One of Laguna Beach’s most original creative forces, artist Cheryl Ekstrom, died Saturday, June 13, at UC Irvine Medical Center due to complications from cancer treatment begun just months earlier. She was 71.
From under a wavy burgundy bob and a tiny frame, Ekstrom for more than 25 years confidently pursued an aesthetic that defied categorization, but found many admirers.
“If you did a retrospective of her work, you would think it was a group show,” said Phyllis Lutjeans, who met Ekstrom and her late husband more than two decades ago at an art talk.
In April, Ekstrom dazzled the local art community at the annual Laguna Beach Arts Alliance’s Art Star awards with her latest work, “Setting Forth,” underwritten by a competitive grant. It showcased her talent for juxtaposing found objects and infusing them with a narrative that could range from contemporary commentary to the physical representation of ancient mythology. For the installation, Ekstrom created a flotilla of mini sculptural boats, each freighted with the testimony of journeys by different cultures across different eras.
Now, those last works somehow seem prescient with the artist only weeks later casting off on her own final destination.
“As an artist, you don’t always know where you’re going,” said friend and artist Sandra Jones Campbell, who recalled that Ekstrom spotted the skeletal canoe that became the foundational inspiration for “Setting Forth” at a flea market.
“Little did she know it was a different journey and a different battle,” said Campbell, who was with Ekstrom last week as she prepared for more chemotherapy and persuaded her to postpone an exhibit of “Setting Forth” in her new Los Angeles studio planned for Saturday, June 20.
Last July, Ekstrom closed up her Laguna Canyon studio in an industrial area to transplant herself in the burgeoning art scene on the eastside of downtown Los Angeles. “She liked the edgy sense of adventure; it wasn’t the art,” Campbell said. “She wanted the experience of L.A. and how it would change her art.”
In Laguna Beach, Ekstrom is best known for her public art works. They include bronze “Warriors United” sculptures that guard a median on Broadway Street, “Deer Warriors” in Jahraus Park on Cliff Drive and fantastical beasts on pediments at the Montage resort.
“Many of her sculptural figures are a complex depiction of bodies that are at once fearless warriors and delicate forms,” said Grace Kook-Anderson, former curator of the Laguna Art Museum, who included some of Ekstrom’s works in museum exhibits in 2010 and 2013. “This tension or balance between extreme resilience and raw fragility carries through in almost all of her work.
“In her assemblage sculptures, each object seems to be a meditation on its distinct value while working them into the larger make-up of her pieces. In this way, these particular works feel shrouded in a sense of mythology and history as the sculptures also become literal offerings of herself,” Anderson said.
Ekstrom is survived by her son, Brian Bodenhamer, and daughter, Heather Bodenhamer Lee and son-in-law, Bobby Lee. Her husband, Dennis Ekstrom, was also an artist, and died in 2011 on their shared birthday, Oct. 13.
A celebration of Ekstrom’s life is planned in her former Laguna Beach studio, 2135 Laguna Canyon Road, on Sunday, June 28, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Campbell hopes to assemble some of Ekstrom’s work, including the “Setting Forth” boats created for the Art Star awards, for the event.
Peers Recall a Fearless Artist
“Cheryl was a remarkable artist who was keenly aware of her own voice. Many of her sculptural figures are a complex depiction of bodies that are at once fearless warriors and delicate forms. This tension or balance between extreme resilience and raw fragility carries through in almost all of her work. In her assemblage sculptures, each object seems to be a meditation on its distinct value while working them into the larger make-up of her pieces. In this way, these particular works feel shrouded in a sense of mythology and history as the sculptures also become literal offerings of herself,” said Grace Kook Anderson, the former Laguna Art Museum curator, who included Ekstrom’s work in museum exhibitions in 2010 and 2013.
“Cheryl engaged with some of the oldest themes in sculpture–myth and metamorphosis–and managed to make them contemporary, even personal. The sheer range of materials and techniques she mastered was remarkable, especially given that she came to sculpture relatively late in life. A huge credit to Laguna Beach’s art community, she will be much missed by all of us who knew her,” said Malcolm Warner, executive director of the Laguna Art Museum.
“Sad times are upon us. With the passing of Richard White, Terry Thornsley and now Cheryl. Laguna has lost three important contributors to its “real” cultural heritage,” said local artist Jorg Dubin.
“I met Cheryl and Denny back in the late 80’s when myself and my business partner were asked to do some work on the house that they had just moved in to. From the first time I met them, I knew there was something special about this couple.
“Denny had sold a family paint business and was determined to spend all of his time as an artist and musician which were always lifelong passions for him. Cheryl on the other hand was always an artist and a genuine creative human being who never stopped making things every day and thinking about art.
“he could find beauty in just about anything she could find. Whether an old wooden leg off of some broken down old table, a long forgotten book or an old metal bucket. She saw things in these objects that others overlooked and would reclaim and reshape them into beautiful, highly charged sculptures, many of their themes drawn from her personal experiences that she would share with the world via her creations. She was an innovative and highly intelligent artist. Her oeuvre spanned not only her found object work but also highly original bronze sculptures, some of which can be found in Laguna’s public art collection. She was also well known for her cast stainless steel recreations of famous mid century icons of modern furniture.
“She was fearless in her pursuit of art in all its forms and in life as exemplified by her move a year ago to a downtown Los Angeles artist loft making the space not only into her workshop but also an amazing space to live in. Her dream manifested fearlessly.
“There are few people I have ever met here in Laguna who actually lived and breathed art and a creative lifestyle as much as Cheryl. She imbued life into every piece she created and was well recognized by her peers and collectors for her originality and pursuit of the artist path.
“She was a core member of Laguna’s art community. One of the few who gave credibility to our cultural heritage and it is a tremendous loss to not have her here. A force of nature. A wonderful artist who gave all that she is and was to the world. A generous soul and a grand human being.”
“I had the unique privilege of spending a great deal of one-on-one time with Cheryl through 2014,” said Arabella Cant.
“Heather, Cheryl’s daughter introduced us in 2013 with a casual ‘my mum wants to do a book of her work, you should do it!’ and the rest as they say, is history.
“Cheryl had wanted to create a book of her work but had no idea where to start, so the two of us began the long process of sifting though images of her work, deciding which were useable, which needed to be re-shot, which she didn’t want to include. It meant many hours poring over images, drinking coffee, eating treats that Cheryl always magicked up from her tiny kitchen. We told each other anything and everything and I fell in love with her almost immediately. She was nurturing, loving, hilariously funny and just about the hippest person I had ever met. She was turning 70 the year we were working together, which was beyond comprehension. All those who know or have met her saw someone far younger, both in looks and spirit. She was as strong as an ox, as tiny as her work was huge, sharp as a tack and always looking for a new adventure or challenge. She passed her motorcycle test at 70.
“The result of our hard work, ‘Cheryl Ekstrom – From Then to Now in No Particular Order,’ was a huge source of pride to Cheryl.
“When she called to tell me about her cancer diagnosis, back in early March, while I was sobbing down the phone (sitting in my car in the carpark of See’s Candy – I’ll never forget) she was telling me that she had absolutely no regrets. There was nothing she hadn’t done that she’d wanted to do, and in my sea of tears I remember thinking what a wonderful place to be. Cheryl left us way to early, but for those of us left behind, we know she left feeling complete.
“I knew her for such a short time, but she was very big in my world. I was incredibly lucky.”
Correction: appended June 19, 2015.
A celebration of life event for Cheryl Ekstrom was inaccurately described as an open event where her work will be displayed. The event is for friends and family and her work will not be displayed.
Correction:
A celebration of life event for Cheryl Ekstrom was inaccurately described as an open event where her work will be displayed. The event is for friends and family and her work will not be displayed.
I was shocked and greatly saddened to read about this tragic and untimwly demise of a wonderfully creative, and warm person.
I own one of her bronze sculptures which reminds me of the style of Alberto Giacometti .
Although we spoke only once, since I live with her work, it is as if I knew her well.
Much sorrow at her passing..
ARY
To her family and friends,
Oh, how painfully tragic. She was so talented and such a sweet, fun woman. I was in the process of finding out her new LA studio address so I could see her with another artist friend the weekend after next. I had no idea of her cancer and death. I’m so sorry. Her friend, Bruce Zimmerman