February 11, 2012 | DoNArTNeWs

Rebecca Gilbert, CFEVA Introduction 2012, The Galleries at Moore

Lucky, reduction and multiple block woodcut and gold leaf, Rock Pile Fortune Vessel, reduction and multiple block woodcut Rebecca Gilbert.

Rebecca Gilbert, Building the Perfect Worm House, CFEVA Introduction 2012, The Galleries at Moore

Amie Potsic, Director of Career Development at The Center for Emerging Visual Artists says, “I love openings, it’s the only time artists get any feedback. Because you’re never there except for receptions, usually. Some people are shy and find it a little bit hard but I think that they’re really so key for not only exposing work but having artists get good at talking about their work and building relationships. Most of the time we have artist’s talks at CFEVA and part of that is that if the artist has the experience of doing them more often they get better every time they do them. If your not a teacher, there’s very few instances where you actually have the opportunity to have an artist talk.”

DoN listened in while artist Rebecca Gilbert talked to a mom and her young daughter about her print, Safe Keeping Place, “Well, there’s one story. I have this bracelet that had a family heirloom heart locket on it and I had this opening in Old City years ago, and I was having this conversation and this little charm fell off of my bracelet and it was this freakish thing because it fell off and instead of just rolling, it fell, I swear, in a hole in the corner of the room that was just that big. Exactly the size. I went back the next day and the gallery owner said the hole led to the street and so my charm was unattainable. It was like, oh no, my family heirloom! It’s gone forever. And my best friend said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s safe in that hole. It’ll be there forever.”

DoN introduced himself. Is that a Jackalope? “That is a Jackalope…I’m trying to bring a positive energy to my work and to keep a positive outlook in life. And I’m also very superstitious. Some superstitions I I follow and some I make up on my own. I included a lot of symbolism from that so I can add that positive energy. Lucky, is the name of the Jackalope, but it’s up to the viewer to decide if he is actually lucky or not. So you have all these good luck charms but for them, it’s subtle, but there’s extra feet and of course they chop off rabbit’s feet. So, it you have extra, you’re lucky. Another thing is I knew I wanted to do a Jackalope because I did an artist’s residency in Wyoming and I started researching Jackalopes and I knew that to me in my head that they’re mythical creatures who like to drink whiskey and sing songs.”

“But, in my research I saw that there actually have been rabbits found as early as the 17th Century, I found illustrations of rabbits with these knobs coming out of the top of their heads. Not horns but knobs. But, it’s actually a cancer. In my research there are all of these rabbits with these things hanging off of them. And, you know, one hypothesis is that that’s where it came from. They were interpreted as horns, so, that questions ‘what is lucky?’. ‘Oh, you’re lucky you’re an imagined creature with horns on your head?’. So, the whole reason I made the print was not to compare myself to other people because you never know the whole story.”

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA), in cooperation with Moore College of Art & Design, presents an exhibition by the new Career Development Program Fellows. A highly selective fellowship with only a 2% acceptance rate, these six artists represent some of the most promising talent among emerging artists in the region: Leslie Friedman, Daniel Gerwin, Rebecca Gilbert, Kay Healy, Heechan Kim, and Johanna Inman.