ArtPrize Artist Profile: In a Sea of Color

It’s mid September and the summer sun readies a last repose for the season. Hanging high, it sheds a lingering warmth on the red bricks of an old factory along Market Avenue. A large white sign adorns the entrance of this aging edifice and proclaims, “Now Leasing: Offices, Workshops, Storage, Manufacturing, (and) Artists.” As it happens to be an artist I’m in search of, I make my way through the door.

After climbing a short flight of stairs, I’m met by a welcoming dark haired woman wearing a brown UICA t-shirt and blue jeans. We shake hands and she says “Hi, I’m Abbey. My studio is upstairs.” Abigail Bradley, painter, mixed media artist, and most recently, ArtPrize entrant for 2010, is a Korean adoptee and has lived in west Michigan since she was a young child. She says she loves living in Grand Rapids. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (2003) from Kendall College of Art and Design, and coincidental to this interview, she will be speaking to students at Kendall this Friday.

Upon entering her studio, one gets a sense of how much Abigail Bradley loves color. From the abstract paintings that hang on the white walls of her studio, to the unintentional droplets of paint that breathe life into its wooden floor, color is everywhere. With a style involving photographic transfer and abstract oil painting, the use of color in all of her work is striking. When I ask how she came up with her style of painting, she explains that she started out painting representational interiors, then after awhile, became more and more interested in abstract art. Early influences Mark Rothko and Richard Diebenkorn, she explains, drew her to abstract expressionism. Expanding a bit further she notes that it was the energy in their paintings and their use of color that she really liked.

“So what inspired you to become an artist?” I ask, somewhat unprepared for her response. With an infectious laugh she leans back in her chair and says, “It’s funny you’re asking me that question. It happens to be the topic of my talk at Kendall on Friday; becoming a Studio Artist.”  Ms. Bradley then begins to elucidate on the topic, saying she was very young, about eight, the first time she entertained the idea of becoming an artist. Over the years the idea had always been percolating, but she never specifically set out to become an artist, until she committed to art school. “It happened sort of accidentally on purpose,” she says with a smile. “It’s a deep passion and a big part of who I am.”

Elaborating further Ms. Bradley explains that the art she creates is a form of emotional communication for her, and that it fills the need to be creative in her life. When I ask what it is that she likes to convey in her paintings, she replies, “I like to provide a springboard for open interpretation.” Speaking of her work in general, she says “City under construction has been a recurrent theme.” With a professed fondness for Grand Rapids, many of her paintings loosely document some of the changes in the city’s skyline over the past ten years.

In addition to abstract painting, Abigail Bradley also creates art with “found objects”. These are things that most people discard as useless: an old mirror, a broken radio, a child’s lost toy, an antiquated gear from some machine.  A found object could be anything; one man’s junk… so to speak. Commenting on this art, Ms. Bradley says that she likes “taking something old and unwanted and turning it into something new.” In a collaboration with Pierre Babbitt, she and Babbitt entered a work entitled The Lost and Found Project for ArtPrize 2009, based on this kind of art. While their piece did not win the competition last year, it definitely turned some heads in the downtown lobby of Huntington Bank.

As for ArtPrize 2010, this year Ms. Bradley is flying solo with a painting she calls Her Open Eyes. Her painting, not yet complete at the time of this interview, will more than radiate her passion for color. From a fortuitous first look, this writer believes that Her Open Eyes will be quite an experience. At fifteen by six feet, I cannot help but feel marooned in a sea of vibrant peach and fiery orange, while being quenched by somber shades of blue and a contrasting black. Although feeling forsaken at first in this ocean of color, the intimate gaze from a pair of gentle eyes in the foreground strips away any feeling of isolation or alienation that I might have felt. It is very comforting. As for the finishing touches Ms. Bradley has in store for her painting, all this writer can say is that anticipation wrapped in a little mystery oft quickens the step of the intrigued.

Her Open Eyes can be viewed in the skywalk of DeVos Place Convention Center, 303 Monroe Avenue NW. It will be on display for the duration of ArtPrize 2010, the voting code for this piece is 37831. To see more, or to purchase artwork by Abigail Bradley, there will be a showing of some of her work at The Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, 600 Forest Hill Avenue SE in Grand Rapids, MI. This showing runs from October 1-26 and is open to the public. Contact and other information can be found at bradleystudios123.com.