cb studio—Carrie Lieb & Brian Byrne
March, 2006
Title of Show
stir—an illumination of the ritual of coffee
Medium
photographic image, screen printing, acrylic, baltic birch, full spectrum lighting
First Friday Reception
Friday, March 3, 2006 from 5:30 to 8 PM
Artist Statement
cb studio is the collaboration of carrie lieb and brian byrne. stir is their debut, exploring the boundaries of form, light, and the simple pleasure of coffee. ever yearning to be caffeinated, carrie and brian have been coping with Anchorage’s lack of daylight by finding energy in illuminating their space with images of the everyday. recently, they’ve been focusing on joe, cup o’ mud, java, drip, black, light & sweet. they don’t care what you call it. just don’t call them when the pot’s empty.
this show was conceived somewhere between manic trips to thrift stores and eyeballing the full spectrum bulbs at supply houses. carrie is mad about the nautilus form of the nested spoons. brian won’t stop taking photos of the 2 gallon urn. she’s geeking out on the palette. he’s digging on harmonic proportions. whether it was the lack of daylight that made them obsess, or just that they gave themselves permission, they had to stir it up. they hope you will start seeing what you might otherwise gloss over every day.
carrie is a designer of paper things and space with heightened sensitivity for graphic form found on the fringe. because beauty is so prevalent in the seconds, the outtakes, and what is taken for granted, carrie feels an obligation to pay tribute to the under-celebrated. she has traveled near and far, but mostly far from alaska. this being her first winter on the last frontier, she’s finding that just when she’s about to wilt, the sun is on the return. giddyup.
brian finds himself carrying tools around town most of the time. when not hauling and installing he enjoys singing dirty songs, telling tales of a mostly accurate autobiographical nature, paying insurance, and hot tubbin’. brian’s inspiration comes from jerry springer, concussions, and the rev. al green. in spite of these disparate influences, brian designs and builds solutions that optimize materials and space.
as senior principals of cb studio, carrie and brian are flummoxed by what this means. they don’t really know, except it sounds like a good excuse to keep making. at the moment, they’re developing more photographic images and light, and are looking for venues. what’s not to plug [love]?
Additional Works
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