Press Release
Although they use different mediums and approaches, two Helper artists, Anna Evans and Jason Huntzinger, will display their work in an exhibit, “Tone/Texture,” April 4-21 at Gallery East. Evans, who creates fiber art, will share the gallery space with Huntzinger, who is a photographer.
Evans is an integrative artist who prioritizes sustainably-sourced, local and self-produced materials for her work. Her artistic focus is fiber, silversmithing, gardening and Naturalist outreach. In 2018, she received Utah Desert Naturalist certification through the Utah State University and, in 2021, she completed the Utah Master Gardener program.
Evans’ weavings are a true example of place-based art. The patterns and designs she weaves are inspired by landscapes and the natural world of the Colorado Plateau. She sources local wool and uses plants grown in her dye garden or foraged in the surrounding desert to achieve a spectrum of naturally-dyed fiber for use in her work.
Evans’ work has been included in several group exhibitions. In 2021, her piece “Twilight to Dawn” was selected for the Utah Statewide Annual Exhibition and acquired by the State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection.
Evans was born and raised in Grand Junction, CO. She now lives in Helper and maintains her fiber practice while working as a full-time metalsmith/jewelry designer in her studio with adjacent showroom and small retail shop, Badlands Goods, on Main Street in Price.
Huntzinger, originally from Pleasant Grove, found his artistic footing on the vibrant Duluth, Minnesota arts and music scene. He has a BFA from the University of Minnesota and exhibited his work extensively in Duluth and Minneapolis. He was known for his moody, mysterious, wintery imagery, photographing the frigid industrial port town, with personal undertones.
Huntzinger is an adjunct professor in the art department at USU Eastern where he teaches the introductory photography classes. He currently resides in Helper where he prints his photographs from a home studio.
The two artists decided to create work inspired by the remains of a small mining camp, Royal, in Price Canyon. The site was early 20th century coal town that was abandoned and obscured by foliage, and largely forgotten. In 2021, the canyon that contains these ruins was burned and flooded in quick succession, exposing textured layers and remnants of temporal history.
“After years of abandonment, it was obscured from existence by overgrowth in the canyon’s fertile microclimate until the summer of 2021 when the Bear Canyon Fire and multiple flash floods exposed the site,” said Evans. “This work is a coalition of observing the ruins of human activity within the ghost town, my experience of feeling threatened by fire and flood, and a toilsome year, fraught with uncertainty and change both personally and on a global scale.”
Huntzinger conjointly brought his photographic senses to the project. “My best and favorite work often starts with becoming obsessed with a subject or idea, and then finding the means to successfully transfer the intensity of the idea into imagery,” he said. “This project felt like it needed to push beyond traditional photography. Photographic images are attached to a fixed moment of time when the photograph is made, whereas the act of painting is fluid. Though not a painter, I wanted to imbue some of the qualities of that medium into these photographic processes.”
“This exhibition is also a collaboration of two artists who work in different mediums and have their own distinct perspectives. We took a trip to the site that this material is inspired by to launch this project, and have discussed it several times over the last year,” Huntzinger explained.
The artists have not, however, seen each other’s work since the project’s inception. “I have yet to see what Anna has made. A big piece of the collaboration will be hanging the show in this beautiful space, Gallery East,” Huntzinger said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how this will fall into place organically and fit together as a whole. Hopefully ,it has resulted in a visually-striking, texturally-layered, dynamic experience for you, the viewer.”
The exhibit, “Tone/Texture,” will be on display through April 21. Evans and Huntzinger will be at Gallery East for a reception and gallery talk on Friday, April 14, from 6-8 p.m. Students, faculty, staff and the public are invited. The gallery is located in the Central Instruction Building.
The gallery is free and open to the public during the academic year. Gallery East’s Spring 2023 hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed weekends and holidays. For questions, contact Noel Carmack at (435) 613-5241 or by email at noel.carmack@usu.edu.
