Barstow’s is a small family owned business and we are committed to supporting other local farmers, local crafters, and local artists. Our walls are reserved for the art of local painters, sketchers, and photographers – giving us a beautiful and unique perspective on the area that we live and love. Visit us to enjoy lunch, soak in the rural views, and enjoy the local art of your creative neighbors!
Are you interested in becoming our Featured Artist? Contact us!
Our current Featured Artist is scenic and costume designer, Anya Klepikov.
November 18 - December 31
The costume sketches exhibited here are created for the new production of composer Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird, originally written for and staged by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company in Paris in 1910. The new production, staged by Miami City Ballet, is being designed specifically for the choreography of George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins originated in 1949. It will premiere on February 14, 2020.
Based on Russian fairy tales, the story of Firebird revolves around iconic characters of Russian folklore: the magical Firebird, the hero Prince Ivan, and the arch villain of dark magic himself – Koschei the Deathless. And what fairy tale is complete without a dozen or so Princesses?
Artist Statement
As the costume designer for the new production of the ballet, I was inspired by the Russian folk handicraft called Palekh, in which miniature detailed images of folklore figures and scenes are painted in saturated colors on a black lacquered background. Through costumes I wanted to amplify both the rhythm of Stravinsky’s score, which personifies the magical and fleeting creature of the Firebird and the unique character of Balanchine’s choreography, which combines a classical ballet idiom with birdlike gestures.
In working on the production, the costume for the character of the Firebird has proven most challenging to create. It is as if the elusiveness of the mythical bird has transformed into the difficulty of capturing the right design: the perfect shape and color of her costume still elude me.
Some of the thirty plus existing sketches for the Miami City Ballet production of Firebird are displayed here.
Anya Klepikov is an Amherst-based scenic and costume designer and is Assistant Professor of Scenic Design at UMass Amherst. www.anyaproductiondesign.com
EDUCATION
2008 Yale School of Drama, MFA, Theater Design
2002 The University of Chicago, BA, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities