Sean Russell

2020
through January '21

Bouquet of Fission
City Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
(3) 131"x96"

Public Art

Bouquet of Fission references the visual and metaphorical relationships between a bouquet of flowers and an atomic blast and serves as a reminder of Las Vegas’ past and its blossoming present and future.

City of Las Vegas site

Don't get a parking ticket!

2020

Bouquet of Folly
Whitney Library, Las Vegas, Nevada
West Charleston Library, Las Vegas, Nevada

Exhibition

Current, Ongoing

Various Flowers

Studio Practice

various processes and media

2017

Zap 9 - Barn Box
Lone Mountain, Las Vegas, Nevada

Public Art

Zap 9 Barn Box

Clark County's Zap program is bringing public art to the Lone Mountain region of Las Vegas. Using utility boxes as canvases, 15 local artists, selected through a juried process, will design and paint their original art, on-site. The 45 boxes to be painted are located primarily along Craig Road, Lone Mountain Road and Durango Drive, and around the Mountain Crest and Lone Mountain Regional Parks. My Zap 9 box is based on the American Barn Quilt tradition.

2016

Infrared
Various Libraries, Las Vegas area

Exhibition

Early in 2015 I purchased a modified digital camera from which the visible spectrum filter had been removed, giving the camera the ability to capture both ultraviolet and infrared light. Most digital cameras have this filter to better process the light humans can see, thus ignoring the light outside of our visible spectrum. I altered this camera further by using various lens filters that exclude certain wavelengths of color.

With my modified camera I captured a variety of images during a family trip to my in-law’s lake home in Big Lake, Minnesota, on hikes throughout Red Rock National Conservation Area in Nevada, and around my home in Las Vegas, Nevada. I chose these locations due to the varieties of light and color each landscape provided. Images from these locations were then juxtaposed and transferred to wood panels using a gel transfer process. The photo transfer process creates an end product that looks vintage and aged, which contrasts the relatively high level of technology that went into the creation of the image in the first place.

2015

South of Town
Clark County Government Center Rotunda Gallery

Exhibition

South of Town is an exhibit of abstract ceramic forms situated among large, landscape photos. To create the ceramic forms, Russell shot 25 lb blocks of wet clay with various firearms. The bullet-pierced aftermath was then put through a customized kiln-firing process and finished with a metallic glaze known as Palladium. The artworks address an undesignated shooting location on public land about 5 miles south of Las Vegas. Littered with old cans, bottles, tires, washing machines and cars, the area is used by people shooting in all directions while others scavenge for metal, ride dirt bikes and let their children and animals roam free. Fascinated with the shooting spot, Russell uses "South of Town" to share with others the uniqueness and absurdity of the site.

2015

Red Rock Canyon Artist-In-Residence
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Exhibition / Public Art

These pieces were created for an exhibition at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area visitor's center as part of their Artist-in-Residence program. The images used in the photo transfer process originally come from automated game cameras I set up around the NCA, as well as landscape photos I captured on the scenic loop drive. The goal of the work is to juxtapose the images of Red Rock that the majority of tourists see with images of what really goes on at night and in the early mornings.

2015

Zap 7 - Dazzle Box
Russell and Maryland, Las Vegas, NV

Public Art

Twenty (20) artists, selected by an independent review panel, will be contracted by Clark County Parks and Recreation to paint art on utility boxes for the ZAP 7 project on Maryland Parkway, the latest in a series of County public art projects that began in 2005. The artists will each paint a group of utility boxes along the parkway from Desert Inn Road to Russell Road, for a total of approximately ninety-six (96) utility boxes.

2013

Unanimous Decision
Winchester Cultural Center, Las Vegas, NV

Exhibition

Unanimous Decision is based on a series of photographs taken during early morning walks at the Clark County Wetlands Park. I can often be found at the Wetlands Park right before sunrise, strolling through the park and mentally clearing my head for the day. I was inspired by the thick, lush, interwoven flora and light effects created by the rising sun. The entangled branches and leaves of the numerous plant species found at the Wetlands Park motivated me to paint expressionistically, and create a body of work that emulates the density and natural beauty of the park. In the end, the “Unanimous Decision” of the exhibit refers to the filtering process I went through in regards to the subject for this series of paintings.