Inside Voices

“Inside Voices” will feature a series of new paintings by Tunstall and Plock, as well as large collaborative works. You’ll see a lot of what the pair does best: big, pattern filled, colorful fun with a twist. Rather than seeing the exhibition as a movie or short cartoon and externally illuminating it, as they have worked previously, the artists have looked inside for their storytelling source material.

In particular, Tunstall has used this body of work to take exhaustive stock of her current inspiration in order to extend her personal mythology, allowing a study in how her processes move from the internal to the external. Returning to familiar media: like pen and ink drawings on tissue paper, has allowed the work to come from a certain amount of muscle memory.

As the parents of two young boys, both Tunstall and Plock are aware of the restrictions placed upon children and parents alike. According to Tunstall, they encourage joy, exploration, openness, and color in their kids and carry these principles into their practices, and are inspired, in turn, by the passions of the boys.

Being parents, the duo has a certain familiarity with the term “Inside Voices.” However, instead of considering the term in its ability to confine expression (or simply part of being a good neighbor on Sunday morning at 7 am), they re-imagine the term as less a restricting plea of quiet and calm, but rather, the inside voice that we all hear every day but don’t necessarily share with anyone else.

Our inside voices are the ones that make us want to waterslide all the way to the grocery store while eating pizza and drinking grape soda. Inside voices can be confrontational, or so multiple that it is impossible to concentrate on just one as it bounces back and forth. But no matter their confusion, inside voices allow us all to look inside ourselves for creative inspiration. This exhibition exemplifies the inner workings of two influential San Francisco creatives.

Ferris Plock and Kelly Tunstall are San Francisco-based artists who live in San Francisco with sons Brixton and Aengus.

Through a variety of mediums including acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, ink, gold or silver leaf and collage, Tunstall and Plock create detailed works, often character-based paintings, on wood panels. In San Francisco, the pair’s large scale collaborative exhibitions have been showcased at The Shooting Gallery/White Walls, FFDG and 111 Minna, and the two have frequently shown with Park Life.

Additionally, both have been involved in solo and group exhibitions in Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, and have participated in exhibitions in London, Paris, and Miami. Their work is featured in San Francisco’s Michelin-starred restaurant SPQR and at hotel Alcazar and restaurant Cheeky’s, located in Palm Springs.

Plock brings a dedicated focus to his work, paired with a wild sense of originality, which combines contemporary pop culture with the aesthetic of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblocks. Plock’s work is currently on view in “Samurai!” at the Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts. Plock also served as the 2010 SF Recology Artist in Resident, and has created illustrations for many high-profile clients.

Kelly Tunstall was born in 1979 and received her BA from California College of the Arts and Crafts in 2002. In stylized figural works, Tunstall deals with the contrast between a compositional, portrait-like formality and a more casual revelation of method. Her work is on permanent view in Bay Area restaurants A16, A16 Rockridge and Bar Crudo.