A Joint Exhibition by Jessica Wachter & Kent BurkhardsmeierStory by Jessica Wachter Photography by Claudia Johnstone, dasFOTOhaus   Kent Burkhardsmeier and I met about three years ago through mutual friends. He is originally from my hometown of Bismarck, and is an amazing photographer. Kent and I hit it off right away, discussing our passion for art. We stayed connected and both stay intrigued by each other's art. There was definitely something about the energy of the work that he did that I found both beautiful and compelling. Eventually, our creative outlets went full circle, working together to fuse his landscape photography with my abstract painting. This month, we cordially invite you to tour our joint exhibition, "connected." at The Capital Gallery in Bismarck. Conversation & Collaboration Currently, Kent lives in Florida, but photographs landscapes around the world. During one of his visits to Bismarck, he photographed land that was deeply personal to me. I was able to watch him as he worked and was amazed at the incredible way he captured the land. There was an abstraction to it that I had never seen before. I told Kent that as an abstract artist people are always asking me things like, "What inspired this? What were you thinking about? What were you looking at when you created this piece?" These questions have never been something I've been able to answer well because there's a rawness about my work. It's hard to explain in words or in concrete terms. This conversation is where our collaboration was born. Anchoring my Abstraction We began discussing how cool it could be for me to paint what I feel when I look at his work. In other words, anchor my abstraction in a concrete idea - people would know exactly what I was looking at when I created a specific piece. Then, our minds went wild with different ways we could bring our very different styles of work together and what this connection could symbolize. All of this led to a joint exhibition entitled, “connected.” This joint exhibition is on display at The Capital Gallery in Bismarck, North Dakota from October 5th through January 8th. The work we filled the gallery with took well over a year to curate. This new, collaborative body of work represents all the powerful shifts in perspective, learning, and growth that both Kent and I have experienced as a result of our collaboration and connection. This new, collaborative body of work represents all the powerful shifts in perspective, learning, and growth that both Kent and I have experienced as a result of our collaboration and connection. It represents what is possible when we choose to see life through the lens of connected, period. In other words, what’s possible when we decide that, no matter what, there is always a point of connection. Our show's manifesto... BREATHE. UNDERNEATH THE LAYERS, THERE’S A POINT OF CONNECTION LOOK. BEHIND ALL THE “MASKS,” THERE’S A POINT OF CONNECTION HEAR. PAST EVERY DEFENSE, THERE’S A POINT OF CONNECTION LEARN. DESPITE THE DENIAL, THERE’S A POINT OF CONNECTION WELCOME. AMID DIVERSITY, THERE’S A POINT OF CONNECTION REACH OUT. THROUGH KINDNESS AND HOPE, THERE’S A POINT OF CONNECTION THERE’S A POINT OF CONNECTION. THERE IS A POINT OF CONNECTION. THERE IS ALWAYS A POINT OF CONNECTION. Take Kent’s photograph of the children running on the beach, for example; you could say there’s a break in the chain. You could choose to view it through the lens of disconnected. But when you put your “connected, period” lens on, you’ll see two children reaching for one another and you’ll begin to feel the kinetic energy connecting them. That is what my brushstrokes represent in this piece - they help bring your attention to the choice you get to make, all day every day. Which lens am I going to choose to see this person, this situation through? Disconnected or connected? The Essence of Art One of the reasons art is so powerful is because it meets you right where you’re at…no judgments, no preconceived notions. It doesn’t ask you why you aren’t further along. It doesn’t care what age you are, what political group you affiliate with, if you’re married or single. Your status, your background, and your bank account are completely irrelevant in the presence of art. All art cares about is who you are at your essence…when you can’t check any boxes to define yourself. And it also cares about who you are becoming. When you allow yourself to surrender to it, it will elicit exactly the right questions for you to consider in order to grow in powerful ways. I think this is why I’m often called to paint large... I love the idea of us all getting engulfed by art...getting lost in its invitation to go beyond...beyond the limiting beliefs and definitions each one of us has about ourselves and about each other. Transcending Logic To date, the piece you see here is the largest I’ve ever created. I got the canvases about a year ago when I was in a different place and was a different person. The canvases sat blank for over four months because I was scared. When I finally cultivated enough faith and courage to make my initial marks, I couldn’t touch them again for a long time after that. I think I was trying to make time go still. You see, to me, each stroke captures a moment in time. To some, my work may look chaotic, but I am not just randomly placing lines on a canvas. Yes, there are times my strokes transcend standard logic and it feels as though I’m being guided by a mystical muse, but I can assure you none of my work is by chance. My paintings are my prayers that go out into the world. That piece, in particular, represents the journey of a prayer. The big prayers we all hold in our hearts...for ourselves, our communities, and humanity at large - the big prayers require a journey. Perceived missteps and failures are inevitable when going beyond what has been before, which is why the prayer must be on repeat. I believe there’s not a more beautiful prayer to be on repeat than the prayer of "connected, period." (The piece's title: Prayer on Repeat.) Make it your mantra, your commitment, your intention. At the opening receptions, guests were invited to leave their mark on the wall by writing, “connected.” if they were willing to discover more points of connection. I invite you to let the unlikely marriage of literal plus abstract that this exhibition so clearly embodies, remind you of the connections that can be found just a layer or two beyond the obvious. Some of our collaborative pieces took on the form of me painting on Kent’s photographs. I painted what I felt when I sat with his work. Other collaborative pieces took a different form. We printed Kent's photos on glass and then put my canvases or works on paper behind them. I love the complex subtly of these pieces...how Kent's work gives the piece context and casts shadows on my work enriching it and how my work sets a feeling tone. Together we created something with this exhibition that neither of us could have done alone. For more information, contact: Jessica Wachter
Claudia Johnstone, dasFOTOhaus
Tour the Exhibit through January 8, 2020 The Capital Gallery
 
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