Annette Yoho Feltes: 2nd Place Winner

Winner of the Winter 2011 Competition

OBECTIFIED

Artwork that brings an inanimate object/objects to life.

An exploration of the use of objects in a body of work.

POTATO mixed media

48 x 12 x 12 in NFS

CATERPILLAR mixed media

7in x 11in x 5ft 6in nfs

BRIDE mixed media

3 x 3 x 5 ft 850. usd

artist statement

Replacement Parts

My art is my own forum in which to react not only to the world outside of me but to myself. Who I am is how I feel, what I have become and am becoming. My soul is sometimes fractured mirror I hold up to nature and struggle to make sense out of the pieces. Fusing or melding one material to another to create a visual harmony between two unrelated materials is how I deal with struggle because being human is necessary, not easy.

This series of wheeled creatures began one day when I was sitting in my studio working on a piece and I looked down on the table at the old set of training wheels laying there. I had been dealing with a low back injury that created bi-lateral leg pain and numbness. I thought what a relief it would be to be able to pop my legs off and pop those wheels on and roll around for a while free of pain. Replacement parts. I would be amiss not mentioning a painter that I went to school with, Aubrey Lerner, whose paintings are realistic combinations of industrial manmade combined with nature.

In making “Potato,” I found myself being pulled into the simplicity and wonderment of childhood. This wheeled series turned into push/pull toys for very unusual children. They hearken back to a time when pure joy and comfort came from the simple act of pushing the popcorn popper toy or pulling the little brown dog whose legs went up and down and made a squeaking sound.

bio

Annette Yoho Feltes is a mixed media sculpture artist residing in Canton Ohio. She worked as a neuromuscular therapist for twelve years prior to receiving her degree in Art in 2009. She earned a BFA in sculpture from the University of Akron with a minor in ceramics and a BA in English. She is currently applying to graduate school with the intention of earning an MFA in Sculpture and broadening her use of materials and mediums in her work.

Education
2009 BFA Sculpture, Minor Ceramics; The University of Akron.
BA English; The University of Akron.

Solo Exhibitions
2010 Solo Show; Balanced. Red Light Gallery, Akron.
2009 Senior Exhibition; Surface. Akrona Gallery, Akron.
2009 The Miami Experience. Project?s Gallery, Myer?s School of Art.
2008 Junior Review; Lower Atrium Space, Myers School of Art, Akron.
2008 Wood, Wax, and Other Stuff; Projects Gallery, Myers School of Art.

Group Exhibitions
2011

The 50 Dollar Show--The Pop Shop, Lakwood Ohio.
Heartspark Dollar Signs(February)--The Pop Shop, Lakwood Ohio.
Monkey Bars (March)--The Pop Shop, Lakwood Ohio.
Blind Date (May)--Anderson Creative, Canton Ohio.
6th Anniversary Show (May)--The Pop Shop, Lakwood Ohio.

2010

Visions of Sugar Plums--Cyrus Custom Framing and Gallery, Canton Ohio
Deck the Walls--Anderson Creative, Canton, Ohio.

2008

Can I Play With It? ; Atrium Space, Myers School of Art.
Juried Student Show; EJ Thomas Hall, University of Akron.
The Cone Box Show; NCECA, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

2007

All the Difference, Works in Clay; Emily Davis Gallery, Akron 2005
Cream; Lower Atrium Space, Myer?s School of Art, Akron.
Juried Student Show; Emily Davis Gallery, Akron.

Galleries
Studio 2091, Cuyahoga Falls.
2nd April Galerie, Canton Ohio
Akrona Gallery, Akron Ohio
Cyrus Custom Framing and Gallery, Canton Ohio

Annette Yoho Feltes

annette yoho feltes

canton, ohio [USA]

www.annettefeltes.com

annette@annettefeltes.com

ArtSceneToday Q&A

Q: Where do you see yourself in the art scene today?

A: I am an emerging artist coming up for air in the pool of the abstract. I’m diving deep - still exploring materials and media to bring to the surface. I have strayed from any traditional path but I might describe myself as having Rauschenberg-like tendencies with different esthetics.

Q: What is in your inspiration?

A: Nature is my biggest source of inspiration when it comes to the aesthetics of my work. I try to mimic those textures and surfaces that nature and time painstakingly carve. My feelings and reactions to the world is the primary subject matter of my work. Often I work intuitively allowing a sort of stream of consciousness to flow carrying the work to where it will.

Q: What are your challenges?

A: Physically manifesting a thought or feeling is always the biggest challenge for me. The melding of unrelated materials in a way that evokes recognition and surprise challenges me.

Q: How did you/do you choose your medium?

A: I am tactile. In a previous life I was a neuromuscular therapist where I learned to see worlds with my fingertips and my eyes closed, now I create worlds. I am drawn to the fleshy qualities of clay and wax and the incredible depth of surfaces these materials offer. I experiment with the surface textures that can draw out of stone, wood, and metal. Found objects bring their own history and stories. It is often the irony of these objects that draws me to them as well as the surfaces that time has serendipitously etched on them.

Q: Which artist has influenced you the most?

A: Very strong women like Louise Bourgeouis, Eva Hesse, and Magdelena Abakanowicz influence me. All are emotionally evocative--communicating both personal and universal emotions in their work. I appreciate the variety of materials each of these women uses. Like them, I use materials to express my feelings and convey myself through my art. Andy Goldsworthy also influences my work, because so much of my art, ideas, surfaces come from what I witness in nature. I admire Goldsworthy’s ability to take nature and turn it into something that expresses the true beauty of the materials, which is breathtaking.

Go to OBJECTIFIED Exhibition Page