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Arts & Entertainment

The Nature of Change on Display at Carco Theatre

Cass Nevada, a multi-media artist, has a 10-piece exhibit entitled Maps: The Nature of Change on display from now through May 13 at Carco Theatre.

A rich, tactile art exhibit, a history lesson, and an exploration of nature and beauty are all present in one multi-media display titled “Maps: the Nature of Change” by artist Cass Nevada at this month.

Several years ago the Seattle artist was given a bunch of discarded linen maps from a fellow artist, a ceramicist, who rescued them from a Dumpster from a government agency. Investigation of the maps proved that they detailed surveying maps from eastern King County during the Works Project Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression.

“Most of the maps were marked WPA Project #2541,” Nevada says on her blog (and on descriptions at the exhibit), and “all of the maps had notes from the '30s to the '60s and some to 1970.  The maps had been transferred to both microfiche and modern survey records and were no longer of use to the county.”

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But the discarded linen maps were still useful as the canvas for art and to depict a time in county history.

Nevada selected 10 maps to produce her original art work, superimposed over the maps—which uses natural and local plant pigments to tell the story of how King County evolved over time.

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“The maps have a fabulous tactile perspective,” the artist said. “They are cool to touch, and I left them unframed to encourage you to do so."

It was important to Nevada to see that the original map lines and handwritten notes show through the art.

“All of the maps were worked with natural and native plant pigments as the medium,” Nevada said on her blog.  “Using plant pigments make them transparent,” she said. It was the artist’s desire to explore the nature of change.

On the descriptor of a 30" x 30" piece called “Coal and Mineral Rights” Nevada tells the story of the history of the WPA that came about during WWII. As Nevada describes it, WPA was what we now call a stimulus package; in other words, it was designed to put people to work during the FDR administration.

Who knew the Garden of Eden was in Newport Hills?

Or, at least it might have been on a section of land a developer, C.D. Hillman, was selling at the time.  The story of Hillman is intriguing. A savvy Seattle businessman/scam artist who made millions—or billions by today's standards—was rife with intrigue, fraud, and eventually landed him in jail for his business dealings. But Newport Hills grew out of his vision, and Nevada named one of her works for this period of time. (You'll have to visit the show to get the complete intriguing story or read about it on her blog.)

"Glory—Hillman’s Garden of Eden" is adorned with  birds, bright and aware.  Birds are a common theme in Nevada’s art.

Erica Meade and her husband own two of Nevada's paintings, including one that showcases birds.

"The paintings are small and the images deceptively simple," Meade said. The first depicts  three birds on a wire and the other is a surfer riding a wave. "They both have a great deal of character and life. As we live with them they continue to be enlivening."  

Meade and her husband visited the artist's studio and saw  firsthand how she uses material from nature to make pigment by pounding flowers and grinding bark.  

"No wonder the works have such life. It's a fascinating process," Meade said.

Don Lawn is also a collector of Nevada's work. He was captivated by a little encaustic "surfer dude" that he "just had to have" as a former surfer. He was capitivated by the way she uses materials and the way she works with color, he said.

Nevada is not only an artist, she is an avid gardener, consultant and trainer on social media, world traveler and writer. More information about Nevada and her work is available here.

The show at Carco Theatre runs through May 13. The public is invited to meet the artist at a reception on April 23rd from 5-7 p.m.

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