Three miles, 20 feet, 25 days: Those are the specifications for Ricardo J. B\u00farquez\u2019s \u201cMy World\u201d mural project. It\u2019s an ambitious project, both for the artist and the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve never done an evolving installation piece before and he\u2019s never done one either,\u201d said Marni Rickelmann, KAAHC program director, \u201cbut we thought it would be a great opportunity for both the artist and our gallery space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mural, comprising Ketchikan\u2019s shoreline from Bar Harbor to the Coast Guard Base, is taking shape before visitors\u2019 eyes this month at Main Street Gallery. B\u00farquez started work on Oct. 3 and a celebration of the finished piece is planned for 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.<\/p>\n
The slow transformation of the mural, done on five pieces of board, with the centerpiece five-feet tall and the height tapering off at either end, has attracted a steady audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think actually right now we have somebody that\u2019s just been sitting in the gallery, just watching,\u201d said Rickelmann during her interview with the Capital City Weekly. \u201cEveryday, you hear somebody come by (and say) \u2018Oh, there\u2019s airplanes now\u2019 or floatplanes have been added or clouds have been added.\u201d<\/p>\n
Compressing the shoreline into 20 feet has been a challenge, but B\u00farquez has not skimped on the details.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been fun to watch his process of going out and taking photos of all over town so he can get houses the right color or the right details about their decks and their shutters and some of them even have little vehicles parked in the houses,\u201d Rickelmann said.<\/p>\n
The gallery has been documenting the changes that each day brings as B\u00farquez works eight to ten hours to bring his world to life. Photos can be seen on their Facebook page at http:\/\/bit.ly\/2ecJV6i.<\/p>\n
B\u00farquez originally came to Ketchikan 18 years ago from Tijuana, Mexico to be a commercial fisherman but he has always wanted to work as an artist. The mural, he said, is a gift for all those who believed in his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t come here as an artist. No, I came here as a commercial fisherman \u2026 but people they want me to be an artist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One of those people is Ray Troll, who brought B\u00farquez to the gallery in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what it was about. I thought he want me just to apply to be like member of this gallery. I didn\u2019t know I was getting involved to do this project,\u201d B\u00farquez said.<\/p>\n
As Rickelmann tells it, \u201cRay Troll talked him into stopping by our gallery space and talking to us about applying for an exhibit.\u201d From there, B\u00farquez and the gallery worked together to design the project.<\/p>\n
B\u00farquez, who has been commissioned for murals for local businesses and residences, is excited for the chance to work on his own project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really love what I\u2019m doing. \u2026 It\u2019s a big opportunity for me so people can see more of my work (and) do something I really like, not just painting something that people want me to do,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of my biggest goals is, here in the States, to paint for public buildings, paint something cultural. \u2026 This is a big chance to start doing (that).\u201d<\/p>\n
The subject is dear to him as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the topics I really like very much: What is cityscape and what else is in a place where I really, really love,\u201d said B\u00farquez.<\/p>\n
The mural is being done in the na\u00efve style, a genre common to Latin American folk art. One of its main traits is a flattened perspective, \u201cwhich is kind of perfect for the Ketchikan shoreline because we\u2019re all kind of condensed here and stacked up on the side of the mountain,\u201d Rickelmann said.<\/p>\n
The gallery\u2019s photos show detailed sketches that B\u00farquez made before starting to paint.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very complicated work,\u201d he said, \u201ctoo many small structures, too many small details\u201d though in the end it\u2019s going to \u201clook simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he was going to finish on time, B\u00farquez laughed. \u201cFrom now I have to work even more hours. It\u2019ll be close,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The KAAHC hasn\u2019t yet found a permanent home for the mural but hopes it will be \u201cvisible to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three miles, 20 feet, 25 days: Those are the specifications for Ricardo J. B\u00farquez\u2019s \u201cMy World\u201d mural project. It\u2019s an ambitious project, both for the artist and the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council. \u201cWe\u2019ve never done an evolving installation piece before and he\u2019s never done one either,\u201d said Marni Rickelmann, KAAHC program director, \u201cbut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":15610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15609"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}