Upcoming at the cityhomeUNDERGROUND: two-person art exhibition featuring Colour Maisch and Emily Plewe, presented by cityhome agents Kelly Carper and Samuel Johnson

Appreciating and respecting the beauty of our everyday environments is key to our work at cityhomeCOLLECTIVE. We celebrate beautiful places and spaces as a means of community advocacy, but it’s also how we stay inspired as realtors, designers, entrepreneurs and creative professionals. It’s probably why we feel a special kinship with local artist Colour Maisch, who is not only an ardent observer of beauty but who also inspires us to find it in the most unexpected of places. Fellow cityhome agent Samuel Johnson and I recently visited her studio in downtown Salt Lake in preparation for our upcoming exhibition at the cityhomeUNDERGROUND, which will feature Colour’s sculptures along with contemporary paintings by Emily Plewe.

Both artists’ work are explorations of place, time, nature and beauty. 

At Colour’s studio, Samuel and I learned about her creative process and unique artistic material, which extends from traditional mediums such as porcelain, paper, and ink to also include items like discarded objects, industrial products and organic earth elements. With her observant eye and creative perspective, Colour intuitively collects these unexpected materials and brings them into her studio, where they eventually find their way into her compositions – often symbolizing moments in time or stages of life.

“Objects and processes that illustrate the abstract concept of passed time are frequent subjects of inquiry,” says Colour in her artist statement, “as they contrast the mainstream obsession with newness.”

We were particularly fascinated by Colour’s porcelain and ink sculptures, whose abstract shapes are actually symbolic remnants of their pre-fired forms. In their early stage of creation, clay is mixed with foraged grasses to form a single mass of material, which is then fired. The kiln burns out the organic material, leaving behind a skeleton of its initial shape along with a continuously shedding white ash. The pieces are then soaked in ink water for weeks or even months - or in some cases left outdoors to be weathered by the elements – allowing time and nature to leave their mark on the final piece. The artist considers the entire process a resurrection of sorts, stating that “in the end, we all degrade to material and return to matter.” She says: “In my understanding of the world, we also return to something that is just as alive- albeit different.”

ART SHOW OPEN HOUSE | FEBRUARY 17 6:00-9:00 |  CITYHOMEUNDERGROUND 645 E SOUTH TEMPLE | CLICK Here to rsvp