Fresh Richmond

Local Photographer Turns Pain into Art, Helps Others Heal With Literary/Documentary Project

Megan Wilson | January 19, 2018

Topics: art, Fresh Richmond, Humble Collective, photography, poem, Sound Snap Photography, womens relationships

Ten years ago, photographer Ashley Loth was in a dead-end job in Texas and her on-again-off-again relationship had hit another dysfunctional tipping point. Loth looked everywhere for help and came up dry in a state where she didn’t have any personal connections.

Originally from Richmond, Loth began reaching out to friends back home, hoping something would lead to her personal reinvention. She recalled her mother’s friend, Lynn Shook. Loth had helped Shook photograph bands at the Canal Club and that was the last time Loth remembers truly being happy. She reached out and Shook was excited to introduce her to the craft.

Loth made her way home and became Shook’s mentee. Shook soon passed away in June 2009, but Loth continued to hone her craft. She used her savings to purchase her first DSLR camera that August and by fall, Loth began to put her camera to work. She applied everything Shook taught her and explored as many realms of photography as she could.

“I started pursuing the art side of photography and not just family photography,” Loth said. “I found a passion in the niche of conceptual portraiture.”

That’s when the idea sparked for her latest project, My Goodbye Letter To You. Inspired by more than one toxic relationship, Loth started writing a poem, and its one many of us can relate to.

“My interpretation is my former flame, but to some people this poem has been about a family disconnect, losing a job, having a poor view of themselves, being taken advantage of, and the list goes on,” Loth said.

Five years later, the poem has gone from a cathartic process to release emotion and heal, to the focal point of both a literary and visual art showcase involving women across the country that will premiere this weekend.

What will be new about Loth’s poem is how we read it. Piece by piece, portions of “My Goodbye Letter to You” were painted on the legs, breasts, arms and, faces of over 50 women across the United States.

“Each model picked his or her verse,” said Loth. “The project focuses on taking the victimizing out of abuse and becoming a warrior. There is life after a really hard relationship.”

To start the project, Loth, who now owns Sound Snap Photography and boudoir photography brand Pink Photography, reached out to the burlesque community in Richmond. But in time, many of the initial shots were retaken and the project began to take on a different look.

“When I did the first set back then, it was more glamorized,” Loth said. “ It wasn’t as raw as it has turned into.”

Word spread about her project. Nearly 200 people responded to participate, and so Loth began incorporating friends and non-models into the project for a raw and relatable effect. As a boudoir photographer, Loth’s body positive perspective shines through in the final images that represent a variety of body types, sexes, ages and races.

Connections from her concert and boudoir photography also came into play. Among the models, you’ll find Jesse Hughes, frontman of the Eagles of Death Metal, and popular Pin-Up model Neptune Suicide of the Suicide Girls. The entire exhibit will be presented in black and white.

Models in her photos were able to choose the words and phrases of the poem that spoke to them.

“I am hoping that people will understand that there is life after trauma, heartbreak, loss, and grief,” Loth said. “I want people to know that they aren’t what happened to them, that everyone is beautiful and deserving of love. I want people to heal.”

Richmond-based multimedia firm Humble Collective partnered with Loth to record the process, capturing moments with models as they physically and emotionally connected with Loth’s words. Some will share their own stories during the hour-long documentary, which will be shown as part of the showcase. In addition to the documentary and printed images, Loth and others will read monologues at the event.

“This is not a break-up poem, it is {a} healing process, it is choosing yourself,” Loth emphasized. “I am so grateful that this has helped so many people heal from past traumas like it has for me.”

The final photo of the project was taken Jan. 15, 2018. The subject is Loth herself, who took the photo at Joshua Tree in California as the sun rose.

“My Goodbye Letter To You” opens Sat. Jan. 20 at Fresh Richmond, located at 213 E. Broad St. 7 to 10 p.m.

‘Undercurrent’: Shaylen Broughton Makes Her Splash on Richmond’s Art Scene

John Donegan | January 17, 2018

Topics: acrylic, art, fluid art, Fresh Richmond, RVA artist, Shaylen Broughton

With a lacework that binds the vastness of the universe to endless depths of the ocean, local artist Shaylen Broughton constructs the depths of human awareness.

“A lot of people ask me if I could be any place and time, what would I be? I say I would be the ocean in the winter, this place of total peace of mind, vast and nothing in the way. It’s hard to explain why, I feel connected to the solitude of the ocean,” she said.

Recently featured at Fresh Richmond’s First Fridays pop-up, Broughton unveiled her latest series, Undercurrent; a form of Abstract acrylic based fluid art that has marked her splash onto the Richmond art scene. Broughton utilizes her dichotomy of crafts – thoughtless abstract paintings with the dry confines of business education– to develop a brand still unbeknownst to a booming yet competitive Richmond art community.

Despite frigid temperatures, Broughton brought in a decent crowd at her exhibit. “It went really well, I was surprised, you know, because of the weather,” she said. “A couple days after the snowstorm, still freezing temperatures, most of the back roads were still iced over, still, it was great. I sold a lot of pieces, met a lot of artists in the area, the DJ kept a fun vibe that complemented the art.”

Each piece webbing its own constellation of blue hues— a scope into the unconscious depths of human emotion, but also a medium to the interconnected affinity bridging the ocean and stars. Her methods, she assures will always stay her own; an endless conquest against the rigidity of creative limitations. Broughton explores the possibilities of where her work will lead, a frame for the expedition she embarks on in her own mind. Along this bridge, Broughton leads a search for the treacherous serpents many artists fail to see beneath the canvas, lurking in the depths below.

A native of Ashland, Broughton began learning art at a young age, taught watercolor painting by her grandmother. These seeds led to aspirations for artistry.

“I remember waking up in the middle of the night, I think I was about four or five years old, and thinking, I want to draw,” she said. “It excited me, I had a slew of ideas of what I wanted to draw and I realized then this is what I want to do.”

Broughton continued her passion into early adulthood, only stopping for her time at Savannah College, ironically one of the most prestigious art schools in the country. Though she wasn’t working on any major projects while in school, it is here in Savannah that Broughton began to draw inspiration for her future works.

“I began doing fluid art with the inspiration being the ocean during my time at Savannah, the abstract nature of water kind of drew me to this type of work, and gave me a piece of mind,” Broughton said.

Her degree completed, Broughton and her husband returned to Richmond. Still determined to make it as an interior designer, Broughton continued working as freelance space planner post-college until she began a career in hotel design with Baskervill Design. Broughton’s fascination with the effects of design initially pushed her to make this work out: “…the effects of spacing, colors, and lighting on how people feel is quite intriguing to me.” But the gleam of the career was less than Brought anticipated.

“It ended up being more office work, crunching numbers on spreadsheets than expressing myself creatively,” she said. “I had a lot anxiety from the direction of the work I was doing, so I began painting to get away from the rigid 9-5 box.”

Her departure from Baskervill would be the pivoting point traced back to the Georgia sand. She began to realize the value in her own creativity as the sole reference point; the same passion since childhood, the spark to her creations. “I was let go of Baskervill, to which I wasn’t exactly upset, I understood why, I wasn’t happy there, it wasn’t where I wanted to be,” Broughton said.

Making the necessary steps, a new career path was taking shape. “I continued to paint and grow on social media, I made a site and a blog for my work.” Broughton put sole focus on growing via social media and making commissions. She reached out to other artists in the community, including Hamilton Glass whom she said essentially helped her jump into the Richmond art scene.

“I reached out to Hamilton Glass, whom I worked at Baskervill Design with,” she said. “He called me, and we had a long discussion where he gave me advice on being an artist. He later brought me into work on some pieces together, letting me meet a few other artists, and kind of introduced me into the art community.”

Broughton spun onto the scene, networking with countless artists that knew Glass and in related events, from teaching summer classes with Art on Wheels, live paintings at the James W. Black Music Center here in Richmond, to kids crafts at the Richmond Folk festivals.

Each of her pieces she creates uses an acrylic base of paints, colors handpicked to engulf its viewer down a whirling abyss, yet raise them with heft towards the cosmic web above. Usually aboard a foundation of canvas or wood, Broughton uses water from the ocean in both her acrylic work as well as her watercolor works.

“Never more than 20 percent in the acrylic so the binders in the paint are still very stable, I just really like the idea of actually incorporating a piece of nature into my artwork,” she said.

Broughton prefers to use colors that remind her of the ocean, of the universe and cosmos. With the colors set, she emphasizes the importance of channeling the unconscious mood to guide her work; execution with all feel, no measurements are necessary. “I go by the feel of it. If I feel like the mediums are balanced well, I just go with it. I tell people don’t be so rigid on what you’re creating,” Broughton said. “To me, that takes away everything, takes away the expression of the piece and takes away a piece of the artist.”

No automatic alt text available. — Photo Credit: Sarah Schultz-Taylor Photography

This is how, as Broughton puts it, “to truly achieve fluid art”. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Broughton’s work dwells in the realm of Jungian psychology. “I read up on Carl Jung who has definitely influenced my work,” Broughton said, “I feel the importance in my work is through expressing feelings or ideas held in my subconscious, often stuck in the unknown,” she said.

When asked what makes an artist relevant, especially here in the Richmond community, Broughton emphasized the importance of embracing the community but also going a bit further with their work to meet their audience on a deeper level. “Embracing the community around you without changing yourself to mesh with it, and not being afraid to go up to strangers and introduce yourself is all crucial to success… but also connecting with the audience on a deeper unconscious level, and this goes for all types of art, regardless of the artist,” she said.

Broughton has work available at Orange Richmond in Scott’s Addition as well as in the Artspace Gallery Shop. While upcoming features are still in the works, she is available online at sabartstudio.com. Follow her on Instagram sabartstudio for more pictures of her work and further updates.

Top Photo Credit: Sarah Schultz-Taylor Photography

RVA Mag First Fridays Picks January 2018

Amy David | January 5, 2018

Topics: 68 Home, ADA Gallery, art, Atlas gallery, Candela Books + Gallery, Dogtown Dance Theatre, Fresh Richmond, Future Studio, Gallery5, Guards and Flags, Maven Made, Page Bond Gallery, RVA ARt, RVA First Fridays, rva streetwear, Suin & Selene, Vagabond, vcu, VCU Sculpture Department, VCUarts

From the Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China making its way to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts this fall, to Pueblo artist Virgil Ortiz‘ figurative ceramic works retelling the story of his ancestors’ rebellion against Spanish colonizers in 1680 in the “Hear my Voice” exhibit, to VCU’s announcement of their forthcoming Insititute of Contemporary Art, and our ever-growing number of murals, Richmond’s arts scene was booming in 2017. To kick 2018 off to a great start, RVA First Fridays returns this month with a slew of emerging talented artists, new exhibits, fashion showcases, artisan markets, and more.

RVA Mag has rounded up a handful of our top picks for this month’s First Fridays Artwalk and there should be a little something in there for everyone this go around.

Dogtown Dance Theatre

Made by RVA’s RVA Creative Market

Opens Sat. Jan. 6

In an effort to support Richmond entrepreneurs and local artisans, the Manchester dance theatre has partnered with events website Unlockingrva and Made by RVA to host a market for Richmonders to shop local products and support local shop makers, creators, artists, crafters, and bakers. 109 W. 15th St.

Candela Books & Gallery

Science As Muse

Exhibit runs Jan. 5 – Feb. 17

Caleb Charland, “Fruit Battery Still Life (Citrus),” Archival Pigment Print, 32 x 40 inches Courtesy of Sasha Wolf Projects

For their first show of 2018, Candela Books & Gallery will feature eight artists in the photography exhibit, Science As Muse. The artists, which include, Walter Chappell, Caleb Charland, Rose-Lynn Fisher, Pam Fox, Daniel Kariko, Michael Rauner, Robert Shults, and Susan Worsham, all use science as their inspiration to base their photographic works around. Some of the artists use equipment made possible by modern science while others have create work by applying the scientific method, and some have simply documented the worlds within scientists practice their craft, each telling a story with their photos. 214 W. Broad St.

Pam Fox, “Windsock,” 1999-2002. Gelatin Silver Print, 20 x 16 inches

Art 180
Future Studio Opening
Opening reception Jan. 5

In partnership with the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU and the VCuarts Department of Sculpture & Extended Media, Art180 will feature its first “Future Studio”, showcasing artwork by high-schoolers in the Future Studio program. The 10-week free program provides Richmond teens with hands-on experience creating art and other media in VCU’s Sculpture department. The Future Studio program also gives teens the opportunity to visit the ICA building, access to portfolio workshops, lectures, free materials, and a chance to have their work showcased in Art 180’s Atlas gallery.

Gallery5
Gold for A Silver Situation
Fri. Jan. 5-Jan. 25

This Friday, Gallery5’s “Gold For A Silver Situation” opens, featuring the work of 12 Richmond female artists. Curated by fellow local artist Katie McBride, the exhibit aims to break gender barriers, and highlight the many talented female illustrators and artists making significant contributions to their field, yet still, are too often seen or viewed as an afterthought to male artists in their field.

The show includes the art of Cathryn Virginia, Holly Camp, Melissa Duffy, Ally Hodges, Brooke Inman, Meena Khalili, and, Mary Chiaramonte, Victoria Borges, Clara Cline, Kamille Jackson, Amelia Blair Langford, along with McBride, whose known for her design of the 2016 Richmond Folk Fest poster.

“Female illustrators are not an afterthought. Walk in and see 50 pieces of amazing art and understand that these people should be first in your mind for a big, crazy, stunning, dramatic oil painting, or super smart conceptual think-piece, or a portrait, or whatever it is,” said McBride, told RVA Mag in a recent interview about the new exhibit.

You can view a catalog of each of the artists’ work here. Gold For A Silver Situation opens tonight at 7 pm. Music kicks off at 8 pm with Elizabeth Owens, Slurry, Georgie Isaacs, and Deau Eyes. Other vendors will also be at Gallery5 so make sure you stop by Gallery’5 membership table, Belle Isle Moonshine, “Interconnection”, a series of Multimedia Collages, and Portraits of Richmond Icons by Courtney Lebow, and Becky Whitson, who will be selling floral headpieces and fine art.

Page Bond Gallery
Glow Glimmer Sparkle Shine
Exhibit runs until Jan. 13

You still have a few weeks left to check out Page Bond Gallery’s Glow Glimmer Sparkle Shine exhibit featuring 26 artists which range from paintings to ceramics to abstract work.

Sculptural ceramics artist Piero Fenci is among those showcasing his work, which resembles ancient architecture, armor, and industrial machinery. Fenci describes it as “loosely rendered reinventions of the past” that reveal “a heritage of [his] own passions.” The artist has been a professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas since 1975 and he founded the first university program in contemporary ceramic art in northern Mexico at la Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua in 2004.

Ross Browne, a Richmond native and figurative painter, is displaying his dream-like portraits, which fuse together fact and “imagined mythology” to challenge “preconceived notions of the shared human experience”. The artist also incorporates nature such as birds, land, and cityscapes into his artwork to convey “the struggles of identity, power, and self-actualization.”

You can see their work and the work of the following artists at Page Bond Gallery in this exhibit: Participating artists include: Isabelle Abbot, Will Berry, Karen Blair, Sanford Bond, Robin Braun, Amy Chan, Charlotte Culot, Clark Derbes, Sean Donlon, Isa Newby Gagarin, Sarah Irvin, Harris Johnson, Becky Joye, B. Millner, Sarah Mizer, Jaydan Moore, Matthew Langley, Tim O’Kane, Corey Pemberton, Curtis Ripley, Fiona Ross, Nancy Murphy Spicer, Leigh Suggs, and Julie Wolfe. 1625 W. Main St.

ADA Gallery
Bruce Wilhelm: Next
Exhibit runs Fri. Jan. 5-Jan. 28

ADA Gallery presents Richmond-based artist Bruce Wilhelm’s solo exhibit, Next, featuring his abstract works. A VCU graduate, Wilhelm has received two Virginia Museum Fellowship Grants and has showcased his work at ADA Gallery since 2005. The artist is also the co-founder of Philly’s Grizzly Grizzly gallery. 228 W. Broad St. 7-9 PM.

Sediment Arts
GenderFail
Exhibit runs Fri. Jan 5-Jan. 21

Opening tonight is Sediment Arts storefront exhibit, GenderFail, a publishing and program initiative founded by Brett Suemnicht. The exhibit will feature a multimedia installation of publications, prints, and select programming focused on perspectives of queer and transgender people as well as people of color. The aim is to “build up, reinforce and open opportunities for creative projects focusing on printed matter.”

The featured works are from the GenderFail Archive Project in the form of a reading room with select titles from the GenderFail library. The selections will be archived on the site and presented at the gallery as installations on sculptures commissioned from Richmond-based artists. The collaborative sculptural displays were created by artists Hallie McNeill, Evan Galbicka and Colin Klockner. GenderFail will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-6 pm and tonight’s opening will run from 6-9 pm. 208 E. Grace St.

68 Home
The Zodiac Collections
Exhibit opens Fri. Jan. 5

68 Home, a used and locally made furniture and home decor store and art gallery, will open First Fridays this month with “The Zodiac Collections”, a complete astrology-inspired exhibit.

There will be $5 card readings by @snakeoil, online jewelry boutique Sun and Selene will be there selling their products, along with Maven Made, a local company selling all natural, ethically-sourced beauty, home, and wellness products, and local custom-flag shop Guards and Flags. 5 W. Broad St.

Threat Count Shirts
Cotton to Canvas: Champ Era Street Calculus

This Friday, Thread Count Shirts, a local custom brand t-shirt and apparel business, will have a pop-up shop showcasing local designer Champ Era’s latest collection, Street Calculus. 6-10 PM. 209 E. Broad St.

Fresh Richmond
Pop Up Shop

Fresh Richmond is hosting a Pop-Up Shop for their First Fridays of the New Year. The shop will feature clothing from Sky Mission Clothing Co., artwork made using water, fire, and air by SABartStudio, jewelry and gemstones by The RAW Aura, homade lotions by Nature’s Booty, and a DJ set by DJ Lady Syren and Neili Neil. 5-8:30 PM. 213 E. Broad St.

Vagabond
Smoochie Jankins 1st Fridays Party!

Vagabond will throw an artist pop-up in The Rabbit Hole tonight at 9 PM featuring art and design from Jessica Camilli, Kamala Bhagat, Liberatus Jewelry, with music by Smoochie Jankins. Led by Mark Ingraham on the trumpet, the band is rounded out with Garen Dorsey (Sax/ Keys), Macon Mann (Keys), Kelli Strawbridge (Drums), Nekoro Thabiti Williams (PBR, Drums) and Derek Goodall, (drums) which is bound to get you out of your house braving the cold weather to hear these awesome musicians play. 700 E. Broad St.

Check out all the RVA First Fridays happenings here.