Opening Reception: Thurs. December 21, 5pm
The Tusen Takk Channel is pleased to present Tender Sun, an exhibition of works on paper by fall 2023 artist-in-residence Katrina Bello. While at Tusen Takk, Bello found inspiration in the colors and geological history of the Northern Michigan landscape, considering themes of migration, time, and place in this body of work. Created one per day while in residence, these works became like journal entries–the artist’s effort to remember, honor, and imagine the landscape.
While Bello’s previous work stays comfortably within a grayscale palette–tones familiar to her as a child raised on the black sand beaches of the Philippines–her residency unearthed a newfound joy in color. The subtle yet vibrant hues of the sky, water, and stones made their way into her studio where she created work in response to the colors and textures both seen and unseen (she continues to chase sight of the northern lights). As the artist ruminated on Barry Lopez’s Arctic Dreams, the rich history of Northern Michigan’s stones and the narratives that they embody also began to influence her work: “You can sit for a long time with the history of man like a stone in your hand.”
Photo by Tom Peckham
ARTIST BIO
Born in Davao City in the Philippines, Katrina Bello is a visual artist whose work is informed by memory, observations, experiences and narratives of land and natural surroundings during her experience of immigrating to the United States. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and the Philippines, and has been awarded fellowships and residencies in the United States. She attended the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, and received a BFA from the Mason Gross School of The Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. Katrina is the founder of north willow, an informal artist-run attic exhibition space. She currently lives and works in New Jersey.
THE TUSEN TAKK CHANNEL: AN ARTIST ENGAGEMENT SERIES
The Tusen Takk Channel is a partnership with Alluvion Arts @ 414 at Commongrounds in downtown Traverse City, MI. The Channel will feature Tusen Takk’s artists-in-residence in rotating exhibitions and in live programs at the Alluvion, all serving to anchor Tusen Takk’s public programming in the region.
Commongrounds is a real estate cooperative cultivating a more empowered community through cooperatively-owned places that connect people and actively integrate wellness, arts, family and food. The pilot project is a four-story mixed-use building at 414 E. Eighth Street, hosting a variety of nonprofit, business, and residential tenants; visual arts programming; and events and activities.
Featured Artist