PRISCILLA FOWLER FINE ART GALLERY

Curator Statement

During the summer of 2019, my daughter had a habit of waking at 5:30am alongside the sun. On one such morning, I awoke grumbling and opened the bedroom shutters, glancing down at the early morning street. The world was quiet save two pigeons walking side by side. The site was strangely comforting, like two friends lost in a conversation of head bobbing and coos.  This moment stuck with me and for the remainder of the week, I continued to think of them. This is how Some Pigeons I Know was conceived. 

Pigeons, like people, love the comforts of home, and have evolved to always return, despite the obstacles. Utilizing this skill, man crafted a pigeon that unintentionally affected technology, communication, combat, and companionship. For millennia, they’ve survived and shaped the world in tiny and powerful ways, yet we consider them pests and do everything possible to rid our cities of them. As we criticize the pigeon, we chastise a creature who builds homes, coparents, and provides for their mates and offspring; a life we stive for ourselves. This exhibition parallels pigeon and human, utilizing stories to highlight each bird as an individual. The six artists presenting in this show are wonderful educators, each blessed with the gift of storytelling. The visual art, music, and poetry create a magic befitting the world’s most common – and most underappreciated bird. 

When I proposed this exhibition, I had no notion of the impending pandemic or how the world would change. However, it is the purpose of the future to change in ways we cannot conceive. Through pandemics, wars, natural disasters, and collapse of societies… the pigeon has been our companion.  I no longer wake at 5:30am as I did in 2019. The future blessed me with another unforeseeable change, a new baby welcomed in late 2021. Now, I find myself up through the night, catching the hooting of great horned owls.

Myranda Bair, 2022

Myranda Bair works in the mediums of sculpture, painting and drawing. Her work focuses on conservation and how community education can lead to a richer outdoor experience for all while simultaneously reflecting the importance of preserving natural areas. She received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin. Bair’s current artwork centers around nature and the human presence. Currently, she is a faculty member for the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. She lives and works in Las Vegas, NV.

Lauren Grant is an artist working in the tradition of drawing and collage. Her work explores traditional art techniques while thinking about the effects repetition and liminal spaces have on our psyche. Grant received a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin. Her current work continues her investigations into nature and its place in our evolving society. She currently lives in Austin, Texas.

Angela M. Brommel is a Nevada writer and Clark County Poet Laureate. Some of her areas of interest and research are art and literary history, as well as feminist criticism and theory. Brommel received her MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis on Poetry from Antioch University Los Angeles. She received her MA in Theatre from the University of Northern Iowa. The author of Mojave in July and Plutonium & Platinum Blonde, she’s published in North American Review, The Best American Poetry blog, and many other journals and anthologies. She is the Editor-in-Chief and Poetry Editor for The Citron Review. She currently lives and teaches in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Melissa Russell is a mixed media artist and storyteller. Her work focuses on the inner-self and self-reflection. An art educator since 2005, she currently teaches Visual Arts at Del Sol Academy. She holds a B.F.A. in Studio Art from University of Wisconsin-Stout, and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Most recently her work was included in Heart to Heart: Our Pandemic Stories, at the Nevada Humanities Program Gallery. She currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada where she teaches at Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts.

Sean Russell is a multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, sculpture and printmaking. Russell’s work centers around ideas of place, memory and the manipulation of objects and images. Russell earned his MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2005 and is currently a Professor and Program Director at the College of Southern Nevada, where he has taught Fundamentals of Design, Art Appreciation, Intro to Contemporary Art, and Portfolio Emphasis. His current body of work continues his explorations of place and memory. He currently lives and works in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gavin Watts is a conceptual artist working in visual, time-based, and audio domains. He is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who works with natural and unnatural field recordings and traditional instruments in combination with non-traditional recording techniques. A self-taught artist, Watts’ current work investigates subjects of accessibility, mental-health, and memory through manipulation and reformation of found objects and sounds. He currently resides in Austin, TX.