http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Art-fire&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Art-fire en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:59:03 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/27647007/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/27647007/ Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:47:35 PDT There are 500,000 children in America living in foster care waiting to be a member of a loving family. USADOPTION is commited to placing each of these children with loving homes! Support us in this effort and join us to launch the Miami Branch of USADOPTION SOLUTIONS. Event will be held at;
Purvis Young's Studio
255 NW 23rd Street, Wynwood
October 16th, 2009, 6:30pm
RSVP
Featuring the newest works of Purvis Young, Brett Sauce and Serafima Sokolov.
30% of the sales will benefit USADOPTIONS SOLUTIONS.
Enjoy and participate in a silent art auction with 30 aquisitions donated by artists nationwide. 100% of the silent auction proceeds will benefit the Resource Realizations scholarship fund, creating the leaders of today!
Relish in visual stimulation and tasty treats!
A taste of the town restaurant package, valued at $1000 will be raffled off at the exhibition. Experience the culinary arts of Miami's fantastic chefs!
Be a part of the solution!
[link]
[link]

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/24574800/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/24574800/ Sun, 03 May 2009 21:28:39 PDT But I do also want time to get back to my own paintings...I want to do a few more in the current series about the 30's and then move on to other issues that need to be covered. I found I should focus closer on individual faces again to show my more intense expression through somebody elses face.
Anyway, will try to get back to it soon.

Thank you to all who are waiting paitently for my next few pieces....hope they come out good! LOL!

PS: I need old family photos I can paint from the 1930's era?

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/17797833/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/17797833/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:28:53 PDT

New Things:

On March 1st through March 29th, I showed in the Limner Gallery in Hudson NY. It was a show called Emerging Artists 2008, a juried show with fifteen other artists. The one piece that was included was Child Soldier #7. Rather good gallery run by artist Tim Slowinki. You can visit the site for the gallery at [link] Some of the artwork may still be on their site.

Then, on March 15th, I showed my work at the Etra Fine art gallery in the Design District in Miami as part of a show put togethor by the eLements of Art organization. This was an auction show where 50%
of the proceeds went to the Invisible Children organization that then helps children suffering from the war in Northern Uganda. Children that have suffered through becoming orphans, child soldiers, child mothers, suffered in the hands of Joseph Kony!

Then, one of the members of dA, ~farther-on, invited me to show some of my work along with his at Rice University in Houston, TX. I couldn't get my originals there, but print outs were made of my work to show the public. Here is the video of the exhibit with an interview of Mark Levine, the other artist, and my work can be seen randomly in the background.
~Link to video does not copy and paste right into the journal, so sorry, no video! ~

Also, because my tenure as an art assistant to the artist Huong has ended, I have found work with the Young at Art Children's Museum in Fort Lauderdale and am enjoying working there greatly! Great staff and such great facilities! I wanna be a kid again! they have an installation piece by Kenny Scharf thats totally psychedelic! they have a global village with a mayan temple, Kenyan town with drums and two huts, a japanese tea house, The wailing wall in israel and archaeological dig holes, half a cruise ship!.....actually it would have been even more fun to have created the set they have here!

I am pretty much done with painting Child Soldiers, and wish to move on to something closer to home to Americans, my main current public, the subject matter of child abuse in US. And I do need some help figuring out were I can find some good source photos for this, so if anyone has or knows someone who has photographed different child abuses such as beating, malnourishment, slavery, prostitution, rape, so on and so forth, let me know asap!

so there ya go....I think thats all for now, will write something more once something else happens.

thank you much for listening!

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/16661831/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/16661831/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:09:50 PST
follow this link to see interview: (quicktime required to view)
[link]


Tell me what you think!

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/16320364/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/16320364/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:31:57 PST For immediate release. Jan. 8 2008
Contact Serafima (954) 670-3385
Email: flyingbluepiglet@hotmail.com
Art, War & Peace Gallery

ART SPEAKING FOR THE YOUTH!
CHILD SOLDIER SERIES
ON EXHIBIT IN MIAMI BEACH

Miami : --Just around the bend of Lincoln Square & Washington Ave, the artwork of upcoming artist, Serafima Sokolov will be displayed at the front of the Art, War & Peace Gallery along with a 600ft long Peace Mural by the artist Huong.

Serafima approaches a very tender and disturbing subject in her paintings. She writes: "The subject matter of child soldiers is transformed into vibrant paintings to give a stronger reaction than the original image of the child in the field. The haunting image of the child is meant to overpower the viewer into understanding the plight of over 2,500 children in arms around the globe. The idea is explored further in representational installments depicting the enticement of war and the destruction of innocence and life. The ultimate objective is to influence the viewer to support groups such as UNICEF and the Coalition Against the use of Child Soldiers. Painting from real photographs, the work speaks of the suffering of children. Bright, contrasting neon colors reinforce the ideas of the sources, imitating night vision and negative photography. These paintings act as a media source by reaching out to the public to help my subjects.”

Serafima has developed her own unique style, using modern technology only as her base platform; she transforms the real world around her into dreamlike mosaics using her classical training in oils, acrylics and other mediums to critique modern issues. Her work has often been called haunting, the images ghostlike or ethereal. She casts an evocative eye towards modern issues such as war, equal rights and theocracy with a flare for the ironic. Her artwork has been shown in the OTKU Gallery in Jensen Beach FL, the Miami Art Palace, the Frost Art Museum and most recently, at the University of North Florida as a guest artist for Peace Awareness Week.




WHAT: “Child Soldier Series”, public event
WHO: Serafima Sokolov, up and coming human rights artist
WHERE: 1620 Washington Ave. at Lincoln Road, Miami. Florida 33129
OPENING: Sat. January 19th 2008, noon-3pm
FOR INFORMATION: Exhibit: (305) 674-6714. or (954)670-3385
HOURS: Daily 11-8pm

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/15872767/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/15872767/ Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:15:44 PST
“STRANGE POLITICS”
“DAVID KAISER: DEFYING DESCRIPTION”
“DALE O’DELL: THE SURREAL LANDSCAPE”
The Artists of “COMMONART”, Boston, MA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACT: Marjorie Kaye

@Caladan Gallery

(978) 979-8922

CALADAN GALLERY presents “Strange Politics”, a juried exhibition of 12 national artists. When the aesthetic and the conceptual are combined, it results in the power of justified cynicism, altruistic yearnings, and pure hope and optimism. Art has long been instrumental in the expansion of awareness. In this exhibition, it is inescapable.
With the exception of a few images, the lament of the tragically inappropriate can be said to sum up the common thread in David Kaiser’s work. Those that manifest a different direction in this series are prone to mirror the ephemeral reality of empires rising and falling. All in all, we look upon the leaders of the tenuous with sadness and disgrace rather than fear. This is the legacy of these silk screened images. Rather than simply reflect a bow and arrow of awareness (they do), we also are given a chance to feel for the misbegotten ideals of those whose deeds were unknown to themselves until finished. (As well as those who are just plain unenlightened...)
Images by Dale O’Dell are “art of an ongoing series of Surreal Landscapes. I have chosen to use the ‘real’ or ‘straight’ landscape as foundation and starting point for the creation of my own fictional places. Instead of documenting a place which is truly best experienced with all five senses, my photo-digital surreal landscapes exist outside the laws of physics, logic and normalcy. By rearranging existing natural elements I can create places that I’d like to visit, yet don’t exist…”
Recently, Caladan Gallery Director Marjorie Kaye had the opportunity to work with the artists of the CommonArt Project in Boston, MA. These artists, each accomplished in many ways, are from various shelters and homes in the area. They come together each Wednesday at the Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street to make art, enjoy each other's company, and have some wonderful meals. The community feeling one encounters at CommonArt is inspirational, as are the artists themselves. They have found personal expression not only as a coping mechanism, but as an individualizing force in the midst of the tendency to be treated as a "commodity" due to circumstance.
Experience these exhibitions on-line at [link] from December 10, 2007 – January 9, 2008. For more information, please call (978) 979-8922 or email us at director@caladangallery.com.

Serafima Sokolov (Plantation, FL) approaches a very tender and disturbing subject in her paintings. She writes: "The subject matter of child soldiers is transformed into vibrant paintings to give a stronger reaction than the original image of the child in the field. The haunting image of the child is meant to overpower the viewer into understanding the plight of over 2,500 children in arms around the globe. The idea is explored further in representational installments depicting the enticement of war and the destruction of innocence and life. The ultimate objective is to influence the viewer to support groups such as UNICEF and the Coalition Against the use of Child Soldiers. Painting from real photographs, the work speaks of the suffering of human kind throughout the ages. Bright, contrasting neon colors reinforce the ideas of the sources, imitating night vision and negative photography. These paintings act as a media source by reaching out to the public to help my subjects.”

[link]

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/15006802/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/15006802/ Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:59:44 PDT I found out later that my Child Soldier 19 had been picked as a Daily Deviation! I really want to thank him publicly for what he has done... not bringing more people to see my page, but to see the many faces of child soldiers through out the world. Also, *DAPoliticalForum has signed on to support my ideas and artwork, and I could not be more thankful for having them come across my work! Since I have a small audience now, I present to you my thesis on my work that helps explain so much of what I am trying to bring to the world of art... the reality of the world... the cold hard truth of child soldiers...250,000 of them through out the world. If you do not read the whole thing, at least remember to show support through organizations such as UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and also The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Solders and many other non-profit groups that give real support to rehabilitation clinics for ex-child soldiers. Thank you!

Thesis:

By painting from real photographs, the works speak of the suffering of human kind throughout the ages. Bright, contrasting neon colors reinforce the ideas of the sources, imitating night vision and negative photography. The collection of work acts as a medium reaching out to the public to help my subjects. The subject matter of child soldiers is transformed into vibrant paintings to give a stronger reaction than the original image of the child in the field of war. The haunting image of the children is meant to overpower the viewer’s emotions and hopefully bring understanding of the plight of over 250,000 children in arms around the globe. The idea is explored further in representational installments depicting the enticement of war and the destruction of innocence and life using war toys as the catalyst. The ultimate objective is to influence the viewer into supporting groups such as UNICEF or the Coalition Against the Use of Child Soldiers.
Although I might not appear to be politically centered in my daily life, my art is particularly politically based. Starting with the ideas of war and the destruction in reaps in general; I have worked to develop my artwork so that the focus is on a very specific aspect of war. In the past, I have researched and shown through similar paintings as I do now, the relationship and similarities of the Vietnam War when compared to the current Iraqi war. Searching for more images of war, I came across the image of a child pointing a gun at the photographer; it shocked me to say the least. Since then, I have researched through websites, books and individual activists who have something to say on the subject matter. My paintings express my opinions without uttering a word, without having to verbally explain myself and my motives. One of the primary missions that I have been working on currently and will continue to perfect for an extended period of time is the subject of child soldiers. Through portraits of children who have been forced to lose their innocence, I want to spread the word of their existence and their plight. Although I cannot personally help any specific child by going out into the bush of Uganda for example or personally help any of these children escape the bondage of the overbearing Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), I can still be a resource of information to the general public and to citizens willing to give money to rehabilitation clinics throughout Africa and other countries that enslave children and help provide the true care that these innocence need. I can also be a window, of sorts, into the world that these children must endure, survive or die in. The artwork is meant to be a gateway to factual knowledge of the tribulations these children go through or at least a trigger for emotional responses from an audience that all too often does not even realize this tragedy is occurring in the world. Dragging society from the comfort of their living rooms, television sets to focus on an issue that is killing so many children, if not physically then spiritually. As Ishmael Beah wrote in his book, “A Long Way Gone”, a personal memoir by a reformed child soldier, “Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies”. I can only imagine that every child I paint has experienced this sensation of their soul dying, a major factor in why these... ]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/12646903/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/12646903/ Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:21:06 PDT
BFA Spring Exhibition
April 27- May 6
Opening Reception: April 27th 7pm

The Frost Art Museum
SW 107th Ave & 8th St.
Building Primera Casa, Ste#110
Miami, FL 33199

To anybody living in South Florida, it would be much appreciated to see you there!

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/11669046/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/11669046/ Sat, 03 Feb 2007 09:00:44 PST
So far in the new year, many things have changed.
I have started working with the artist Huong on her peace and war works and have had time to finish Child Soldier #9 and 10 and have already started Child soldier#11, If you saw a recent issue of Newsweek, (Jan.22) it had an Iraqi child holding a gun. I am finally changing my pallete slightly for him, he will be more red. The article was about the forthcoming group of new jihadists, how the war is affecting the children, and how many are taking up arms. Huong has set up a really nice studio in her home for me. I am feeling so blessed recently.

Also in January I did a street fair in Jensen Beach, Florida with Huong and we got a lot of great responces. We even welcomed the negative responces. What we showed was a 300 foot mural made up of about 200-300 30"x30" canvases. Images in her style, very cubist yet expressionistic, of war were dispersed between letters forming words such as "truth" "justice" phrases like "Peace: Bring It On". People could even come up to the mural and sign a few of the panels. There were many great quotes written and a 103 year old woman made sure to sign it. This area of Florida had a large upper class population and the rest were bikers. So there were a few "F#@%ing hippies" and other negative comments but the majority of people were very happy to see such political public work. A few people cryed because they had sons or daughters in the military or just felt the work was that powerful. It was a great experience. Although this was a craft fair, the fine art offset it. Some artists would never show in such a fair, but I realized, this was the best place for artwork like Huong's and my own. Our art is meant to be seen by the general public, to be an extra form of media. None of the pieces were for sale because the mural will travel to Washington DC and New York in October. But I have sold all but two of the Child Soldiers recently.

On top of all of all of these great things, my boyfriend proposed to me on my birthday, Feb. 1st. I of course said yes and we are deciding on the date of marraige now. We have been togethor for 5 years now, so it was about time darnit!

Oh, and I also have a prospect for a show in Scotland in April, hope it goes over well.

Well, thats all for now! Will write more when 10 new things occur to me!

Thanks to the support of many folks on dA.

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/10633304/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/10633304/ Mon, 06 Nov 2006 06:47:37 PST
Selling this piece, and working with another "political" artist named Huong (www.huong.org) has really riled me up to really get as many of these portraits out as soon as possible and to do something else about the child soldiers. I have sent letters to the Coalition against the use of child soldiers and the Human Rights Watch to see if they can collaborate with me. I feel that a visual reference will help spread the word. The visual context reinforces an idea into a persons mind.

Anyway, Huong is a Vietnamese artist living in a palace(!!!) in s.Florida. She has her work divided into two sections; the peace works and the war pieces. I worked with her the past few weeks to help her finish up some artworks to be shown sat. Nov. 4th at her home as part of a peace rally. In fact, I finished a 30"x30" child soldier to put into her mural. Anyway, check her out! I'm so happy that things are finally looking up and hope it continues for me. But more importantly, I hope my artwork can inform people of the plight of the child soldiers and incourage them to do something about it.

]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/10047002/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/10047002/ Tue, 12 Sep 2006 05:47:47 PDT
I will finally be having my first art exhibition this Sat. September 16th.

If you live in Miami, or south Florida, you really want to come!!! I will be having new pieces up that no one has ever seen before. Not even you deviants! (I will post photos after the show.)

Here is what the postcard says:

The FIU Hugin & Munin Gallery Presents:

REACTION!
Paintings by Serafima Sokolov

Artist's Reception: Saturday, September 16th @ 7pm

Live music and refreshments

Located at the FIU Biscayne Bay Campus
3000 NE 151st St.
Building AC2, Ste#150
(first building on left at entrance of campus)
N. Miami, FL 33162

Visit online gallery at [link]




If you know anyone who would be interested, pass on the word!
Also, let me know if you have any suggestions for first time openings!
]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/9688225/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/9688225/ Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:31:53 PDT
Art can be absolutely anything these days, but good art is always in the eye of the beholder, reflecting the viewer’s personal life experiences. I believe that good art must be equally visually pleasing and have a strong concept. With this perspective in mind, I try to practice this by creating works with recognizable subject matter, usually figurative subjects, using rich color and political content.
Although I do not appear to be politically militant in my daily life, my art is especially politically based. My paintings let me speak my mind without uttering a word, without having to verbally explain myself and my motives. I mostly paint portraits of people who describe my views, whether they are soldiers, oppressed or powerful people or grieving citizens. I paint all of these subjects from photographs. Using photographs in a painting suggests that an event actually happened or that the people involved are genuine if the painting is realistically painted. I strive to paint these photos realistically with the exception of my color palette. My oil paintings project very unnatural, expressionistic colors, usually portraying the skin of my subjects in ghostly greens to flaming reds and neon pinks, depending on the message of the piece. The use of these colors sometimes gives the impression of a negative of a photograph, directly correlating the painting back to the photograph and at the same time informing the viewer to look deeper into the painting, to understand the meanings, to see it as more than just a reproduction of a photograph. Although my subject matter could be ugly, I try to make my paintings beautiful so that a viewer’s eye is first captured by the stark colors so that they can then analyze the deeper meanings. ]]> ~Art-fire http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/9668027/ http://Art-fire.deviantart.com/journal/9668027/ Wed, 09 Aug 2006 18:00:31 PDT ~Art-fire