The Full Circle Nine Gallery (FC9) will feature "2020: A Year Removed," by Mike Meares, as part of the Virtual First Friday programming on Facebook and Instagram, 6-9pm on Friday, December 4th. Programming will take place on Facebook and Instagram.

"2020: A Year Removed" is a collection of visual tales that detail the ramblings and reconciliations of a year mostly quarantined in a new house and studio, as Meares had relocated to Indianapolis a few months before shutdown began.

"I'm just some guy in a new city, in the midst of a pandemic that's changed life as we know it," Meares said. "A life of uncertainty taking over. These works are the result of an artist holed up, starving for something more."

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.

Artistically, as well as personally, this year has been a trying one for Meares.

"Going day-to-day, balancing the feeling of being frozen in fear and an intense urge to create-feeling like there's no time," Meares said, describing his state of mind creatively, a struggle for many artists during the load of 2020. "Stretching the boundaries of my mental and physical capacity, while managing family, work, and creative time. . . Endlessly searching for muses, or whatever muses, seeking out and sorting through that which burns and that which fuels. I find myself desperate, stagnated in some existential wasteland, yearning for whatever will set us free."

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. The gallery has also resumed weekend hours, 12-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with health precautions, such as required masks.

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