Fotini Christophillis painting live with Etznab Photo Credit: Kedaar Kumar
This past October, I had the pleasure of joining the stage with two very talented musical acts, Etznab and Why Another, and video artist Christopher Konopka at the Lilypad in Cambridge, MA. Etznab is a new jazz guitar duo with Julian Picado and Inigo Mantecon and this event featured John MacDonald on the drums.
Julian Picado and I met at the Berklee and Boston Conservatory Interdisciplinary Lab Experiment as students and now join forces to organize a series of events in which the world of the concert venue merge and intertwine with the world of the fine art gallery. It has been a rich experience to connect with musicians in this way, to learn about their process, ways of practicing, and enter into the exciting realm of live performance. I love the rawness of live performance, sharing the stage with other artists, bringing together ideas in ways that connect with the energy of the audience.
Etznab opened the evening for their debut concert filling the space with jazz and rock. I created a painting that I felt would capture this buoyant energy, filling my canvas with a warm space and organic shapes that unfold from the center. This lightness and ease is juxtaposed by the tension of an undulating staircase that confidently leads the viewer up and forward, but is somehow unstable, almost toppling over but staunchly refusing to fall, leading up again, but the end direction still uncertain.
When Why Another took the stage, I felt ready for anything. I wanted to feel the intensity of the band, express the energy with my brushwork and capture the mood of the audience. The music transported me to another world, some landscape with purple hills, a wide open green field, hot lava flow, and a surprising, startling black star, bold in the foreground, confronting the viewer with tenacity. Black Glass was the inspiration for the show, and it filled my mind as I created this painting. Shards of truth I feel, pointing me in the direction of a kind of exuberant expression.
And I will give a great thanks to everyone who came out to this show. The audience gave the performance energy and it was my effort to capture this in the moment, a memory of this shared experience.
I look forward to more visual explorations in music. Stay tuned for more!
Poster design by Fotini Christophillis
Jordan Kerr of Why Another Photo Credit: Alice Chi Xiao
Pietro Gennenzi of Why Another Photo Credit: Alice Chi Xiao
Julian Picado of Etznab Photo Credit: Alice Chi Xiao
Inigo Mantecon of Etznab Photo Credit: Alice Chi Xiao