31 december 2016

Brian Cypher




Brian Cypher's atelier, voor 2012.

"....
My current studio is a repurposed storage/workshop building on my house property. It was remodeled several years back and it's a rather small but functional space at 10 x 20 feet. When it was remodeled, I pushed the ceiling up and brought natural light into the space with windows and skylights. It really wouldn't have felt like a proper studio without it. It's quite a wonderful space to work in but I am starting to feel some growing pains with it. There’s one main wall that I use for painting and looking at work. The opposite wall contains two large flat file drawers that are stacked and the top surface functions as a workspace. I also keep all my books on that wall. In one half of the floor space, I have a long table that doubles as a workspace and a printmaking area. The rest of the walls function as places to put up images for reference and reflection. It's mostly a mix of recent work, older work and other visual interests that I’ve collected. The studio mostly affects my work because of the close proximity between it and my home. It's always there when I need it to be.
...." (bron: Studio Critical)


Brian Cypher at work in his studio, Washington (state).




Brian Cypher's atelier, 2014.

"....
Brian recently completed work on a new studio building, and in the following interview, he details his plans for it to serve not only as a studio, but also as a future location for art in the Seattle area.

PB: You have just completed the construction of a new studio. Tell me about what went into its design and your plans for it to double as an exhibition space.
BC: The idea and actuality of the new studio became real in December of last year. I had been using a converted garden shed for 5 years and I was quickly becoming smothered and cramped by that space. I contemplated renting a studio away from home, but that idea was quickly discarded as time is already at a premium between family and the day job, so we started thinking about the possibility of building the studio next to the house. Once that idea emerged, it wasn't long before we started to make it happen.

The studio design went through a few iterations. Like most art studio wish lists, it all started with the want for a large open space with high ceilings. I really wanted it to feel as loft-like as possible. The first few ideas were great but too expensive to realize. After a few tweaks, we settled on a design that matches the Mid-Century style of our house. Functionally, the studio looks like an oversized garage but with the addition of an entry, bathroom and smaller studio back room. The overall dimension is 26 x 52 feet with the ceiling height reaching 12 feet on the high side. The garage door is a roll-up as to avoid the tracks that are usually associated with traditional garage doors. It was important to me to eliminate any unnecessary sight line intrusions. To make the space feel more open, I went with using open web trusses like the ones used in commercial spaces. They look great and again it minimizes sight lines. The lighting throughout the studio uses T5 high output fluorescents at 3500K spectrum. I wanted the light to be fairly neutral and avoid being too blue or too yellow. After 20-plus years of making due with various spaces, it's finally great to be in a space like this.

The realization of wanting the studio to be used as a gallery really became apparent once the walls went up. I think for a lot of artists, there's just a natural inclination of wanting to curate, and so for me it's a way to connect with the arts community and provide another outlet for viewing art. The gallery will be called Occasional, and that also describes the program's frequency. I didn't want the ambition of showing other artists work to turn into another 'job' so I'm keeping the expectations of doing exhibitions to be on occasion. An added benefit of having a gallery space run from my studio is that the typical gallery overhead is essentially eliminated and I don't need to have sales in order to keep the project afloat. The first exhibition, titled Acquired, will feature work by over 40 artists from my personal collection. The show will go up sometime early next year.
...." (bron: Painter's Bread)

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