Voice: The Art of Eric Stevens and Ginger Thompson

In October, Beatnik Studios brings the work of artists Ginger Thompson and Eric Stevens to Sacramento in an exhibition entitled “Voice.” Stevens, a Castro Valley-based artist, will be exhibiting a series of wood carvings and wood block prints taken directly from the stumps of trees. Thompson is a Sacramento local who creates colorful acrylic paintings. The colors featured in her work are saturated, communicating a range of intense feelings. There is a kind of duality that Thompson explores through color — a dark red could represent passion as much as it might represent anger; blue is simultaneously meditative and melancholy.

Stevens and Thompson work with their respective mediums as a kind of partner, Stevens carving along the whorls of the wood to create a pattern that is tactile and beautiful, Thompson manipulating acrylic paint to create an emotional experience.

This exhibition explores the significance of “Voice” to each of the artists. For Eric Stevens, his woodworking and tree prints gives voice to the trees. His carvings and prints also allow him to claim his identity and “voice” as an artist and maker. Ginger Thompson’s paintings are a way to give voice to her feelings and allow them to speak across the canvas.