Artist of the Month @ Berkeley Ironworks
In case you haven't stopped into our Berkeley Ironworks gym for a little while, I want to fill you in on some awesome news you just might have overlooked! As you know, all of our gyms here at Touchstone Climbing are dedicated to not only helping our communities get into amazing shape, and providing them with the Best climbing walls and exercise facilities possible, we're also here to help promote and publicize some of our local artists that show exceptional talent.

This month, at Berkeley Ironworks, we're proud and pleased to feature the art of Vanda Rotkovska, an amazingly talented photographer. Here is a little bit about Vanda, so you'll know where she is coming from when you stop in to check out her art:

My artistic training in the very early years was mostly born out of absolute boredom. My parents would drop me off at someone’s house on many a weekend, TV was a rarity, books were often left at home or already read and re-read, but a pencil and paper could always be scrounged up. Since my mid teens I have often used photography as a reference point for the imagery incessantly floating around my head waiting to be transferred to canvas or paper. This particular collection of photographs is my reflection on going home. As a child raised during the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia, my memories of those years and places were tinged with certain grayness. Although my childhood was not a terribly unhappy one, there was always a sense of hopelessness and deterioration in the places we lived, and the people we knew. After leaving the city for the countryside I also soon had to put away my B&W film camera in order to try and capture some of the colour that had obviously faded from my recollections. Though I still very much gravitate to the quiet places that remind me of a different time, they now seem a little brighter even with all their imperfections. To contact Vanda, email her at: orchidmedusa@yahoo.com

Stop in, say hello, check out the amazing art work and do some climbing while you're at it!

Labels: Artist of the Month, Berkeley Ironworks, Featured Artist, Photography

  ¶ Thursday, January 15, 2009