Hey, y’all…I’m happy to introduce a new writer to Seattle Gay Scene. I’ve worked with the delightful Aiden Karamanyan for the last few years at SIFF and decided we needed to showcase her talents to SGS readers. In addition to being a local box office guru at SIFF every year, she also lends her talents to ArtsWest and manages to find time to act in local theater including a recent stint in Stone Soup’s production of The Vagina Monologues this last May. She’s going to be doing some pieces for us on local arts events, and it seemed to make sense for her to start on her home turf with an interview with ArtsWest curator, Nichole DeMent. Enjoy! – M. Strangeways
It never ceases to amaze me when I find out such nitty gritty details about an individual during a fascinating conversation. Nichole DeMent, the Gallery Director over at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery, tucked away in West Seattle’s Alaskan Junction, is a visual artist whose insight and knowledge of the world that is contemporary art resonates with every sentence spoken. She speaks Art when discussing Art which is reflected in her work at ArtsWest, including the current show up through July 24th, “Perennial Passages”, which features four talented local artists: Yuko Ishii, Jacqui Beck, Susan K. Miller and Suze Woolf, and also includes a multimedia piece by Patricia O’Connor. It’s a lovely show that explores the artists’ relationships to the passing of time with each artist offering their own perspective:
Yuko Ishii builds structures that include delicate hand-crafted doors, layers of ethereal images, and calligraphy to represent a personal reliquary of the mysteries of nature and spirit.
Award-winning artist Susan K. Miller has studied with internationally recognized artists and her watercolors display both real and imagined passages from foreign lands. Her textured surfaces include fascinating fragments of paper and artifacts from her world-travels.
Suze Woolf provides a poignant take on the environment alongside a talented eye for texture and color. Her gorgeous watercolors of trees from her “burnscapes” series draw you in with their beauty, while communicating her concern for increasing forest fires due to global warming.
Artist and educator Jacqui Beck’s whimsy and light impressionist gardens capture the interconnection of all living things. Her brightly colored paintings are a celebratory display of an affinity toward nature. A member of Women Painter’s of Washington, Beck’s work was recently featured in Artist’s Magazine.
As for Nichole DeMent, I very much enjoyed the enchanting, hour long conversation we had, her natural charm evident as she told her story. DeMent grew up in Austin, Texas, a “party town” she broke out of and arrived in Seattle nearly 15 years ago. Her background includes work in the corporate world, but eventually she began offering assistance to theatre artists and creators, a form of artistry she thoroughly enjoys on many levels especially the creative energy generated in the artistic process. She studied photography and art history at Evergreen State College in Olympia, graduating in 2002, and moved to Seattle immediately afterward and began offering assistance to art directors and independent photographers, and even doing some teaching at Seattle Pacific University. In 2000, she met Stephen Rock, and in five years they would open the Rock/DeMent visual art space, in the Tashiro-Kaplan Artist Lofts building in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square district. A long time resident of West Seattle, DeMent would accept the position at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery in 2007, deciding between it and another position which she found would not have given her the same opportunities as ArtsWest.
Through this all, bits and pieces of DeMent’s fascinating persona were highlighted in her stories, complete with immense attention to detail, and an expert ability to juggle several topics at once. With zest, DeMent revealed a time-line of her and Rock’s courtship, noting the first time she met him at his home in West Seattle, followed by a titillating conversation at the Seattle Art Museum, and even a surprise visit by Rock when he made a sudden decision to join DeMent when she was studying in France. We spoke of personal beliefs, including gender reassignment surgery, the institution of marriage, and even the economy of Olympia!
When asked about the Gallery at ArtsWest, a level of affection was present; this gallery obviously means a great deal to DeMent. Her intention for the gallery is to provide an artist friendly environment, and allow the process of education to flow freely. ArtsWest’s mission statement is clear in its desire to create discussion amongst its patrons in hopes these conversations will reach beyond the walls of the space and help keep the conversation flowing and encourage the growth of the clientele base. With DeMent’s dedication to detail and her desire to explore what is thought provoking and worth discussing, this mission statement is more than living up to its potential. And, her personal internal admission: Art CAN be a force of change and good!
This fascinating exhibit is up at ArtWest Gallery, 4711 California Ave SW in West Seattle now through July 24, to be followed by the group show, “Inexplicable Allusions” which focuses on the creative spark and how artists make their art with Martha Brouwer, Dr. Mark Morgan, Mindy Barker, and Anita West which opens in the Gallery on July 27 and runs through Aug 21. AND, don’t forget to mark your calendar for the opening of ArtsWest’s summer musical offering on the main stage, the acclaimed musical Sideshow which details the lives of conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton and their lives in vaudeville, the circus and the film “Freaks”. It opens July 21 and runs through Aug 1 and get your tickets here!
AND, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce myself to Seattle Gay Scene, if I may personally step aside to say, and will be keeping you updated on the process at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery, amongst much more! This profile on Nichole DeMent will include a follow up, including more information on Rock/DeMent visual art space. Stay tuned!
-Aiden Karamanyan
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
