PhotosynthesisAn Exhibition of Recent Artwork
Location: Debra March Center of Excellence Art Gallery Dates: Friday, March 29, 2024 – Saturday, September 28, 2024 Hours: 8am – 5pm M-F, Closed Saturday, Sunday and all National Holidays |
The CSN Art Galleries are excited to announce the opening of their newest art gallery in collaboration with the CSN Henderson Campus and the City of Henderson. Now open at the Debra March Center of Excellence is an exhibition of collage and photographic based artwork by CSN Program Coordinator and Professor of Art & Art History, Sean Russell. “Photosynthesis: An Exhibition of Recent Artwork by Sean Russell,” officially opens, Friday, March 29, 2024, and will run through Saturday, September 28, 2024, at the Art Gallery in the City of Henderson’s Debra March Center of Excellence.
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Wash CycleNOVEMBER 2023
I have lived in Las Vegas for over twenty years, most of it spent in my current home, which borders the Las Vegas Wash, slightly north of the Clark County Wetlands Park. The Wash is the Las Vegas Valley’s urban river system, fed by stormwater, reclaimed water, urban runoff, and various other sources that pass through this natural filter on the way to Lake Mead. As such, the Wash is also home to a variety of bird and animal species, many of which I see and hear over my back wall throughout the day and night. For this project, I set up multiple night vision trail cameras in the Wash, down amongst the brush, strapped to trees, and enshrined by rocks. Over the last few months, the cameras have captured thousands of images, mostly of the wind blowing a tree branch around - but sometimes, there would be a shadowy movement across some of the frames, or a flash of white eyes in the blurry foliage. I can see the captured images on my phone very soon after they occur, so it was always a joy to get a notification telling me there was a new image to view. What was captured was the daily movements of coyotes, rats sneaking around as soon as the sun went down, tons of rabbits, and families of raccoons. Common animals just living their lives over my wall. In early September of 2023, heavy rain hit Vegas, and a rapid flash flood ripped through the Wash – I lost two cameras that day. All parts of the cycle. The artwork I created is based on and made from these captured images, and other images I snapped after the flood. I use a phototransfer technique to affix the printed digital photos to panels or other surfaces. As part of this process, I scrub away the white pulp of the paper leaving the image somewhat translucent. The pieces are collaged together using various scraps of wood I’ve amassed over the years. Much like the Wash itself, the artwork is made of built-up layers and accumulated detritus, with pops of color and hints of life. |
“This program/project was supported, in part, by the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the state of Nevada.” -- Nevada Arts Council | (nvartscouncil.org)
Thanks to the Lost City Museum for hosting my exhibit:
Home | Lost City Museum |
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Fall 2022 - Sahara West Library, Las Vegas, NV
Spring 2022 - College of Southern Nevada Artspace Gallery, Las Vegas, NV |
Some Pigeons I Know is a group show exhibiting a wide range of media, including; poetry, painting, sculpture, ceramics, fiber arts, musical art, and photography. The show will focus on pigeon/human parallels and to a greater degree discuss humanities unintended influence on natural selection.
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2022 - Ongoing
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Since I began studying the history of art I have been infatuated with the frescos of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The now Italian cities were covered in volcanic ash by the explosion of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 AD and not unearthed until over 1500 years later. When unearthed, archeologists found well preserved frescos depicting mythological imagery, portraits, and scenes of daily life. I particularly enjoy the simple still life images of common items found in these ancient frescos. I noticed that my mixed media artwork has a similar visual aesthetic to some of these frescos, particularly in the way the image is fused and eroded into the panel and surface.
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2022-Ongoing
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36"x36", Acrylic, Glitter, Transfer and Polyurethane on Panel
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2022 - Ongoing
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This is a series of mixed media on panel photographic artworks which consists of images of the desert southwest taken while flying back from Minnesota to Las Vegas. The photos are transferred on to a heavily textured and worn surface, referencing the tangibility of the landscape. The artwork juxtaposes the light, airiness of the viewpoint with the rough physicality of the southwest.
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College of Southern Nevada
Fine Arts Gallery December 2021 |
Bouquet of Pheasants is a collection of new, mixed media, but predominantly photographic artwork, loosely concerning portraits of flowers growing my backyard, trips to visit family in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and imagery associated with hunting and firearms. The pieces are united by themes of beauty and destruction, growth and decay, and the reflect the interconnected strata that makes up our lives.
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Current, Ongoing
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Various works
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Studio Practice
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2020-2022
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mollusca |
Studio Practice
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2020-2021
through January '21 |
part of the Windows On First public art project
City Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada (3) 131"x96" |
Public Art
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Read All About It!
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Don't get a parking ticket!
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2017
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Zap 9 - Barn Box
Lone Mountain, Las Vegas, Nevada |
Public Art
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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.
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2016
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Infrared
Various Libraries, Las Vegas area |
Exhibition
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2015
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South of Town
Clark County Government Center Rotunda Gallery |
Exhibition
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2015
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Red Rock Canyon Artist-In-Residence
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area |
Exhibition / Public Art
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2015
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Zap 7 - Dazzle Box
Russell and Maryland, Las Vegas, NV |
Public Art
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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.
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2013
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Unanimous Decision
Winchester Cultural Center, Las Vegas, NV |
Exhibition
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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.
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Installed in Residence
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2011
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Catastrophic Success
CSN Artspace Gallery, Las Vegas, NV |
Exhibition
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2008
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Real Men Hang Here
Tam Alumni Center, UNLV, Las Vegas, NV |
Exhibition
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2008
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Roadmap to Withdrawal
Winchester Cultural Center, Las Vegas, NV |
Exhibition
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2005
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ARMADA
Donna Beam Gallery, UNLV, Las Vegas, NV |
Exhibition
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