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I think of my drawings as specimens that have not yet been identified, as in they are abstract organic forms based on textures found in nature with an emphasis on mark making and mapping out larger spaces to find potential areas for detail and elaboration.

My paintings, on the other hand, are inspired from still lifes built from fabrics, toilet paper, foliage, dried flowers and other found objects. Using observational skills to capture every tiny shift in color and temperature, I create an “alien” environment. Scale and color transform the small still life reference to something abstract yet believable, with the resulting space suggesting a home for an organism or life force that is imagined or undiscovered.

Paige Davis is a multimedia artist currently living in Lenexa, KS. She earned her BFA in Visual Art from Clemson University, South Carolina. 

Enjoy this exhibition through August 21.

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 What comes first – the medium or the message? Tell me a little about the work that will be on view.

Both! I ​tend ​to focus on the medium and, when all goes well, it should enhance the message. I appreciate how oil paints behave and provide so much range in color. For my newer paintings on view, I did a lot of testing with still lifes that involved submerging mundane household objects in milk which added a different layer of depth and created new opportunities with color for me to then play with on canvas to create believable yet abstract environments. 

With my multimedia works, I choose my materials with more intent and consideration. A few of my more graphic pieces on view include fly fishing thread which is a nod to my interest in camping and newer hobbies since moving to Kansas - hunting, fishing, and all the skills that you hone while outdoors. When I use graphite and ink, I’m kind of recalling that idea of field notes and studies. I start with an abstract splash of ink, study it and enhance areas of interest. There’s no particular result in mind when I start these pieces, so it’s a bit freeing compared to my oil painting. 

What do you feel is your role as an artist?

Recently, I try to focus on how making art enhances my life, personal growth, and critical thinking. In the grander scheme, I hope people that do view my art spend a few moments lost in observation and are able to just be present with the work. Furthermore, I hope it encourages people to make that connection beyond the art - to appreciate the beauty and complexity of their own surroundings. 

What influences your practice/works?

I’m inspired by the idea of “place” and observation. Nature continues to be a large influence in my work; moving from SC to TN - and to KS in 2013- has exposed me to a variety of landscapes. In learning about habitats, I was fascinated with the knowledge that there is all this activity at the “edge” of a habitat and its importance. I try to recall that concept when working on a piece.

Who are the other artists you look to for inspiration? And what about their works do you like?

I’m inspired by a lot of portrait painters because I simply love flesh tones and the variety of colors that are actually used to define the figure. From early on, I’ve always enjoyed Jenny Saville’s works and how she places the figure in space and her brush strokes. I’m very much inspired by ceramic artist Sam Davis (he’s also my husband)! He often finds a way to insert humor into his work and is a good reminder not to take myself too seriously or overthink my ideas; he also challenges me to consider context and concept with my work. 

What other writings do you recommend reading to have a better understanding of your artworks and your art practice/process? Please look through our on-line catalog and provide any links to resources that you would recommend.

Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980 by Jean Robertson and Craig McDaniel- My painting professor at Clemson introduced us to an excerpt (Chapter 3 in particular regarding “Place”) and it blew my mind. 

I also encourage reading any outdoor books that help you identify nature, plants, tracks etc. native to KS (but then go outside and identify stuff and enjoy the feeling of curiosity and discovery)!

This won’t help you understand my work necessarily, but I read a million romance novels. I also find that oil painting in general can be kind of dramatic and romanticized so getting in the studio after reading some angsty love stories makes for good results (especially when paired with an equally dramatic and angsty playlist). Mariana Zapata has been my go-to romance author :) 

Joe Bussell is an award-winning painter of startling, vibrant abstracts that defy description. Figures and shapes float and scrape across the canvas in ways that are both playful and mysterious. His work embraces primary colors that can simultaneously blend together and maintain their identity.

He states: “When I was a kid my summer days were spent playing baseball, hunting for fossils, attending music and art camp. My favorite activity during these carefree summers was going to the public library on Saturday and thumbing through the open stacks pulling out everything from art books to zoology. It was a thrill to get them to a table and scan through the contents. This series of new paintings is titled Leafing Through and are based on these childhood memories.”

Enjoy this exhibition through August 21.

Introduce yourself and describe your work and the media/genre you work in.

My name is Joe Bussell, website address: joebussell.com. I'm an abstract painter and sculptor. In 1979 I earned a BFA in painting from Kansas University. From that time to the present I lived in London, on both US coasts and a variety of cities in between. I received 2 MFA’s—one in painting and the other in ceramics from Washington University in St Louis. I taught art at Wash U and Johnson County Community College. My work has been represented and exhibited in the US and Europe over the last 40 years. 

Talk about the work on view. What would you like people to know about it?

When I was a kid, my summer days were spent playing baseball, hunting for fossils and attending music and art camp. My favorite activity during these summers was going to the Lawrence Public Library on Saturday and thumbing through the open stacks, pulling out everything from art books to zoological drawings. It was a thrill to get the material to a table and scan through the contents.This series of new paintings is based on these childhood memories.

Describe your creative process. How often are you painting and where is your studio?

Process is my favorite part of making art. These paintings are primarily made by pouring and scraping the medium on and off the canvas. I have kept my studio practice in Rosedale for the last 19 years. I work in the studio every day.

Who are other artists you look to for inspiration? And what about their works do you like?

The artists' works I always look at are Joan Mitchell, Mark Rothko, Howard Hodgkins and Cy Twombly, but not sure I can say they inspire me. I'm inspired by many things though, from contemporary African sculpture, to opera, to a snowy night reflecting stars and a full moon.

Please list 5-10 books, movies and/or music that currently inspire you.

I've been a reader and a movie goer my entire life.Books and films that are a part of my consciousness include, The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz, Paradise by Toni Morrison, Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin and Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Films include, Boys in the Band, To Kill a Mockingbird, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Insect Woman by Shohei Imamura.

I'm currently reading Zora and Langston, The Letters of Sylvia Plath and Foursome, Alfred Steiglitz, Georgia O'Keefe, Paul Strand and Rebecca Salsbury. Very different people but interesting how their creativity match up in many ways.

Nature and our environment are all around us yet we often look right past them rather than right at them.  I love hiking in a National Parks or on the trails of the suburbs or the streets of a city. My eye sees literally our natural environment but also our man built environment, the forms created by man can also be enthralling. Exploring our natural and man built surroundings is a spiritual feeling for me. I come to see how small I may be to the universe and its creator yet how integral we each are to the whole of our world. This exhibit displays my photography of the world around us. You will view up close enough to see the hairs on a moth or rust on a drain pipe and pull out to see the curves of a large tree or the geometry of a city scape. But I’ll go even further and show you abstractions that while they come from our environment, you may have to be a detective to decipher what they are.

Enjoy this exhibition through June 28.