E Pluribus Unum

April 2nd – May 28th, 2022

Daggi Wallace | Richard William Barnett | Kerstin Zilm

Daggi Wallace
Richard William Barnett
Kerstin Zilm

Daggi Wallace, Eye Study #2, 2021

Richard William Barnett, Ferguson, Oil, 2021

Kerstin Zilm, One Day, Ink on paper, February 2022

 
E Pluribus Unum: Out of many, one.

 
Many voices. Many faces. Many stories. One community. One country. One world.

One humanity.

 
This exhibition explores our differences and our commonalities. Through Richard Barnett’s large oil paintings of crowds depicting up to 500 people in one work to Daggi Wallace’s small intimate pastel portraits and Kerstin Zilm’s poetry, prose and collected voices, the viewer is invited to contemplate their own place among each other and in this world. Will YOU speak up, make your voice heard? What will it take to work towards understanding and unity, ending division and seeing each other with new eyes? The juxtaposition of Barnett’s stylized broad brushstrokes on canvas with Wallace’s finely detailed works on paper is underscored by Zilm’s emotionally charged narrative text. All three artists embody our differences with their mediums, styles and techniques yet speak to the common ground we all share, our emotions of fear and anger, joy and love, frustration and rage. The audience has a chance to add their own voice here by helping to write a community poem or creating a protest slogan for what matters most to them.

21may1:00 pmArtist TalkE Pluribus Unum

Richard William Barnett, Renewal, Oil, 2020

Richard William Barnett

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“We are constantly surrounded by images, most of which, we ignore. Our culture focuses on the tragedy or sensation of the moment and forgets the moment we turn away. I am currently focused on images that I want to keep alive. When viewed I hope for the viewer’s first thought to contain the word “I”; I think, I feel, I remember.

Somehow the experience of seeing a painting is fundamentally different than seeing an image in any other context. As a painter I take advantage of the fact that people are much more likely to slow down for a moment and really look, and in doing so, perhaps see. This pause in the headlong rush that is life, allows me the chance to highlight the drama in the mundane and search for moments that might be missed or too easily forgotten.”

Daggi Wallace, We All Bleed Red (Bart), 2022

Daggi Wallace

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“Focusing mainly on portraying the human condition and our connection to each other my work begins with a visual trigger that evokes a strong emotional response in me or with an idea I want to explore. I like to create images that tell a story with multiple layers of meaning that draw in the viewer first with beauty and then allow them additional contemplation. Strong lighting and composition as well as social consciousness and relevance are important to my work. Women’s and children’s issues are of special interest to me so recently my work has dealt more and more with current social and political issues.

My medium of choice is pastel. I love the direct application, pure pigments and versatility of pastels. It allows me to apply it wet as well as dry and combine it with other media such as watercolor, inks, acrylic, metal leaf and charcoal. Pushing the traditional boundaries of pastel work I often experiment with texture and text, ranging from graffiti to precisely rendered font. The words may be inspired or even written by the subject portrayed.

I’m inspired by my growing up in the urban environment of Berlin, Germany, where contemporary abstract work is so prevalent but I also love traditional realism. My aim is to find my own way of combining the two and continue to try out new techniques, combining pastel with other mediums and presenting it in non-traditional ways. Living a dual cultured life has been a huge influence on my work.”

Kerstin Zilm

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Award-winning journalist Kerstin Zilm loves to gather sounds and voices for radio stories. She discovered her passion for reporting during the exciting times after the Berlin Wall came down, creating stories about the newly reunified metropolis for RIAS Berlin (Radio In the American Sector). 

She came to Los Angeles in 2003 as head of Germany’s public broadcasting network ARD’s West coast radio studio. Five years later, Kerstin established her own production company, soundslikerstin, and works for German and US public media, including KCRW in LA.

When Kerstin does not work on radio scripts, she writes poetry and prose, likes to take her Australian cattle-mix Esty on hikes, bake blueberry cakes, and dance with her husband. 

She has published a book in German about arriving in California and a collection of short stories and poetry in English. Currently, Kerstin works on her debut novel about a woman in her fifties at the crossroads and a book of vignettes inspired by morning walks with Esty.