Artist’s Talk: Cody Tumblin

Denison University’s Studio Art Program and the Vail Visiting Artist Lecture Series present painter Cody Tumblin for an artist’s talk.

Tumblin describes himself as primarily a “(lower case p) painter who indulges more in the soft world and matters of thread and needle, although they usually end up being forced onto a stretcher.” Tumblin’s work is primarily characterized by its many applications of dyed fabric in the realm of painting, dyeing, bleaching, sewing, and collage. Typically bold in color with recurring images of wilted flowers, cobwebs, flames, and more recently, photographs of the sky sewn into empty expanses of fabric, his expressionistic paintings assert an emotionally charged aura. Tumblin conjures up a range of dark psychological spaces suspended between desire, fear, fantasy, sexuality, and anxiety, projected through a potentially fictional and/or real persona.

Recently, Tumblin has held solo and two person exhibitions with SPF15, LVL3, devening projects + editions, The Outlet, and the Packing Plant, with upcoming solo exhibitions at Mild Climate in Nashville and Good Enough in Atlanta for 2016/17. He lives and works in Nashville, Tenn., and he received a bachelor of fine arts from School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2013.

Tumblin will be exhibiting in a two person show with Keith Allyn Spencer, assistant professor of studio art at Denison, titled “Shits and Giggles,” at the Skylab Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. The opening reception is from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, October 28, with the exhibit extending until November 11, 2016.