BY JO ANN WEST
As part of the First Annual Teton Valley Idaho Homegrown Arts Festival in September 2023, I was fortunate to be able to exhibit .some of my recent work at High Point Cider, a super cool venue in Victor, Idaho. It is hard to see Willa in the photo who was allowed to attend the opening, who along with precious friends and loved ones helped to make the day perfect!
This body of work is newly available on my website.
PORTAL
n. a barrier by which an entry is closed and opened.
A portal opened. It led me to France, Italy, Santa Fe. Immersed in different cultures, their simple yet unforgettable foods, other ways of living, the antiquity, the mesmerizing landscapes and a sea that captured my wildest dreams. There was a physicality to some of this that emptied me and made room for inspiration. Words were flowing, poems, and favorite pieces of music sustained me, each of these were informing the other and my art. The portal to creativity, a sacred place to be.
The etching press, the nature of ink on plates, photographs, chine collé and elements of surprise unique to printing were the processes for expressive interpretation of lived experiences and dreams that came true.
Inspirations:
Earth Teach Me Quiet, as sung by The Crossing Choir, written by Ēriks Ešenvalds
Conversation With A Stone, a poem by Wislawa Szymborska
Forty-Five Days, a poem by Jo Ann West