q.Why are you a part of HERE NOW? Who brought you to it?
A. I originally met Alexa because I was her intern. I got involved in AlexaStark when I first
moved to Portland, and immediately felt a connection to Alexa and the work she was doing. We hit it off, and she has since become a dear friend. Alexa introduced me to Galen and Nathan…and then boom! Here Now was born.
Q. What does this project mean to you? Have you ever done anything like this before?
A. I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s all new. Here Now is so exciting because its the chance to not only do what I love, but also to share that love with others.
Q.What do you hope to gain from this project? Who are you excited to know better after this?
A. From where I stand now I can’t clearly speculate about the unexpected challenges we’ll face or the beautiful surprises that will bloom before us as a part of Here Now. This undertaking will undoubtedly be a huge learning experience. I am so excited for the joy and frustration of learning so many new things. I know the New York space will bring people together from many different directions of all of our lives, and I am thrilled at this opportunity to meet so many creative beings. I know in this process I may learn more about myself, too.
To see more of Kendyll Gage-Ripa’s work, Click Here!
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