Call for Art



THE BRIDGE SHOW - 07/02/17 DEADLINE

Otto’s Abode invites the submission of artwork depicting and/or inspired by the Wanakena Footbridge for a month-long exhibition to be held in conjunction with the July 4th dedication and celebration of the newly rebuilt Wanakena Footbridge.

Artists working in the following mediums are encouraged to submit: drawing, painting, sound, photography, sculpture, printmaking, video, and performance.  Otto’s Abode welcomes the submission of artwork from your personal collection made by someone other than yourself.

Work considered for exhibition must be received by Otto’s Abode no later than July 2nd at 4pm. All work needs to be “ready to hang”. The exhibition will be on view at Otto’s Abode July 4th – 30th and will be called THE BRIDGE SHOW.

For more information call 3158483008 email otto@ottosabode.org or visit ottosabode.org

Exhibition Opening


KATIE M. WESTMORELAND - 06/04-19-17

Otto's Abode is pleased to present a exhibition of colorful and ephemeral works by Artist in Residence Katie M. Westmoreland. The exhibition features work previously made by Katie in Cold Spring, NY as well as work made in Wanakena, NY during her residency at Otto's Abode. The work can been seen within the gallery during regular hours as well as outside the gallery anytime on the corner of Hamele and 4th Streets in the village of Wanakena.

To see more of Katie's work visit www.katiemwestmoreland.com.

I paint the light and shadow moving through a place as I exist within it. My work inhabits the overlapping space between nature and the world of consciousness. I intertwine multiple creative languages to commune with and document the natural world. The light and shadow paintings are a reflection of my dreams, my environment, along with the feelings and shifting states of mind that occupy my personal landscape.

My understandings are sifted through synesthesia and ideasthesia. I paint on semi-translucent, tinted fabric in colors chosen to match the atmospheric light of the place. The fabric is treated like a curtain - as both a veil and a surface. Both sides are painted. I utilize photographic materials and processes, often in a raw state, so the paintings can subtly and indefinitely shift in response to the surrounding light. The process of transcribing flickering light and shadow patterns is a manual form of photography. The resulting painted image is influenced by the clouds in the sky that may momentarily obscure the sun, the rotating of the Earth that causes the shadows to shift and stretch, the breeze moving the leaves and the fabric, and the pace at which I see and trace each light or shadow shape.
 
The paintings are made as photographs and function as textiles. I belong to a family of quilters. At a very young age, my mom let me paint on fabric and taught me to sew the paintings into a quilt. This legacy has evolved and intertwined with my fascination with Oulipo literature and my immersion within an active dream life. During waking hours, I engage with light and shadow patterns that mirror the flickering, ungraspable imagery of my layered dreams. My light collection paintings form a prescient response as I negotiate the material and immaterial.
 Katie M. Westmoreland

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Artist In Residence





KATIE M. WESTMORELAND - 06/03/-07/17

Upon arrival for her second 5-day visit and continuing her residency, artist Katie M. Westmoreland unrolled and strung up a 12' x 7' sheet of muslin which she had coated with bees wax. Through her direction participants taped glob-shaped paper-forms to the sheet. The paper forms were saved-from-discardation stencil cut-outs from a previous project. Tracing the edge of the paper-forms with an x-acto knife the forms were cut out of the wax-coated panel. This continued into the night by campfire light with intentions of completion before the next day when the panel was to be temporarily installed off-trail in the nearby public wilderness. The panel was installed and remained in a location along the Moore Trail leading out of Wanakena for three days and three nights and removed on the fourth day where it was immediately re-hung in public-view on the Otto's Abode compound. The panel will remain in display and move once more in conjunction with an exhibition of Katie's work on display at Otto's Abode June 4th - 19th.

Katie plans to return to Wanakena for another 5-day visit in conjuntion with the Gateway to Wilderness Residency Program. To see more of Katie's work visit www.katiemwestmoreland.com 


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Documentary Film Screening





































AWAKE, A DREAM FROM STANDING ROCK - 06/02/17

 Standing Rock North Dakota became one of the most watched places on earth. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe captured world attention through their peaceful resistance. While many may know the details, Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock, captures the story of Native-led defiance that forever changed how we fight for clean water, our environment and the future of our planet.

Musician in Residence






































Mike Hudson - May 2017

In his Gateway to Wilderness residency proposal, multi instrumentalist Mike Hudson of Harrisonburg, VA wrote that he desired a month-long residency experience at Otto's Abode that would allow him to explore the limitations of solely and acoustic guitar, lyric writing and a 4-track tape recorder. His goal was to create and record a body of work based around local inspiration. We are happy to announce his goal was achieved and the project is currently in the post-production phase.

When not writing, performing, recording, or listing to music, Mike found himself climbing low and high peaks, reading up on local history, short-cut driving weary Cranberry Lake 50 hikers, checking out Montreal (for the first time!), whackin' croquet skills with the best of 'em and soaking up the magic of Wanakena.

Be sure to check out recordings of Mike's current band Z-Plan and stay tuned for the finished product of his residency at Otto's Abode. Cheers to new friends!


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Exhibition Opening




































TRAINWRECK - A COLLECTION OF PAINTINGS BY IAN BURCROFF - 05/19/17

Otto’s Abode is pleased to present a month-long exhibition of busy and colorful acrylic paintings by Ian Burcroff. 

Burcroff received a BA in Studio Art from SUNY Plattsburgh and went on to receive an MFA in Painting from the University of Alaska. The seven paintings on display in this exhibition - which he writes: “...are approached with a spirit of improvisation...” - were created between 2012 and 2016 and depict the explorative and evolving nature of his work through repeated imagery and examination of color, space and form.

The exhibition is on view in Otto’s Abode at 6 Hamele Street in Wanakena, NY from May 2nd-28th 2017. A celebration of the exhibition – which is free and open to the public – will be held 5-8pm Friday, May 19th.

My recent paintings involve a process of pictorial dissection. Each composition contains multiple visual fields that contain pictorial impressions of places and objects; metaphorically relating these to broader symbolic themes. 

Each painting is approached with a spirit of improvisation.  Very little is planned or drawn beforehand. The images consist of fragmented concepts both real and imagined that give a sense of movement within a two-dimensional space.  Information is layered and often stacked on top of patterns and color fields; creating rapid visual changes. Paint application differs in areas of the canvas; it can be additive or subtractive, painstaking or expressive.  Each painting is carefully “built” and is constructed almost like a puzzle.

The paintings evolve according to an individualized process that involves constant editing. This process relies on the intense hues, plasticity and quick-drying properties of acrylic paint.  Each painting has layers and layers of painted imagery under the finished composition.  This “editing” process feels natural to me, and seems to heighten the tension within each composition. Even the smallest painting may take a month or more to complete.  In terms of hours spent working in the studio, each painting usually has 50 hours or more invested. These compositions are not easy to create. The process is laborious and introspective; 10 paintings may represent 2 or more years of steady work. I paint one painting at a time until it feels finished.
Ian Burcroff


Artist in Residence


























KATIE M WESTMORELAND - 04/28-05/02/17

In her Gateway to Wilderness residency proposal, visual artist Katie M Westmoreland wrote that she wished to - during several five day sessions throughout the summer - engage in conversation with the Adirondack landscape by creating "leave no trace" paintings made in response to the sun, moonlight and the spirit of the wilderness weaving meditation, dance and ritual.

During this first session Katie painted the duality of natural and artificial light experienced in the proximity of downtown Wanakena and Otto's Abode. Engaging with community members, exploring town and foot trails and reading over local and historical texts and maps Katie began to conceptualize future project goals and possibilities.

Returning for future sessions - she describes - are significant layers on her palimpsest of experience. We anticipate her return will be filled with as much curiosity, enthusiasm and engaging new work and this first session.

photograph of work in progress in Wanakena by Katie M Westmoreland
To see more of Katie's work go to: http://www.katiemwestmoreland.com/