lisa congdon and i are in new hampshire. we hung our show yesterday after some fun deliberation - and with the help of susan and adam and rainer of art stream . everyone should have an adam to help them hang. makes life so much easier! [you can check out lisa c's flickr stream for more photos of install and pieces. she's a better flickr-er than i am!
tonight is the opening. apparently there will be some exciting appearances by some east coast folk... it should be fun. our work will also be available online in artstream's shop tonight [july 18th] at 5pm eastern time. one of my favorite things about susan is that she encourages financing of pieces. i love it when galleries try to make work accessible to people.
lisa and i had to get some exacto knives and so we went to ben franklin crafts . the neatest [in terms of organized] craft store we've ever seen.
i also went out for a minute to get some liquid refreshment [it's HOT] and spied this:
and this
earlier in the day we saw a bunch of gymnastics girls running by the gallery. there's a gym right down the way....
think good thoughts for us tonight. and for my husband. who is home alone dealing with some very unfun pet stuff right now....
we are off to maine tomorrow
Labels: art, away from home
it's hard to believe that i leave TOMORROW for the east coast. lisa congdon and i are going out install our show pigmentary portraits. i am excited to see how our work looks together. i really had a great time researching this show. and i discovered 2 things while making this work that i want to carry over into new pieces.
1. i like the idea of patchworking pieces. each of my pieces in the show has multiple components. some of which i overlapped and hang on pins so that they spatially are on different planes. since i'm using a semi-transparent vellum i'm really liking the effect.
2. i figured out this new way to work with thread and paper. again it's a spatial thing - but i started wrapping it around the corners and edges - it becomes this really interesting formal punch.
the short scoop on the show:
In our own ways we have researched and investigated the historical origins of Indigo and Cobalt blue, Indian and Ochre yellow, Verdigris and Malachite green, Vermilion and Alizarin red, Cadmium and Realgar orange, Tyrian and Mars Violet purple, Gofun Shirayuki white, and Ivory/Bone black.
Our hope was to create a portrait of each pigment - through which we could somehow reconnect with the alchemy of colors' past.
Firm believers in the idea that one's materials can only enhance and contextualize one's work, we are interested in exploring where these pigments come from and how to present their findings in a visually rich language.
OPENING FRIDAY : JULY 18 : 5-7PM
artstream Studios
56 north main street
rochester, nh 03867
if you are around i hope you come by and say hello!!
after the show opens we are headed to maine for a few days of relaxing with some friends. i'm REALLY looking forward to this. i'm getting to meet some special folks.
i'll try and post some pics of the show/travels while we are away but i wanted to leave you with some eye candy/links.
diem's piece arrived. isn't it stunning? i didn't realize from photos, but she actually embroiders on a very thin silk and stretches that over the cup. it's really subtle. when you look straight on the illusion of the embroidery being on the ceramic surface is so lovely.....
andrew paynter sent out a summer newsletter with this photo of the band mattson 2. i LOVED this contact sheet so much.
and finally.... i've discovered this new to me blog of paper and things . monica astounds me everyday with her finds. she has a great eye.
i made this bear for a friend's new baby. [premie baby - but she's fine]. something about a bear being able to dress up as a frog really cracked me up. plus i was literally so excited to go to michael's to buy googly eyes. when was the last time i used googly eyes?!?
the pattern came from this book:
ISBN978-4-277-49039-9
i really want to make the elephant finger puppets
i was looking at my desk in the studio yesterday. i can spy the evidence of at least 4 projects in the works. the pile of papers is all the research i did for pigmentary portraits - my upcoming show with lisa congdon at art stream studios . it's coming up quick. more on it very soon.
happy thursday! tonight i am meeting up with a friend from LA who is in town and we'll be stopping by the show at rare device
above is a piece i just made for a trade with diem chau . she wanted a red piece. this is small - 8" x 8". i'm so excited she wanted to trade with me. i really really love her work. we're dealing with such similar ideas - but she uses figures. i use stand ins for figures - we're both interested in objects. and how thread operates with them - binding them, connecting them, decorating them.... i'll show you what she made me when it arrives.
so let's see. two big things on my list of things to do can be checked off. haircut and teeth cleaning. easy things to put off when you are feeling strapped for time.
i spoke to a friend today and she said i sounded more human than i had in a while. that felt good. i feel more human. more rested. sure i still have a big list of things that need to get done, but my crates are off to art stream studios , i've been getting enough sleep, eating well [although since hubby cooks most of the time i almost always eat well at home!] and i don't have ANY GRADING to do. i think that is the most exciting thing.
i was thinking about things i want to accomplish this summer - some are small small things that will feel good
+ take naps - i got out of the nap habit and they do really feel luxuriously good
+ drink ice tea in the backyard and feel some warm sun on my toes
+ take more photos. i have been uninspired and not taking pictures. i miss it. the immediacy of the shutter. i want to get back into the habit of just taking photos to take photos, not to document.
+ start on some new and BIGGER pieces in the studio. as well as a collaboration and perhaps another radial tank piece in a different colorway. pink? greens? hmmm
+ make an article of clothing. i have a huge stockpile of vintage patterns. i want to pull one out and make something.
+ go swimming
+ clean the studio
+ create an inventory list
+ clean out my closet [this involves painting and clearing out a small room in our house]
+ get a pedicure
will stop here b/c i don't want this list to get daunting.
hope your week is starting off well!
before i talk about the show i want to thank stephanie levy - whose work i have long admired - for asking me to part of her series artists who blog. you can read my interview here
AND... the winner of the blogaversary give-a-way is SOSSER - perhaps your "pick me pick me" prayer worked? please email me as your profile is blocked and i can't find you.... :) so i can mail you your prize!
my trip to LA was so good. catch ups with family and friends [we spied nancy reagan], meeting a special baby, shopping with grandma, and the show. oh the show.
this is one of those shows where things just really clicked. i was excited to be a part of this show from the get go, but then seeing all the work together made my heart cartwheel. above is my new tank configuration. round and smaller.... reminiscent of the toxin doily drawings of mine also on view. the best part? ONE PIECE. yes. i succumbed and glued the sucker once i figured out placement in my studio. as much as i love a good installation, sometimes there just isn't enough time.
my work alongside Freddy Chandra's and Jil Weinstock's is simply put a good fit. we are all interested in repetition. we are all so interested in color [the show actually matched - which could be a detriment, but in this case it worked. i loved how green, blue, yellow, bounced around the room in all of our works]. ultimately we are all involved in negative space. but what i didn't realize until i was standing in the exhibition was how we all are invested in material - not only the media that we use to make our own work, but the actual materiality as well. physicality. how we start to touch with our eyes... or want to touch from looking. i firmly believe that artists need to make conscious decisions about their materials for each choice can add another layer to the work. this show proves that point. what happens when you embed drawings into resin that looks like candy, when shirts and doilies are made of rubber, when felt is used to represent a tank or thread is sewn onto paper to give a drawing a new dimensionality? what happens is that the familiar is not. that our perceptions are altered. that what is known to be hard becomes soft and visa versa.
anyway, the show is up through august 16th at walter maciel gallery . THANK YOU to everyone who came out! and to she that couldn't but sent flowers because she was working on a great project.
this week my studio is a factory as i frame and wrap the work for an upcoming show with lisa congdon at art stream studios . it has to go out monday at the latest.... happy tuesday!
AND... the winner of the blogaversary give-a-way is SOSSER - perhaps your "pick me pick me" prayer worked? please email me as your profile is blocked and i can't find you.... :) so i can mail you your prize!
my trip to LA was so good. catch ups with family and friends [we spied nancy reagan], meeting a special baby, shopping with grandma, and the show. oh the show.
this is one of those shows where things just really clicked. i was excited to be a part of this show from the get go, but then seeing all the work together made my heart cartwheel. above is my new tank configuration. round and smaller.... reminiscent of the toxin doily drawings of mine also on view. the best part? ONE PIECE. yes. i succumbed and glued the sucker once i figured out placement in my studio. as much as i love a good installation, sometimes there just isn't enough time.
my work alongside Freddy Chandra's and Jil Weinstock's is simply put a good fit. we are all interested in repetition. we are all so interested in color [the show actually matched - which could be a detriment, but in this case it worked. i loved how green, blue, yellow, bounced around the room in all of our works]. ultimately we are all involved in negative space. but what i didn't realize until i was standing in the exhibition was how we all are invested in material - not only the media that we use to make our own work, but the actual materiality as well. physicality. how we start to touch with our eyes... or want to touch from looking. i firmly believe that artists need to make conscious decisions about their materials for each choice can add another layer to the work. this show proves that point. what happens when you embed drawings into resin that looks like candy, when shirts and doilies are made of rubber, when felt is used to represent a tank or thread is sewn onto paper to give a drawing a new dimensionality? what happens is that the familiar is not. that our perceptions are altered. that what is known to be hard becomes soft and visa versa.
anyway, the show is up through august 16th at walter maciel gallery . THANK YOU to everyone who came out! and to she that couldn't but sent flowers because she was working on a great project.
this week my studio is a factory as i frame and wrap the work for an upcoming show with lisa congdon at art stream studios . it has to go out monday at the latest.... happy tuesday!
Labels: art, artists, away from home, blogland
coasts that is.
tomorrow i leave for LA. i'm in a show with freddy chandra and jil weinstock that opens
THIS Saturday :: June 28th :: 6-8pm at Walter Maciel Gallery . if you are in town please come say hello. you can see a few doily toxin drawings and a new tank piece. freddy and jil are great artists - i think it will be interesting to see our respective takes on pattern, color and the domestic.
and.... on the other coast - tomorrow a show called small wonders opens at garson baker fine art . this is my first real show [besides art fairs] in new york, so i'm a bit excited. i wish i could go to see it, but seems that isn't in the cards. if anyone makes it to the show, will you let me know??? other doily toxin drawings will be on view. although i'm really sad that they won't be paired with their original partners .
this morning i had the pure pleasure of meeting andrea - and her two most perfect kids [and i waved to ward]. there are some people you just feel like you've known for a very very long time. she falls - actually glides - into that category. there was no picture snapping, but she is the physical embodiment of her photos . i don't really think i can find the words - so go look at her pictures. i can not wait until we meet again.
the other really nice thing about this weekend is that i get to see some good friends [including a new little one] AND celebrate my dad's birthday with him [and my mom and grandma]. my dad is a really unassuming, gentle soul. he doesn't like to call too much attention to himself [unless there's a camera on him - then he always makes a goofy face. wait. i do that too]. if you are in a room full of people and someone calls out - pick the guy who's dependable, trustworthy, and kind the room would point to him.
not sure if i'll be posting while in la-la land but... remember you can enter the little give away if you are so inclined.
happy rest of the week!
FOUR.
um. i feel out of blog practice. my laptop came back [but now has a red random pixel on the screen. i have to take it back, but i'm not ready to give it up again so soon].... and then i got really really sick. flu sick. sick in some of the hottest weather we've had here.... there is something really not nice about being sick in sticky hot weather. it really feels like punishment.
on the other hand... i turned in my grades. so i'm officially done teaching. this has been one of the hardest years ever for me in terms of teaching and keeping it all together. so it feels good to have a summer of not teaching. i like what i'm going to teach in the fall [JUST 2 classes!] and so i really want to tweek the syllabi and come back refreshed.
anyway.... news? i do have some
i'm in this book! along with people like matthew barney and ghada amer [and a whole long list of others]. in a 100 years i never would have thought my work would be amongst pages that contained their work. it's very humbling.
amisha YOUR piece is the image they used !!!!
anyway - the book is on amazon.
and the FOUR? well... believe it or not.... june marks the fact that i've been blogging for four years. how did that happen?? and in honor of that i feel like i should have one of those leave a comment and you'll win something giveaways. i'm not sure exactly what you'll win but i'll throw in a funny wool pompom ring
in colors of your choice. and maybe a tote or a T from underdog? so yeah. leave comment. random winner will be selected next monday July 1st.
thanks for reading. for being my friends. for your support and interest and to stop from just going all mushy i'll just say you guys are darn swell.....
more news this week. three shows are coming up quick!
