Artists' Group 1:
Andrew "Moon" Bain
Bobby Brown
Mars Champagne
John Hughes
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Andrew "Moon" Bain
My work is an expression of reverence for nature and the human condition. It is an attempt at challenging cultural norms and redrafting racial authorities while drawing references from dreams, current events, history and honoring the earth and indigenous ancestries.
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Andrew "Moon" Bain's art, music and process.
Andrew "Moon" Bain's art, music and process.
Biography:
Andrew Moon Bain is a visual artist, record producer, musician, songwriter and graphic designer. He was very active in the arts as a youth in Seattle, Washington. Where he was also a young cellist in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. He relocated to Providence, Rhode Island as a young adult and earned a BFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Bain remained in New England after earning his degree, subsequently becoming an active and integral member of Providence’s bustling art community. His visual art is represented in numerous private collections, museums and at the Brown University Granoff Center for the Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.
He spent 13 years living in Brooklyn, New York working, producing and raising his daughter who recently graduated from RISD in FAV. He has traveled and worked extensively in the United States, Europe, Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean, which indelibly influenced his life, art and music. As co-founder of Lustre Kings Productions, a US based record label, he continues to make a significant mark in the genre of modern roots reggae music. He has written and produced records for compelling artists such as Wyclef Jean, Chronixx, Snoop Dogg, Major Lazer, Protoje, Midnite, Blakkamoore and many others. He is also a founding member and one-third of the ever prolific and reputable production team, Zion I Kings.
In addition, Andrew is currently working on a solo music project under the moniker, Brown Bones an acoustic, urban-folk inspired album with subtle electronic elements. He continues to create, perform, farm, make prints, art installations and paintings. Bain lives and works in Central Massachusetts.
Andrew Moon Bain is a visual artist, record producer, musician, songwriter and graphic designer. He was very active in the arts as a youth in Seattle, Washington. Where he was also a young cellist in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. He relocated to Providence, Rhode Island as a young adult and earned a BFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Bain remained in New England after earning his degree, subsequently becoming an active and integral member of Providence’s bustling art community. His visual art is represented in numerous private collections, museums and at the Brown University Granoff Center for the Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.
He spent 13 years living in Brooklyn, New York working, producing and raising his daughter who recently graduated from RISD in FAV. He has traveled and worked extensively in the United States, Europe, Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean, which indelibly influenced his life, art and music. As co-founder of Lustre Kings Productions, a US based record label, he continues to make a significant mark in the genre of modern roots reggae music. He has written and produced records for compelling artists such as Wyclef Jean, Chronixx, Snoop Dogg, Major Lazer, Protoje, Midnite, Blakkamoore and many others. He is also a founding member and one-third of the ever prolific and reputable production team, Zion I Kings.
In addition, Andrew is currently working on a solo music project under the moniker, Brown Bones an acoustic, urban-folk inspired album with subtle electronic elements. He continues to create, perform, farm, make prints, art installations and paintings. Bain lives and works in Central Massachusetts.
Bobby Brown
For years I made masks out of found and recycled materials, each mask different from the others. Although inspired by African and Native American masks, I felt that they somehow represented the many faces I must wear to survive as a Black man in America. Stability is something that has eluded me my whole life, in part due to having to “change faces” so often. From the time I was a child my parents reminded me that I must behave in a certain way around white people, which as it turns out, causes one to be constantly unstable. Creating masks helped ease those feelings of instability some, almost like creating friends with whom I can just be myself. I am growing to be an elder, which I didn't think would happen, feeling as I did that I am part of an endangered species in our society. I am creating these Spirit Figures to help me heal. They allow me to feel that my spirit is powerful and beautiful, two things that our society has in subtle and not so subtle ways, kept me from feeling for most of my life. Do I feel stable now?
Certainly not after these last four years.
Certainly not after these last four years.
Biography
I have always enjoyed working with my hands. The need to make art must come from two creative people in my life, my parents. My inspiration comes from a variety of experiences in my life – watching my mother create dolls -- but also from my observations of young children, my students during the many years I have spent as an early childhood educator. I am also inspired by the amazing array of discarded materials that I see on the streets and at Extras for Creative Learning (ExCLRecycles, also known as the Recycle Center), where I was workshop director for many years. I embrace the challenge of using this eclectic stuff along with art materials to create something new.
I have always enjoyed working with my hands. The need to make art must come from two creative people in my life, my parents. My inspiration comes from a variety of experiences in my life – watching my mother create dolls -- but also from my observations of young children, my students during the many years I have spent as an early childhood educator. I am also inspired by the amazing array of discarded materials that I see on the streets and at Extras for Creative Learning (ExCLRecycles, also known as the Recycle Center), where I was workshop director for many years. I embrace the challenge of using this eclectic stuff along with art materials to create something new.
Mars Champagne
In many of our lives we stand in disorder and disconnection to our feelings. The space between the physical and body always seems to linger until something snaps us back into existence. Through creativity emotions are unlocked for both the viewer and the creator. We heal even the most chaotic of experiences through visual representations- even the chaos that comes with fragmented emotional control. In "Order in Disorder" we find through visual representation and symbolisms of chaos and balance the discovery of order in disorder.
Biography:
Mars is a Western Mass based artist who has been making art since she could glue fragments of paper together. Mars is a multimedia artist who specializes in drawing, dance, language, mixed media and photography. After graduating from Greenfield Community College she plans on continuing enhancing her artistic expression at a 4-year college or art residency program. Art is the only way she is able to fully embody her emotional health and well being. Art surrounds her entire inner and outer world.
Mars is a Western Mass based artist who has been making art since she could glue fragments of paper together. Mars is a multimedia artist who specializes in drawing, dance, language, mixed media and photography. After graduating from Greenfield Community College she plans on continuing enhancing her artistic expression at a 4-year college or art residency program. Art is the only way she is able to fully embody her emotional health and well being. Art surrounds her entire inner and outer world.
John Hughes
Short of being able to answer the the big questions (like “why are we here?” and “what is the meaning of life?”) our species has enjoyed a relatively whole and concise image of its fundamental nature for millennia. A significant branch of the root of this understanding has been the notion of humans as toolmakers - creatures who address their needs and desires by first making things which increase their capacity to affect and engage their world. This notion of self as toolmaker functioned meaningfully and equally well in both individual and communal realms of understanding.
Times have changed, however. As a species, human beings seem to me to be in an awkward phase developmentally and evolutionarily. For starters, the idea of ‘toolmaker,’ no longer functions as well for individuals as it does for humans in general. Most people buy what they need or want, rather than making things for themselves.
The most potent inventions / tools of our time - computers, spacecraft, and other complex computer driven technologies - are the result of the combined efforts of literally countless individuals, most of whom never met one another or had even an inkling of the whole project. In fact, the pressures and expectations of modern life make it unrealistic, if not prohibitively difficult, for one to address his / her / their needs in a mostly self sufficient manner.
Decidedly, the basic flow of meaning in the lives of modern human beings has changed dramatically from that within which our collective self image coalesced and took root. The development of a new concept of what it means to be human, relevant and appropriate to our modern lifestyles, seems to be lagging painfully behind. The evolution of our physical bodies, also, has failed to keep pace as evidenced, for example, by the plethora of physical ailments which can result from habitually working at a computer: eye strain, carpel-tunnel syndrome, psychological dysfunction and cellular disruption by electromagnetic fields, to name a few. The result of all of this proverbial getting ahead of ourselves, has been a cultural and spiritual breakdown of the most insidious sort; a systematic dissolution of the foundation of our lives occurring on a level just outside of many people’s awareness. Generally speaking, humankind has unwittingly cast itself adrift without a functional paradigm for being human, leaving many grasping desperately for meaning and wholeness.
If the external world of human culture, thus, fails to provide a functional and generative spiritual underpinning for being human or directions towards wholeness, we must seek and create these things within. The progress of this journey is to unfold consciousness and to give it form. In the service of wholeness, I seek to supply my inner-self with that which the outer world provides in insufficient quantity or quality. Towards the same end, I strive to furnish, in the outer world, that which my inner-life is lacking. Both aspirations are essential and compulsory. They are concerned, equally, with the transformation of individuals and community in a manner that favors well-being. Both are subjects of a prime directive - a genetic and metaphysical imperative: GROW!
Times have changed, however. As a species, human beings seem to me to be in an awkward phase developmentally and evolutionarily. For starters, the idea of ‘toolmaker,’ no longer functions as well for individuals as it does for humans in general. Most people buy what they need or want, rather than making things for themselves.
The most potent inventions / tools of our time - computers, spacecraft, and other complex computer driven technologies - are the result of the combined efforts of literally countless individuals, most of whom never met one another or had even an inkling of the whole project. In fact, the pressures and expectations of modern life make it unrealistic, if not prohibitively difficult, for one to address his / her / their needs in a mostly self sufficient manner.
Decidedly, the basic flow of meaning in the lives of modern human beings has changed dramatically from that within which our collective self image coalesced and took root. The development of a new concept of what it means to be human, relevant and appropriate to our modern lifestyles, seems to be lagging painfully behind. The evolution of our physical bodies, also, has failed to keep pace as evidenced, for example, by the plethora of physical ailments which can result from habitually working at a computer: eye strain, carpel-tunnel syndrome, psychological dysfunction and cellular disruption by electromagnetic fields, to name a few. The result of all of this proverbial getting ahead of ourselves, has been a cultural and spiritual breakdown of the most insidious sort; a systematic dissolution of the foundation of our lives occurring on a level just outside of many people’s awareness. Generally speaking, humankind has unwittingly cast itself adrift without a functional paradigm for being human, leaving many grasping desperately for meaning and wholeness.
If the external world of human culture, thus, fails to provide a functional and generative spiritual underpinning for being human or directions towards wholeness, we must seek and create these things within. The progress of this journey is to unfold consciousness and to give it form. In the service of wholeness, I seek to supply my inner-self with that which the outer world provides in insufficient quantity or quality. Towards the same end, I strive to furnish, in the outer world, that which my inner-life is lacking. Both aspirations are essential and compulsory. They are concerned, equally, with the transformation of individuals and community in a manner that favors well-being. Both are subjects of a prime directive - a genetic and metaphysical imperative: GROW!
Biography
Born: New York City, 1965
John Hughes is an internationally acclaimed musician, sculptor, instrument builder and educator. He holds a B.F.A. from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA and The West Surrey College of Art and Design in Farnham, England and an M.F.A. from The University of Wisconsin - Madison. His sculptures have been exhibited in a profusion of galleries in the United States and in London, England. His work is included in the permanent collections of numerous museums and private collections including The Chazen Museum and the Mott-Warsh Collection. John has taught sculpture, drawing and design in numerous colleges and universities including The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Skidmore College.
John has studied the music, song and dance of West Africa for over 29 years, training with numerous master drummers and dancers from Guinea and Mali, including Mamady Keita and Famoudou Konate. John has been teaching drumming classes and workshops across the U.S. And Canada for the past 25 years, maintaining weekly classes in Northampton, MA and in his studio in Brattleboro, VT. As a Kora player, John is entirely self-taught and has, thus, developed a style all his own. Having intently studied traditional kora music for 10 years before he even touched the instrument, however, his playing is deeply rooted in the ancient Mande tradition.
John has released 6 CDs of original music.
John is available for hire to play concerts, perform at weddings, parties, etc.
Please visit his website to learn more:
Born: New York City, 1965
John Hughes is an internationally acclaimed musician, sculptor, instrument builder and educator. He holds a B.F.A. from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA and The West Surrey College of Art and Design in Farnham, England and an M.F.A. from The University of Wisconsin - Madison. His sculptures have been exhibited in a profusion of galleries in the United States and in London, England. His work is included in the permanent collections of numerous museums and private collections including The Chazen Museum and the Mott-Warsh Collection. John has taught sculpture, drawing and design in numerous colleges and universities including The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Skidmore College.
John has studied the music, song and dance of West Africa for over 29 years, training with numerous master drummers and dancers from Guinea and Mali, including Mamady Keita and Famoudou Konate. John has been teaching drumming classes and workshops across the U.S. And Canada for the past 25 years, maintaining weekly classes in Northampton, MA and in his studio in Brattleboro, VT. As a Kora player, John is entirely self-taught and has, thus, developed a style all his own. Having intently studied traditional kora music for 10 years before he even touched the instrument, however, his playing is deeply rooted in the ancient Mande tradition.
John has released 6 CDs of original music.
John is available for hire to play concerts, perform at weddings, parties, etc.
Please visit his website to learn more: