Delta des Refuses Event

Posted on September 23, 2015 by lksukany

The Delta des Refuses event at the Laman Library – Argenta branch is a special exhibition showcase for artists who were not accepted into the 57th Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center (a vast majority of the works entered were passed over). This show is inspired by the original 1863 Salon des Refusés held in Paris. Featured artists included Manet, Cezanne, Pissarro, and many others who are now widely recognized as masters of their time.

I was one of the artists not accepted into the 57th Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center. Typically, I would not feel the bitter rejection – I submit a lot of work to a lot things and get a lot of rejection letters and emails. However, when I found out that George Dombek was serving as the juror, I was disappointed. My grandmother was married to George Dombek’s brother for forty years. I have never met George that I can remember – it wasn’t like close family or anything – he most likely does not even know who I am. I didn’t become an artist because he was an artist or anything like that. But I thought that would be a kind of cool way to meet him (indirectly meet him), through him viewing my work. Alas, it is not our time yet to meet.

I submitted three paintings from my Romania painting series: Romania Hillside, Romania Poppy Field and Hillside, and Fairytale Romania.

When I first received the invitation to the Delta des Refuses exhibition, I didn’t want to participate because I didn’t want my artist peers to know I had submitted and was not accepted. The more I thought about the exhibition however, the more I was encouraged that there was an opportunity to show my “rejected” work. I also was curious to see what other pieces and artists were rejected.

We went to the opening and there were so many people there. We even ran into some friends who were enjoying the art.

The show will run through October 16, 2015 at the Laman Library – Argenta branch.

Artist Interview with Wildwood Park for the Arts

Posted on September 18, 2015 by lksukany

As an Arkansas Arts Council Arts on Tour artist, I recently had an art exhibition at Wildwood Park for the Arts. I was interviewed shortly after the exhibition by Wildwood.

What mediums do you work with?
In printmaking, I work with relief printing (linoleum and woodcuts), etching, and lithography. With painting, I work with mostly oil, but at times with acrylic, gouache, and watercolor. I enjoy drawing with different types of charcoal, pencils, and ink. I experiment with fabrics, fibers, and natural materials (papermaking).

Besides your art practice, are you involved in any other kind of work?
I write and record music with my spouse in our band “The Damsels in Distress.” We mostly create albums, but have been working with KUAR Arts and Letters to create music for their productions. We also have created a children’s story called “The Boy and the Firefly” that has accompanying music. We hope to explore more bookmaking and song ideas to accompany puppet shows.

What does a typical day in the studio look like?
I have a large to-do list and organize the project for that day. I lay out the materials I will need in order, and then begin working in a linear way. So, if I am going back and forth with multiple pieces or projects, it’s all ordered in a list of what to work on for each piece. I often will have an audio book (fiction literature – mostly classic literature or adolescent literature) playing or an old black and white movie going on in the background. I am alone in my studio and cannot work with others in my space unless they are intently working on something as well.

What are you presently inspired by – are there particular things you are reading, listening to or looking at to fuel your work?
I am currently working on a Romania landscape painting series. It was inspired from a missions trip I went on last year with Livada Orphan Care to Targu Mures Romania. Because the region was mostly country side, we had to drive each day to the on-site work location. I was completely inspired by the beauty of the countryside and took many photographs during these drives. I hope to finish these paintings early next year, where I will photograph them to place into an inspirational prayer book and donate the paintings to Livada to sell for orphan sponsorship.

What do you hope your work will accomplish? How do you want people to be affected, if at all?
I hope to use my work to connect with and help others. I think for others to be affected by my work differs for each series I work on. For the “Maintaining Life” series, I hope people are able to see how even the mundane can be otherwise from an altered perspective.

How do you navigate the art world?
I still have a lot to learn about the “art world.” In the meantime, I will continue to create, blog on paperopera.com, and exhibit my work.

How would you define a “successful artist”?
Success is such a personal thing. For me, a “successful artist” is an artist who works, who likes their work, and who continues to challenge themselves in their work.

To see more of L.K. Sukany’s work, visit lksukany.wix.com/artist/.

You can also read the interview here.

L.K. Sukany Art Exhibit at Wildwood Park for the Arts

Posted on September 16, 2015 by lksukany

As an Arkansas Arts Council Arts on Tour artist, Wildwood Park for the Arts was one of the galleries I contacted about an exhibit.

M and I went to Wildwood a couple of days before the opening, and Sofia helped us hang the show.

There were some cool press opportunities: Arkansas Life and Little Rock Soiree Online.

A lot of people came to the opening. There was a sign-in sheet at the front to enter into a drawing to win a framed “Reading Into It” lithography print – for the duration of the show. Whole Foods catered!

Along with the exhibition and delicious snacks from Whole Foods, “The Damsels in Distress” played an instrumental set.

“Know Who’s a Robot” also played, and it was a super good time.

After the exhibition, I was interviewed for the Wildwood Park for the Arts website. Read Artist Interview here.

Arkansas Life “Sketchbook Feature”

Posted on August 28, 2015 by lksukany

I was contacted by Jordan Hickey, senior editor at Arkansas Life about interviewing for the Arkansas Sketchbook feature for August 2015. He had come across some of my work online – specifically Developed and Less Finished: Maintaining Life and thought it would be a good fit for the Arkansas Life A&E section. He would interview me and would feature a large image of one piece along with a short bio.

“Do you think that’s something you’d be interested in?”

Of course I would! How exciting! Who does that? What artists’ work gets viewed and then is asked to interview and be featured in a well-known publication? Me!!!!

We scheduled a phone interview and talked for about an hour. The next thing I knew I was the feature artist in Arkansas Life for August 2015.

At the end of the article, there was even mention of the Wildwood art show! “Be sure to head over to Wildwood Gallery at Little Rock’s Wildwood Park for the Arts later this month, where LK will be exhibiting Developed and Less Finished: Maintaining Life from Aug. 21 to Sept. 20.”

You can read the article arkansaslife.com/plumbing.

Paintings for Livada: Romania Hillside View

Posted on January 23, 2015 by lksukany

When I was on the missions trip with Grace Church serving the Livada Orphan Care ministry in Romania, the beauty of the country inspired me. I had the idea that when I got home to Arkansas I could paint these Romanian scenes and donate the paintings to Livada to raise money for orphan sponsorship.

There were so many beautiful landscapes. There were times when we were driving from the day camp to the next place we were going to serve and I would just look out the window and gasp. The place where we were in Romania (Târgu Mureș) was hilly and full of these breathtaking countryside views.