True ikebana is not isolated from the times or our lives. – Sofu Teshigahara
During this time of our quarantined, closed-down, and physically-distanced everyday lives, sometimes the ordinary-ness of our day-to-day can seem overwhelming. TPF 2020 Artist-in-Residence Mark Roeder and artist Tory J. Lowitz turn plant-care into self-care through a demonstration of Lowitz’s ikebana practice informed by Roeder’s work as artist in residence. Working with materials from Roeder’s garden and their ongoing conversation about painting and sculpture, Lowitz will create an arrangement from Sogetsu Ikebana, a school rooted in Japanese tradition, while embracing the evolving realities of the times in which we live.
Mark Roeder (b. 1974, lives and works in Los Angeles) received his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in 2000. An artist, teacher, and amateur gardener and birdwatcher, Roeder lives and works in Los Angeles. In 2019, he mounted his third exhibition with Michael Benevento gallery in Los Angeles. He’s exhibited widely in solo and group presentations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Minneapolis, Toronto, and Tokyo. Roeder was an Artist-in-Residence for the National Park Service in 2014 at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.
Tory L. Lowitz (b. 1971, lives and works in Los Angeles) received his BFA from Otis Parsons Art Institute in 1993. In 2019 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Los Angeles branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Tokyo, Japan after completing his Sankyu Shihan degree from the same school in 2014. He has held solo and two person exhibitions at Hernando’s Hideaway, Miami in 2019, Michael Benevento, Los Angeles in 2017 and TARP, Pasadena in 2014. He has participated in several group exhibitions including: Group Yokou Exhibition, Cherry Blossom Festival, Monterey Park (2019); pile up, curated by Ravi Gune Wardena, Woodbury School of Architecture, Hollywood (2018); Sogetsu Los Angeles Katen, JACCC, George J. Doizaki Gallery (2017); GROUP SHOW curated by Brian Mann and Jesse Benson, Las Cienegas Projects, Los Angeles (2011).
Image
Left: Mark Roeder, Salvia Clevelandii, 2020, acrylic and graphite on polyflax, 40 x 60 inches
Right: Tory J. Lowitz, c_braisened_two pieces, 2019, perforated metal sheeting, sand, crack filler, enamel paint, juniper, dried flowers, stucco, and polymers