Creative spark: Santa Fe's Folklore opens holiday art show 'Kindling' and pop-up gift shop

Just in time for the holidays, Folklore in Santa Fe is hosting “Kindling,” an art show featuring more than a dozen artists.

Folklore also will be celebrating five years of operation and will be launching a pop-up gift shop by Moona Star Collective, with treats by Nourish & Bloom, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22.

Folklore, is an environmentally and ethically conscious retail shop turned contemporary fine art gallery, according to a Folklore news release.

Creative spark: Santa Fe's Folklore opens holiday art show 'Kindling' and pop-up gift shop

“The intention of cultivating creativity has been a central tenet of Folklore since we opened our doors five years ago,” said Kelly Dye, Folklore owner and gallerist, in a statement. “I’m so proud of Folklore, honored by the community that has supported us for half a decade, and perpetually inspired by the incredible artists we get to partner with.”

The Nov. 22 celebration marks the opening of “Kindling,” an accessible holiday art show featuring work by more than 12 artists that include Folklore veterans and newcomers.

The inspiration for “Kindling” grew from a desire to fan the flame of Folklore’s growing roster of artists, according to the news release.

“Kindling sparks light — a lightness of being, inspiration, guidance, hope, a dynamic joy that catches and spreads,” Dye said in a statement. “It’s my heartfelt desire for Folklore to contribute in these ways for years to come.”

The show features a number of Folklore favorites including Elena Brower, Emelie Richardson and Briana Devoe White.

Brower is a local artist, teacher and bestselling author. She delved into the Japanese concept of robaishin or “grandmother’s heart” to inspire the body of abstract, water-steeped works she created for “Kindling.” Robaishin carries “both fluency and strength where needed, and is capable of smoothing edges and shaping reality. Grandmother’s heart flows through us all, like water,” according to Brower.

Richardson’s works have adorned Folklore’s walls since its inception. For “Kindling,” the Chimayo-based artist will showcase a collection of her smaller hand-woven paintings featuring indigos and earth tones that feel “familiar and reliably refined,” according to the news release.

Devoe White is Folklore’s resident textile artist. She will be showcasing the delicate floral watercolors behind her ethereal wallpapers, curtains and pillows, according to the news release. She paints flora native to the high desert, the landscape of her childhood memories and dreams.

Other artists include Alysha Colangeli, Heather Bird Harris, Danielle Hutchens, Meg Jorgenson, Manon Pierme and Sean W. Spellman.

Kristin Anchors, a Santa Fe-based visual artist and emergency medicine doctor, will make her Folklore debut with a collection of handcut collages culled from discarded medical textbooks. By fusing art and medicine, she aims to “heal the fractured relationship between body and mind, human and the more-than-human world.”

Other newcomers to Folklore, who are showing in “Kindling” are Austin-based artist PATIO, who creates playful acrylic painting assemblages, and House of Arulu, an Asheville-based multidisciplinary artist whose “animalian” sculptures and masks serve as allies and protectors of the show’s “burgeoning flame,” according to the news release.

Also, new to the gallery, is Moona Star, a Topanga Canyon-based collective of designers, artists, healers and treasure hunters. The collective will take over Folklore’s gift shop through the holidays with an infusion of naturally-dyed apparel, vintage clothing, crystals and gifts. Moona Star’s wares “support and celebrate conscious living in harmony within and with all,” according to the news release, which is in line with Folklore’s values.

“Creativity heals, art heals,” Dye said in a statement. “The more we tend to our own creative spirit and nurture creativity in others, the more warmth and joy is enlivened in our communities.”