Price takes journey with new work

SANDPOINT — Which came first, the dancer or the artist? Hard to say in the studio of artist Kelly Price, where the lines blur completely.

To watch her dance is to witness a study in grounded power and effortless flow, where the feet reach into the Earth to find roots, while the torso and hands expand outwardly to grasp the energy of the universe.

The same themes can be found in Price’s new paintings, which are on display starting today as her art show opens at Evans Brothers Coffee. The show, titled “Full Circle,” features acrylics on canvas, as well as an assortment of found art objects.

Again, the dance analogy comes into play — the acrylics share a mandala-like quality, while the found art pieces are pure whimsy. In movement, they would be akin to the way Price explores the space around her and the sparkle in her eyes as she does so.

“What I do is informed by physical movement — it’s the essence of what I do,” the artist said. “Improvisatory dance is my favorite, because it’s all about following an impulse; whatever’s happening right now.

“In my work, a lot of the images just happen because there’s a satisfying quality about the shapes and the energy in them,” she continued. “Unbidden images and color combinations come to me.”

In art as in dance, Price admits that it’s difficult to verbalize how the creative process unfolds. At the easel, she knows the brush is in her hand and the paints are waiting on the palette, but something deeper takes place when the work begins.

“I have to step aside,” she said. “You have ideas of what it’s supposed to look like, but it’s so different if you just open up your heart and receive what shows up.”

And the corollary in creative movement?

“You’re not doing the dance, the dance is doing you.”

There is a mild irony in how the artist arrived at creating acrylics for this show, since most local residents would be more familiar with her work on silk. That fabric, she explained, is a fast medium, where surprises happen and you follow the color where it wants to go.

“Silk is conducive to relinquishing control,” said Price. “It’s a dialog with the medium, because it talks back.”

After more than 15 years away from acrylics, she revisited that medium because of the physical limitations of working on silk. While her images there are certainly dancerly, the horizontal orientation of the frames left the artist stooped over the fabric and feeling locked in one spot. Returning to the vertical positioning of a traditional easel promised more freedom of movement as she painted.

“One of the reasons I wanted to work with a vertical surface was the hope that I could dance with it a bit more,” the artist said. “That’s what it comes down to for me — art is energetic release.”

But, along with the process of being able to stand upright and move, came a different sort of imagery, where the liquid flow of her silk work was transformed into the circular studies in acrylic. These, however, are not true mandalas, as they go well beyond the confines of that ancient school of visual art. Where conventional mandalas have a meditative quality that keeps the eye solidly within the frame, Price’s new work draws energy from the center and pushes outward, threatening to explode from the canvas.

Within each of the pieces, there seems to be a message, a connection to something very old and extremely important. The work feels as though it holds out a lesson.

“I’m trying to remove myself from pop culture to the point where I’m coming from a very primordial, naked, spirit adventure,” Price said.

Price has entered a chapter in her artist’s life where galleries are getting in touch and expressing interest in her work. As strong as this vote of confidence in her current direction might be, there is still that small critic’s voice that yammers away in the background as she stands before the canvas.

“That comes with art, especially if you want to sell your art,” she said. “I think it’s the fear of being misunderstood or being seen as self-indulgent.”

But what’s that saying? Dance like nobody’s watching? If a dancer such as Price were to consider every move – or how an onlooker might respond to it — she would eventually be frozen in place. Similarly, should she become too technical with her painting, the work would surely suffer.

On both counts, there is a tug of war between head and heart.

“There’s a balance of taking what you know, technically, and then synthesizing that with what pops naturally from your deepest, most intimate place of perspective,” she said. “The technical side is a touchstone — you come back to that analytical part of your brain and visit it.

“But if you’re really exploring, you’re going to have to leave that shore.”

Writing about dancing is just as futile as talking about painting. Better to view the work for yourself and see where the journey takes you.

Kelly Price’s “Full Circle” art show opening takes place today from 4-6 p.m. at Evan’s Brothers Coffee, located at 524 Church St., in Sandpoint.