Local artist expresses herself with 'passion, commitment, work ethic and guts'

Apr. 9—Every month, Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture showcases a local guest artist and holds a free reception party in the Art Box gallery area, located inside the Sutter Theater Center for the Arts in Yuba City.

Photographer Kyoko Apperson is April's guest artist, and the reception party last week felt fancy. There was plenty of art to absorb and appetizers to eat as community members schmoozed around with each other. They did not just offer normal pretzels; for example, they offered strawberry-frosted pretzels and a cheese platter to boot.

David Read, executive director of Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture, said that for this regularly occurring art show, they have two resident artists who are always present, and then each month, they invite one or two guest artists. With this month's guest artist, Read likes the accessibility of Apperson's photography, and he noted how some of her photos are of Monument Valley or beautiful urban landscapes.

"I've been going to museums all of my life, and I gotta tell you, some of the stuff I just don't understand," Read said. "(This photography) is stuff that just grabs you, and so we want to share that experience with, we hope, members of the public who will see our event."

The art gallery receptions are meant for everybody.

"It's not some snooty thing for rich people," Read said. "We hope people will give it a try."

In the spirit of trying new things, Apperson started her photography journey by taking pictures of her kids as they were growing up..

"I just really loved photographing my kids," Apperson said. "And through that, we'd go to really cool places, and then I'd start taking pictures of the landscape, and then I fell in love with that as well."

Landscape pictures help Apperson to process the area around her and practice mindfulness.

"There are so many things that are critical that are so easy to forget or not notice — photography helps me to focus in on that," Apperson said. "Photography is such an amazing opportunity to go: we are going to stop and look at everything that is happening around us right now. You know, the way the sun is shining, the way the clouds are in the sky, the way the birds are flying by."

Apperson is not sure if she would live as in the moment as she currently does if she did not find photography.

Of her photos featured at the event, she particularly likes a piece entitled "The Road Less Traveled," which captures an upside down pier.

"I'm not typically what I would call a creative person; I'm more of a realist, and that was pretty creative for me," Apperson said. "It pulls you down in there, like, where is this going to go? It's almost a gateway to heaven or something. It's just different."

Something else that is a bit different is that Apperson's husband, Erik Apperson, built frames using reclaimed wood for some of her pieces at the event, and they both collaborated on considering which frame paired well with each image.

Erik Apperson made a heartfelt speech at the event. He claimed that he was completely unprepared to comment while simultaneously pulling out a paper with his 4-minute speech written on it.

"Everyone has artistic ideas, but unless those ideas become tangible, artists, we may never be. It takes guts. There's no such thing as a cowardly artist. To physically display your art, for a world to pass judgment on, cannot happen without bravery," Apperson said in his speech. "Art is the lifeblood of a society. Yes, we must have order, commerce, social contracts, education and even indoctrination. Wars, disease, death, pain and struggle are all mandatory events in this life that we call the human experience. But through art, we can find offerings of peace, healing, life, an antidote, and an opportunity to make our tribulations beautiful."

Art is the embodiment of humankind, Apperson said.

"To say I'm proud of Kyoko, my wife, is a gross understatement," he said. "Through all of her life experiences, she is expressing herself tonight, for all of you, with passion, commitment, work ethic and guts."

You can still purchase Kyoko Apperson's art by stopping by the Sutter Theater Center for the Arts until April 26 during their normal 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. business hours.