Discover Local Art at Kirkland Urban: Introducing Our Quarterly Pop-Up Artist Series
We’re thrilled to announce an exciting new initiative at Kirkland Urban – a quarterly rotating art installation showcasing the vibrant works of local artists! In partnership with Ryan James Fine Arts, we’re transforming our spaces into dynamic galleries that celebrate creativity and community.
Every three months, new artwork will grace the walls of our lobbies, bringing fresh energy and inspiration to our urban environment. You’ll find these captivating installations in four key locations:
- 425 Kirkland Urban – Central 1st floor, Elevator Lobby
- 425 Kirkland Urban – Central 2nd floor, Right Side of Lobby
- 425 Kirkland Urban – Central 2nd floor, Left Side of Lobby
- 400 Kirkland Urban – North Lobby
This innovative program not only beautifies our shared spaces but also provides a platform for talented local artists to display their work. As you move through Kirkland Urban, take a moment to immerse yourself in the diverse styles and perspectives on display.
Fallen in love with a piece? Good news – all artworks are available for purchase through Ryan James Fine Arts. By supporting these artists, you’re not just acquiring a stunning piece for your home or office; you’re also investing in our local creative community.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the ever-changing landscape of Pacific Northwest art right here at Kirkland Urban. Stop by today and discover your new favorite artist!
Stay tuned for updates on our featured artists and upcoming installations. Art has the power to transform spaces and inspire minds – let’s celebrate it together at Kirkland Urban.
Information from the artist about the art in our lobbies:
400 Kirkland Urban – North Lobby: Kerry Itami @ https://www.instagram.com/kerry.i.art/K
The warm music from the musical instruments to our ears, the key changes within a symphonic movement, the unexpected breeze while listening to a live performance. Stepping away for a moment, Kerry brings light into the deeper work on canvas. We live in a fast-changing world. We run and chase, pivot, and reform; sometimes we lose sense of the ground and who we truly are. Setting time for ourselves, away from the busy world is crucial. Textures and layers of my abstract composition provide a place for you to let go of your busy day; contemplate with the profound thoughts you have deep within. While different untouchable emotions surface and release, clarity and answer can unfold before you. These paintings offer lights and hold space; it radiates to you. It’s best to view the original in person. The inspirations of Kerry’s abstract paintings come from a newfound place after her recovering from a medical wakeup call years ago … traveling into a deep authentic place within. With long time discipline, Kerry brings you her hard learned lesson and journey. The work you see here, she composed based on Neuroscience focusing on Bottom-up visual processing. Kerry’s paintings capture the unseen and translate it into a visual form. She invites you to interpret her paintings in your own authentic ways. These abstract works offer you dynamic content. On a different day, new perspectives may unfold before you. Allow your imagination and interpretation to run free. Let go and be. Tap into the true self you have deep within you, your intrinsic potential. Enjoy the same abstract piece differently.
425 Kirkland Urban – Central 1st floor, Elevator Lobby: Hannah Seki @ https://www.instagram.com/h_seki_art/
Hannah Seki is a Japanese-American artist whose work represents the bi-cultural upbringing and the contrasting cultures within. That specific contrast is the point of tension in her work: Japanese ideals of understated beauty, the humbling of oneself, and the mindset of “not standing out” differ greatly from Western ideas of being unique, bold, and individualistic. The inherent contradiction between the two cultures has been an ongoing internal struggle with Seki’s sense of identity and is the catalyst for her art. Through creating art that reflects elements from both cultures, the ever-changing journey of self-identity and discovery becomes the meaning conveyed in the work.
425 Kirkland Urban – Central 2nd floor, Right Side of Lobby: Michelle Williams @ https://www.instagram.com/michellewilliamsceramics/
Michelle creates all her work by hand in her Seattle studio. Her process begins with sketching from nature and historical ceramic forms. Drawing upon her experience as a curator and art historian, she makes work that combines a minimalist aesthetic with the richness and complexity of organic forms. Working primarily on the wheel Michelle creates vessels, often working in groups or series, that capture the essence of a particular idea or visual style. Once thrown, the pieces are trimmed and allowed to dry before they are carved and meticulously finished. All her work is sanded repeatedly throughout the firing process, yielding a smooth, sensual surface that invites touch and welcomes frequent use. Michelle’s work is made from exceptional porcelain with a high New Zealand kaolin content. While notoriously difficult to work with, the fired clay is among the smoothest, whitest, and most translucent available anywhere.
425 Kirkland Urban – Central 2nd floor, Left Side of Lobby: Jeffrey Glossip @ https://www.instagram.com/jglossip/
How can “on” and “off” happen at the same time when we are so sure of ourselves and our thoughtful objectivity? Can space be similarly interwoven to reveal a tangle of dimensions.
If color is a marked wavelength and frequency, then it must be sure of itself. An orange screams with bellowing warmth, while a deep blue rests in its own trough. When the two meet, a new relationship is formed, and at that meeting place each color is mutated to be something beyond what it was alone. This is not just harmonizing or clashing, but a change of state. The question then is “what color is true orange really?”.
When paint goes onto canvas it sits on the surface…it is placed there. From that place new geometry happens. Bands and bars and angles and lines all emit their motives, but they are swayed by their prescribed colors. In essence, nothing can exist without color.
At one of those places the paint is scraped, at another it is brushed. So tenuous is the relationship between those marks and their shapes that everything looks as if it is so close to falling apart…so close to collapsing. Therein is the energy, the life of the painting. This dynamic relationship of color and shape and space reaches out to be seen. Even to be touched.
Paint is ancient. Painting is human, but painting is also its own life force. Making a painting is fine, but arriving at a painting is better.
