Aug. 23, 2018

Celebration of Summer Heat

Located in the historic First Studio building, First Studio’s Art Gallery presents “Scorched: a Celebration of Heat!” showcasing artworks created with heat or about heat. Welded metal, ceramics, burned wood, fused-glass, encaustic paintings are among the materials the artists turned into unique pieces.

Liz Glorioso, Sunburst

“The goal of the show was to make a negative, our summer heat, into a positive by giving local artists a broad range of choices for producing art,” says curator Kristine Kollasch. “Because the show is about art made with heat as well as art about heat, we were able to field a much more diverse group of artists working in both 2D and 3D.”

The show conveys the versatility of heat as a subject matter and as a way to produce art. The painting by Loretta Tedeschi-Cuoco entitled Fiery Sunset (at top) was inspired by a photograph she took during her artist residency at Taliesin West a few years ago. More recently, she created the watercolor painting of a woman fanning herself in the sweltering heat. She brought the two images together digitally, with the model being somewhat translucent to demonstrate how she is being consumed by the sunset.

A total of 35 Arizona artists are involved in the show and several artworks are collaborative efforts of two artists. The featured artists include Margarete Beeson, Daniel Mariotti, Aaron Voigt, Arti Jain, Christina Martin, Brenda Edwards, Jenny Dickman, Tane Clark, Jo-Ann Lowney and Joel Coplin, Andy Kay Art, Rosalie Trulli Vaccaro, Tara Lynn Weeks, Arlene Meyer, Loretta Tedeschi-Cuoco, Sandra Luehrsen, Liz Glorioso, Susanna Beatty, Paula Cullison, Nikka Chica aka Nikka Brooks-Cullum, Laura Thurbon, Valerie Hunt, Jordan Alexander Thomas, Darlene Mount Ritter, Ellen Nemetz, Rachel Srinivasan, Alena Janss, Suzie Israel Black, Elaine Huck and Jen Reich, Joan Waters, Kris Kollasch, David Knorr and Edna Bienz, and Lisa Spear.