February's Art Talks at Clark

Multimedia artists share details about their careers and artwork

By Masha Yaremenko
People gathered around an individual at the front of a room, who is motioning to artwork on the table in front of her.
Pictured: Artist Tallmadge Doyle displays her artwork for audience members during her Art Talk on Feb. 9.
 

Clark Art Talks invited artists—both virtually and on campus—to impart stories of their unique experiences to students, staff, and community members throughout the month.  

Each artist has a different path that brought them to where they are in their careers today. From freelance illustrative jobs to starting their own businesses, each of these talented people had something valuable to share with aspiring artists.

From Stage to Clay

Maya Vivas virtually joined Clark College and spoke about how her art style evolved from her experiences as a theater major. Maya shared that she works with clay not only in performance art but also in sculptural artwork.  

Many of Maya’s works are abstract, figurative pieces that incorporate queer themes. She opened Ori Gallery in Portland, Oregon, alongside her friend Leila Haile, to amplify queer and trans artists. 

Maya created an honest and relaxed environment during her talk, opening the space for student questions—and there were many. She shared advice about networking, as well as applying for residences and exhibitions. Currently, Maya is preparing artwork to be exhibited at One Grand Gallery in Portland next year. 

Embracing Identity Through Animation

Joining Clark College over Zoom, Dani Bowman was eager to share her story with aspiring animators and artists. As an early entrepreneur, Dani began her journey as an animator at the young age of 11. By the age of 14, she had created her own animation studio, “DaniMation Entertainment.”  

Dani continues to use her animation studio to help educate young autistic individuals interested in animation. Autism was a diagnosis Dani received at a young age, and she never let the diagnosis or stigma get the best of her. “I didn’t grow out of my autism, I grew into it,” said Dani. Her goal is to help educate others about common misconceptions about autism while supporting kids who are interested in animating careers. 

Dani shared how her animation evolved from Microsoft Paint and PowerPoint to more complex software. At the end of her virtual talk, Dani opened the opportunity for questions from the audience. Clark students asked about Dani’s brainstorming process, programs she uses, and other details about her career. 

Inspired by Nature

Tallmadge Doyle is a printmaker whose primary inspiration is nature in the Pacific Northwest. During her time at Clark, Tallmadge shared that she was initially inspired by a collection of scientific drawings. From there, her art was inspired by the sensory experience of being in different natural environments.  

Many of Tallmadge’s works are vivid, colorful pieces. Because of her layered techniques with different pigments, colors shine through the contrast in application. Occasionally, she would add India ink to her compositions to combine painting and printmaking. 

Tallmadge described what it’s like to participate in artist residencies, and how each of their environments impacted her artwork. She experiences different environments, sometimes meeting animals that live on these properties. At the end of her talk, Tallmadge encouraged the audience to come up and see her physical prints up close. 

An artist stands at a podium, looking at the screen behind him.Staying Open to Opportunities

On a bright, sunny afternoon on campus, Ryan Alexander-Tanner (pictured right) joined a class of comic students and other community members to discuss how his career evolved. He cracked jokes about his journey and encouraged audience members to chime in with questions as he spoke.  

Ryan began illustrative projects during his time at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. During his time in the field, he happened to meet Dave Dahl, founder of Dave’s Killer Bread, who commissioned a logo design from Ryan. 

Ryan continued to venture into comic illustration, and he spoke about what it’s like to create collaborative projects with people who aren’t familiar with artistic processes. This sprouted a conversation between Ryan and the audience about how to manage professional artistic collaboration.  

Ryan shared many bits of advice on how to manage a career in his industry. “Who knows what will happen?” he said. “You never know what the ‘thing’ will be for you.” Stay open to opportunities—even if you might not initially think it’s your style; it could open the door for several others that will elevate your career. 

Learn the Rules, Then Break Them

Artist Rachel Wolf holds up darkroom paper.Rachel Wolf (pictured left), a photographer and professor at Pacific Northwest College of Art, joined Clark’s campus to share what it’s like to do photography without a camera. Rachel loves to work with a variety of chemicals to create images in a darkroom.  

To begin her talk, Rachel demonstrated what it’s like to create an image without a camera. She set up a bright light in front of a student volunteer and taped darkroom paper on the wall behind them. After a few minutes of continuing her presentation, she turned off her light to reveal the image of a silhouette on the darkroom paper. 

Rachel shared details of how her artwork evolved during her experimentation. “Once we’ve learned the rules, we can break the rules,” she said. Her artwork began to shift from not only light-based work, but into work that plays with sound and time. In some works, she incorporated sound waves into her creative process. Later on, Rachel began creating “time-based art”, which involved waiting periods between certain steps of developing her images. As she spoke, many students chimed in with brainstorming concepts for future projects that incorporate Rachel’s unique techniques.

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Photos: Clark College/Kendra Larson and Masha Yaremenko

Story by Masha Yaremenko, Digital Media Student Intern, Communications and Marketing