"It Takes Two" Gallery Show

"It Takes Two" by Nicole Shek and Joel Clifton

Duo gallery show @ Michaelangelo Gallery in Santa Cruz, CA. August 2017.

Check out our interview with LocalSC!

https://localsantacruz.com/uncategorized/takes-two-interview-nicole-shek-joel-clifton/

Nicole Shek and Joel Clifton - Artist brief ~ August 2017

"A few months ago, Joel moved into the studio just a couple footsteps away from Nicole with the sole intent being a full time artist and getting into a gallery. Upon meeting, we instantly connected and gravitated towards each other’s work, and we started collaborating on paintings and working hard together to get a show. Both having a great passion for art and life, we've shared many ups and downs these few months in Santa Cruz in our Quanset Hut studio building. It was definitely quite the rollercoaster ride, and we focused on our solo works in the end; but nonetheless, working through the days and into the crazy hours of the nights, we pushed each other to our absolute limits! From that, we explored, laughed, cried, yelled, created, and painted! -- always working side-by-side and motivating each other. This experience in working towards “It Takes Two” taught us how to freely explore our true feelings and express them on canvas, and for that we are both forever grateful for. Hopefully one day there will be a part 2; but until that time comes, we hope you enjoy our few months that we shared."

Personal Artist Statement - August 2017

"I’ve gravitated towards the arts throughout my entire life, being really my sole method of escaping and making sense of the world around me. Growing up in the Silicon Valley, I started off in the digital realm with photography and graphic design. Through my time at UC Santa Cruz, I’ve grown passionate towards the craftmanship and process of fine arts, focusing my studies in printmaking and analog/digital photography while dabbling in other creative courses like sculpture and mixed media. Without the resources and facilities at the tip of my fingers after graduating, I discovered a love for painting.

My most recent work for “It Takes Two” has been my passionate exploration of painting, and unveiled to me new nuances and big, bold possibilities in my work. Scaling up and making this larger scale work has been a liberating experience and has allowed me to comfortably embrace and express my emotions on canvas free of inhibitions. I look forward to making more and even bigger works in the future and exploring ways of combining my love for all mediums in an emotional and provoking manner.

Painting is my most honest and earnest effort of expression of emotion; complete liberation of mind, body, and soul. I feel, and therefore I do. I believe in the interconnectedness of all things, the importance of action and reaction, and feelings that can’t easily be put into words. Every stroke, form, gesture, and color attempts to reveal my inner truth in response to personal experiences and listening to others’ individual stories and emotions. My method of painting usually starts off with spontaneous, gestural work; I then take the time to step back and reflect upon what is before me on the canvas. In response to the raw chaos and (not so) happy accidents, I highlight and identify forms both abstract and representative. Playing with the process is what excites me most as the composition begins to reveal itself unknowingly. I’ve discovered my ultimate freedom of expression through abstraction and surrealism, blurring the lines of what is real and what is not. "