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Home » News » Chris Boyko + Michelle LaFrance at SOUP experimental

Chris Boyko + Michelle LaFrance at SOUP experimental

Published June 27, 2017

SOUP experimental will be exhibiting a selection of works by Chris Boyko and FSU Art BFA ’13 Michelle LaFrance July 7 – 29, 2017. AN opening reception will be held on July 7 from 7 – 9pm.

Chris Boyko is an Atlanta based artist, known for his surrealistic style. In the fall of 2014, he graduated from Kennesaw State University, receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree in Visual Art. He participates in local and international exhibitions along with charity art events in the community.

In January 2014, Chris along with three of his peers had their first group exhibition titled Introductions, at Kibbee Gallery. During the same year, he received his first solo exhibition at the Peachtree Branch Library, located across the street from The High Museum of Art. Most recently, he has begun participating in international exhibitions. Some of which include Galactic Pleasures at The Studio Door in San Diego and The Creative Soul: Art & The 9 Levels of Self at the Life Force Arts Center in Chicago. Online magazines like ARTicul ACTION have published interviews in regards to his artwork.

Chris strongly believes in aiding the community. He volunteers and donates his artwork to numerous local charity art auctions. Hambadge Art Auction at the Goat Farm and Toy Party, For the Kid in All of Us are just two of the charity auctions he participates in. He enjoys giving back to the community that supports his artistic endeavors.

From Boyko’s artist statement:

Bizarre, strange and unusual; each painting unveils the hidden reality within the mind. The subconscious is constructed like a giant web, which as a whole creates an individual. If one were to examine each individual piece, they would realize it’s composed of multiple ideas, memories and feelings which are constantly shifting. It’s this shift within our subconscious that changes our perception of reality. It’s why each of us can respond differently to a multitude of situations.

Using automatic painting techniques, my mind enters a meditative state. As I begin to follow the strings of the subconscious web, the organic forms develop within the painting. One form leads to another, like a trail of thoughts. It’s as if my mind and the paint are in sync with each other. As I explore my own mind, gaining an understanding of myself; I’m also gaining an understanding of the forms. 

Michelle LaFrance is an installation and performance artist living in Tallahassee. Originally from South Florida, she graduated with a BFA in Printmaking from Florida State University in 2013. Her playful use of materials and color inform her work. Her current body of work is titled “Tangible Blue “and uses multiples to create a sensory experience.

From LaFrance’s artist statement:

My current body of work revolves around color, process and scale. A majority of the materials I use are found, as I find kinship with discarded objects. This relationship compels me to hoard, organize and recycle supplies. For “Tangible Blue” I primarily used found paint, canvases and furniture. Each paint skin I molded for this project is an individual; a color that found me. Multiples reinforce the obsession I feel for my materials, and it is ritualized through performance.

The concept of my work lies in the sensory experience we derive from abstractions of color and texture. When the senses combine to experience the piece, it is as if you can taste the color and hear the layers of texture. The playfulness and willingness to experiment creates a back and forth of control and vulnerability that informs the finished piece. The performance for “Tangible Blue” aims to play with the conceptions of the word and visual representations of the color blue. At the core of my work lies themes of identity, excess and synesthetic experience.