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Meet the Artists

M. K. Guth

— Chair, Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies —

Multidisciplinary artist M. K. Guth asked this question several years ago. Carving her own distinctive path, Guth studied sociology as an undergraduate in Wisconsin, became a successful mosaic artist in Portland, delved into sculpture, and then concentrated on video in her MFA work at New York University. Her practice now pulls from this breadth of experience and depth of knowledge, and is celebrated in periodicals including Flash Art, New Art Examiner, and Art in America. Winner of the Betty Bowen Special Recognition Award administered by the Seattle Art Museum and an Award of Merit from the Bellevue Art Museum, she is represented by the Elizabeth Leach Gallery.

“One thing that’s consistent in my visual art is an interest in storytelling and mythologies, using the metaphors of mythologies as a way to talk about contemporary concerns,” says Guth. “At some point, I was looking at the photos and the videos that I had been working on, and seeing all these mythical characters existing within the context of the object, or the photograph, or the video. I started wondering, how could I take that thing out and make it a real experience?”

“Our Rapunzel,” 2006, artificial hair and ribbons, 700 ft. Courtesy of Elizabeth Leach Gallery.

She answered her own question by inviting collaborators Molly Dilworth and Cris Moss to start the Red Shoe Delivery Service. RSDS creates an interactive experience of “art that moves you” and actually drives participants wherever they wish to go, in a van. But first, they must put on a pair of glittery red shoes, click their heels, and say, “There is no place like ____,” naming a destination. The RSDS van acts as a mobile gallery, and the artists document each interaction with photography, video, painting, and other media. Paris, Copenhagen, Melbourne, New York, Portland, and Nottingham, England, have all hosted the Red Shoe Delivery Service.

Currently, Guth is working on large, interactive braid pieces she refers to as Rapunzel projects. A recent installation, called “The way I see you, the way you see me,” took place in Brazil, where she had to speak Portuguese to engage her audience. “Being faced with the fact that I couldn’t communicate that well, and finding a way to make that a strength rather than a weakness, was a huge challenge to that work, and remarkably rewarding,” she says.

From the video “Small Town Allegory,” 2007. Digital photograph, 18" x 12".

“I was constantly saying, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t speak your language very well, but I really want to try. Would you participate in this project? Would you write your opinion of people from the United States on a ribbon, so it can be braided into this?’ The engagement was incredible. I felt, in a way, it slowed things down, so that people actually took the time to write on the ribbons, to think about what they were saying.”

Guth began life in a small Wisconsin town, where she says it wasn’t easy to think about going into art. Today, she is a celebrated artist who exhibits internationally and inspires the creative community as an educator. “It happened just through the process of making,” says Guth of her career. She approaches each discipline with great rigor. “I’m an artist who’s more committed to ideas than I am to medium, but I believe that if I work hard enough, I can learn how to do anything.”

Visit RSDS online at redshoedeliveryservice.com. Guth also posted about her braid project in PNCA blogs.

— MK Guth Photo credit: Barrett Rudich