Slightly altered versions of reality will be on display at the Annex Surf Supply’s Creative Minds art show Thursday, Aug. 28, where local artist Kate Sinclair and photographer Amanda Batten will display their works.
This will be the first public show for Batten, who specializes in High Dynamic Range photography, a style that produces greater ranges of luminosity and contrast between dark and light subjects.
“I like to take pictures in a way that makes people think,” Batten said. “It is not just me taking a picture that someone else could easily do and putting it in a frame; I like to help people visualize things in ways they normally would not.”
A majority of the subjects in Batten’s displayed photographs will be from Wilmington with a few from her travels in New York. Batten said she hopes patrons will recognize some of the local subjects but also see them in a different light with the HDR process.
Like Batten, Sinclair’s acrylic and oil paintings often showcase familiar subjects in a different way. One of Sinclair’s favorite things to paint is famous faces constructed from long, flowing lines.
“I have always been interested in famous portraiture, I have done Einstein and Abraham Lincoln, and the one I am displaying at this show is John Lennon,” Sinclair said. “I also do just a free-flow style with no reference at all and the one I want to show is a 6-foot-tall painting of my imaginary bouquet of flowers.”
Those long, flowing lines Sinclair prefers to work with are often vibrant pastels intermingled with strands of earth tones.
“I really enjoy the way colors play off each other,” she said. “I like the way the bright ones vibrate and talk to each other and then you add in some more earthy tones like browns and grays, and they relate and communicate in a different way when they are combined.”
Both Sinclair and Batten will display a variety of images at the show, with some of Batten’s framed in repurposed materials and Sinclair’s large works framed in custom-made steel frames created by her friend, metal smith Carson Cram. Portions of those steel frames were treated to show the steel’s natural oxidization.
Sinclair, who has displayed her works at various downtown Wilmington locations, said she appreciates having a space to show her work at the beach as well.
“It is nice because the beach has a different vibe and you can show different things out there than you might downtown,” Sinclair said.
Originals and prints will be available for purchase from both artists at the show, which will run from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28.
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