Art in motion at Dairy Barn

by Yvonne Teems
Staff Writer   

Immersed in beauty and showered with color, abstract human forms swim the depths of two watercolor paintings displayed in the new exhibit, "Move It! Studies in Motion," at the Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center.

Artist Ken Landon Buck, who paints swimmers, won one of three best-of-show awards at the show for his works, "Crossing Lanes," "Double Crossed" and "The Chase Continues." He said he enjoys working with realism by staying true to body shape and abstractionism by distorting that shape with water.

Before touching a brush to canvas, Buck picks up his camera and some friends and heads to the pool. With the swimmers comfortably in the water and five or six rolls of film waiting their turn, Buck tells his friends to flirt and have fun. "The people I paint are inspirations. They inspire me to create what I couldn't do by myself," Buck said.

Back in his studio, Buck works for about three weeks with pencil, combining five or six photographs and improvisation. He assimilated the process to a road trip - although he has a map in hand, the driver might spontaneously add shortcuts along the way. "You have a planned route, but you change it to make it more interesting. You go with the flow," he said. "It's a risky plan, but it still gets you there."

In painting swimmers, Buck said he engages in a type of art therapy. While camping as a teenager, Buck discovered his brother's body at the bottom of opaque waters. After painting swimmers for a time, Buck said he eventually realized he had developed a way to bring life back into an event he cannot change.

"It's almost like I create something beautiful out of an ugly situation," he said. "When I'm painting, I can control the time and the situation. The worst scenarios in my life have gone into painting."

As a teacher of figure drawing at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Buck tries to set an example for his students by entering shows. He said he inspires them, proving they can do something with their art.

Buck currently has work in eight juried shows including one Oct. 6, at Hyde Park Square in Cincinnati.

Dairy Barn Program Director Julie Clark said the show, which opened Saturday, encompasses kinetic artwork, paintings, drawings, embroidery and anything else that deals with movement.

"We were trying to think of a theme that lets the boundaries open enough that lets the artist make it exciting," she said.

Juror Rob Fisher said he was surprised at the number of artists who responded to the theme. He chose 30 artists out of 60 and found it difficult to choose award winners.

Aside from Buck, "best of show" was awarded to Wanrudee Buranakorn for photography and to Christy Georg for kinetic artwork.

Georg said she likes to put herself into whatever she sees, anthropomorphizing objects. She said her work is like a kid's plastic windup toy running across the floor.

"By animating objects with motions, people can identify with them and have a better art viewing experience with them," she said.

One of three works in the show, "Wait/Hate (for Nauman)," was constructed out of old typewriters. Mechanical hands press "fingertips" onto paper that spills onto the floor, spelling "Hate," again and again, while at the "wrist" of the piece, typewriter keys spell out "Wait." Georg said she sees the art viewing process as a boring, passive activity, which is characterized by the piece's drumming fingers.

The viewer has to turn the crank to operate the art, so instead of waiting for the artwork to engage the viewer, Georg said, the viewer must physically engage the artwork.

Fisher said people will find the show varied in the way in which the theme has been interpreted.

"I think it's going to make a very handsome show, and a show that's full of a variety of experiences for the viewer," he said.

The Dairy Barn, 8000 Dairy Lane, is open Tuesday and Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m.; Thursday, noon to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.