Funktafest Flow & Fire Artists
PhirePhamily is a West Virginia-based artist collective, performing for the tri-state area for the last decade. From flow workshops and fire safety classes throughout the day to fire shows all evening. We aim to inspire, entrance, and captivate both children and adults alike to take a step into the flow community, try out different props, and find your flow. The team includes Nina Casto, Gideon Casto, Kate Bell, Trevor Bell, Luke Dudley, Haley Donner, Dylan Evans, and Chelsea Evans.
Halien Donner
Trevor Bell
Katie Bell
Dylan Evans
Gideon Casto
Nina Casto
Luke Dudley
Get to Know the 2023
Funktafest Visual Artists
Wes Eary
I am a local artist, born and raised in the city of Charleston. My art is largely inspired by my undying fascination with monsters, aliens, and other odd creatures that I’ve had since a young child. I also like to channel a free Flow of creativity that often produces many surprises and “happy accidents” in my final compositions. That fascination pairs along with a day glo color palette, that I have been drawn to my entire life.
2-4 PM
Ian Bode
Ian was born and raised in Charleston, WV. After leaving WV in his late teens and traveling around the country, he returned to become a self-taught, full-time artist. His work is displayed in galleries, public buildings, and private collections across the country. He also collaborates with other visual artists and graphic designers on commercial projects. In addition, he has individually and collaboratively made several 2D and 3D public art projects. His most recognizable style is a graphically narrative, cartoon-oriented world filled with his black and white faceless characters collectively called “The Passenger.” This faceless cartoon is a vacuum into which the viewer’s identify and awareness can be filled in. The viewer is in the emotive driver’s seat, much like a passenger. Using repeating themes, colors, and icons, he aims to establish a visual language that makes each piece relatable to the other creating a universe with loose laws and a sequential narrative that does not intrude or contradict itself. He was recently named WV Artist of the Year 2018 by West Virginia Living magazine. You can find his work by quick google search and exclusively at The Art Emporium and The Bluegrass Kitchen in downtown Charleston, WV.
2-4 PM
Shannon Shine
Hailing from Appalachia, Shannon Shine embodies the roles of Artist, Creator, light bearer, healing facilitator, passion project coach, and energy work practitioner. Focused on energy medicine for trauma healing, anxiety management, and life transitions, Shannon draws from her own history of hardship and loss to offer resilience-building through art.
Utilizing diverse mediums, from mixed media to acrylic painting and crystal jewelry, Shannon’s creativity knows no bounds. Formerly running a local handmade gallery and art studio, she now thrives online, blending her spiritual work with creative expression.
Shannon has established programs and a platform guiding others from darkness to a luminous existence via creative avenues. Her life mission centers on illuminating paths and stoking the fires of others’ passions while fostering a connection with the divine spirit and self. Bolstered by an energetic channel, Shannon possesses strong intuition and mediumistic abilities, aiding others in linking with beloved spirits, guides, past lives, and more.
Beyond her artistry, Shannon dons the hats of reiki energy practitioner, hypnotherapist, podcaster, and co-founder of the Bring Me 2 Life Network—a hub for artists, musicians, and podcasters to unite and share their creations.
You can find more about Shannon and her offerings directly at shantasticshine.com
Or check out her biggest passion project the Bring Me 1 Life Network.
4-6 PM
Lacey Villandry
My love for painting stems from the artistic practice my mother instilled in me as a child. It was the one thing that provided a way to escape in stressful times, and also a way to slowly manifest the world I wish to see. For nearly a decade I have been a live painter with the crew of magical beings that make up the Pigment Sanctuary. This is where I experienced the immediate impacts of the power that art has on individuals. I graduated with a BFA from James Madison University in 2016, and during the summer of 2017 and 2018 I continued my education with the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art. I am exploring all the different paths open to me, and while I’m excited to see where I go, I am thoroughly enjoying the journey.
4-6 PM
Harrison Crawford
Harrison Crawford visualizes the abstract fantastical world of deities and divinities and solidifies them on the canvas for their audience. Visually they are well known for their juxtaposition of the saccharine and satanic, personifying the invisible forces that guide human nature. In the same way, they work with ideas, pulling possibilities from a place of fantasy and employing an almost magical ability to create space for those ideas to be discussed and made practical. Seeking to be more than just the renderings on the canvas, they are beginning to facilitate an environment that is culturally and imaginatively intoxicating.
6-8 PM
Ashton Hill
Ashton Hill is the creator of visionary artworks she affectionately calls “fairytale surrealism” under her pseudonym Kettle Head Art, as well as the co-founder of the Pigment Sanctuary Art collective. As an artist, director, and event coordinator, she has made her mark on the East Coast creative scene for a decade. Chasing knowledge from university education to master mentorship, from individual studies to collaborative practices, Ashton has followed her artistic passion into all the spaces that the muses have led.
Influencing social change and community improvement have also been part of her purpose, and has exhibited itself in her involvement with outreach and gallery coordination. As director of the Pigment Sanctuary at events such as the Mountain Music Festival in the New River Gorge, West Virginia, she has bolstered a community of artists that spans the East Coast. Ashton is currently studying under the tutelage of Master painter Philip Rubinov-Jacobson in the long lineage of mischtechnik, aiming towards apprenticeship. She majored in fine arts, psychology, and education in her college years and has expounded on her educational pursuits through a variety of self-motivated experiences over the last decade.
6-8 PM
Kim Shrader
KRS3 is a live painter from Charleston WV who specializes in uv-reactive paints also known as fluorescent paint. Allow yourself to tap into the universe and observe this painter transcend the energetic flow. Music is the key component that motivates KRS3’s artists to brush across the canvas.
8-10 PM
Drew Shinehearts
Drew Shinhearts is an Appalachian-based Artist and Musician. Drew specializes in oil, acrylic, digital painting, graphic design, murals, and tattooing. Imagery often includes extraterrestrial visitors, Wild West and Appalachian landscapes, unique cryptids, cowboys, psychedelic entities, and tasteful classic body studies. Although he left his holler in Southern WV for the Highlands of South Western Virginia, Drew’s art is still very close by and accessible, even if only by website at DrewShinhearts.com.
8-10 PM
Psychoflauge
When did art get demoted to just a cursory glance?
psychoflauge.com
[REDACTED] works under the anonymous identity of Psychoflauge. The artist’s earliest memory is a notepad drawing action figures beneath his mother’s church chair during Pentecostal revivals. The artist’s first portfolio is lost in his best friend’s house fire in his junior year of high school. With a history of painting and drawing [REDACTED] currently works in the fields of collage, with a focus on analog paperwork and hardware-based video collage synthesis. His other interests include mycology, ginseng, orchard management, fermentation, and science fiction.
The catalyst in the life of the artist that caused the drastic shift from painting and drawing to paper and video craft lies in the injury of his right hand. The use of therapeutic scissors sparked a mental revolution and the rest is juxtaposition history. The parallels of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing in relation to the creation of art have captivated the artist ever since. The artist shares with others, that may also be going through difficult times, the healing powers of storytelling, creation, and art.
ALL DAY
