The Full Circle Nine Gallery (FC9) will feature “Mike Meares: Behind the Scenes,” as part of the Virtual First Friday programming on Facebook and Instagram, 6-9pm on Friday, June 5th. Meares has created a short documentary with an honest, candid conversation about what drives him as an artist, and how he creates his work.

“The goal is for people to walk away with a deeper understanding of me as an artist, and for the audience to feel like they got to know me in a time when meeting new people isn’t really happening,” Meares said. “On a deeper level, I would hope people might realize that art is a tool anyone can use; you don’t need to be an ‘artist’ to create. Expression and creativity is essential to the human condition and right now, we all need that more than ever.”

 

About Mike Meares

Mike Meares is originally from Eureka, Illinois, and recently relocated to Indianapolis from the San Francisco area. He has a BFA in Studio Art from Southern Illinois University and currently works in soft pastels, and at times, oil and acrylic paint, creating what he describes as “abstract expressionism, cubism, and surrealism put in a blender.”

“My artwork focuses on the exploration of the imagination with themes rooted in the emotions and experiences of life. My images are very dream like. The power of line is an overlying force, combining with bold colors, shapes, and abstracted negative spaces to create interesting compositions,” Meares said.

Meares describes his artistic journey as his growth as a person.

“I needed to test my meddle, so to speak, and then face my true self—good and bad,” Meares said. “I grew exponentially as an artist; cycling through styles and mediums and subject matter, learning all the way. All those challenges and opportunities as an artist and a person forced me to evolve; they tested me. But no matter the test, the further along my journey as an artist, the more resolve I feel to move forward.

 

About the Full Circle Nine Gallery

The Full Circle Nine Gallery operates as an artist cooperative gallery, with each of the member artists and the board dividing gallery duties and artists roles. The artists will work together to help each other advance in skill and practice, as well as to bring success to the gallery.

With over two dozen artists occupying a large, three-room space of the more factory-reminiscent portion of the Circle City Industrial Complex, Full Circle Nine offers a wide variety of art forms, media, and approaches.

To better work with in the COVID-19 shutdown and restrictions, the Full Circle Nine Gallery has hosted Virtual First Fridays, on the gallery’s Facebook page, @fullcircleninegallery, as well as on its Instagram, @fc9gallery, during the typical First Friday hours. During that time, the artists will host live streams, post videos, or showcase photos of their latest work, in an effort to continue to connect with fans and patrons.

Full Circle Nine Gallery is located at 1125 Brookside Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, in the South Studios section of the Circle City Industrial Complex. For more information, or for artists interested in joining the Full Circle Nine, please visit www.fullcirclenine.com

 

For more fun things to do in Indianapolis this week, check out the latest issue of Fun10Indianapolis. 

Tess Abney is a freelance writer who was born and raised in the Quad Cities. She spends most of her time attempting to successfully raise three boys. In her free time, writing is her passion. Whether it is sharing local events and businesses with readers or sharing her thoughts on life, she finds comfort in the way words can bring people together.