still cool.

 

 

How cool is this installation at Madison Square Park in NYC by Orly Genger....

the mark is enough-

 I recently saw the work of Roanna Wells in the new books "Drawn to stitch" and loved it! A lot of the work is super simple repetition of stitches massed further and closer apart. Conceptually it is obvious that a lot more is going on but to be frank- I don't care.

Her work makes me not need to know what is inspiring her or how she makes decisions instead I just want to look at it. I can read into it if I want or I can see it as marks. I can think about groupings but I'd rather just let thought go and simply see.

details of various works above.

I am very inspired by how direct and simple the work is. I would never be able to just make stitches and let that be enough and I love that she can.

She also has a new work that is about taking away and I think it is an exciting direction.

See more of her work here.

threaded words

The Threads catalogue from earlier this spring. I have included the intro essay by Jenn McNamara and the pages featuring me. Again the images are large enough to click on and read. Enjoy.

self-fabricated words...

In the process of working on getting my website updated I have finally scanned in some pages from recent catalogues that have featured my work. This is from the winter exhibit Self-Fabricated at the Arts Complex Museum. Each artist had a short essay written about their work.  I was actually very nervous about how it would end up as it seemed like the writer and I struggled to communicate and the work featured is VERY hard to photograph so she was struggling in "getting" my work. But in the end she totally understood it and wrote a lovely piece about it. These are higher res images so if you click on them they become big enough for you actually read the text. Let me know what you think!

piled on the floor

When I was at the Brooklyn Museum a few weeks back I was drawn into the American Paintings gallery from afar by the above painting by Sylvia Plimack Mangold. I of course recognized her last name to be of Robert Mangold but had never heard of her before.

Apparently more known as a landscape artist she did a series of domestic space scenes, focused significantly on the floor and light. With a few of these paintings littered with the remnants of undressing and dirty clothes.

Since my new work is shifting towards this "domestic" still life I am kind of totally obsessed with looking at other artists that have done it. Much like when I shifted toward fiber I wanted to see it validated and explored by other artists- maybe this is the same. I move more and more towards drawing, thought still stitched, and want to see that this imagery can be valued by others.

I am sure I over think it all but since I actually want to be making my living as either a professor or artist you kind of have to I guess. Anyway I love these paintings by Sylvia- as the piles of clothes are what I am so interested in stitching at the moment and the patterns of sunlight on the floor have been a favorite photography subject of mine for many years.

I enjoy how simple her work is in composition but how meticulous it is in the craft. I would love to be able to find some more information and images of this particular work of hers. Now I know to keep my eye out.

right?

 
blur... that is what life is like at the moment. I am so busy. I have been really happy as I am teaching a ton which is great, making work, slowly but making it and am excited about it and my daily life is good. But oh so oh not enough time for any of it.

I really would love to get to actually get some applications done, my website updated and stuff like that.  I am a little tiny freaking out as I have NO shows lined up and that is a first in a VERY long time. But of course I have not been getting in touch with galleries since my website needs updated. So annoyingly today I think I have to suck it up and give up my precious making hours to sit behind the computer and get my website update going. Rip the band aid off and then I can get some long overdue correspondences out for exhibits.

I know this is the right move but I so do not want to do it.  Reminder to self once my website is updated I can start applying for things, will get shows lined up, weight of shoulders lifted and then my work can be my focus again. Right?

 A blend for Friday Flashbacks this week. Links to 3 posts of 3 artists working with the beauty of the banal in different mediums. In truth my favorite work to see.

First from January 2012 some stone carved everyday. Here.

Hands down some of my fave paintings, from April 2009,  I so still want one. Patterns, domesticity and banality. Here.

and some quietly lovely photographs -from fall 2008, old school. here.

repetition in the task.

 

some very interesting work by Stacia Yeapanis. When I first saw it I thought it was fiber collage but indeed it is meticulously cut out magazine pages.

The careful craftsmanship is impressive and how she cuts things out and assembles them reminds me of how ribbons and lace move. See much more of this work along with details on her website.

She also has an interesting collection of cross stitch series called everybody hurts with images taken from tv shows.

She says this about her work:

I explore the emotional and existential experience of repetition in our daily tasks and in the mediated ways we participate in culture, from television watching to gaming to flipping through magazines. Working in a combination of digital and handmade media, I use the conceptual strategies of accumulation, collection, appropriation and remix to reveal the capacity of these tasks/pleasures to be either monotonous, frenzied or meditative. 

 

See more.

slow & steady

slow and steady actually makes progress- I am almost done with this piece and I am totally loving it. I am looking forward to the next one in line and looking through my images to see what comes after that. I am so enjoying the drawing with thread process, stripping all the other stuff out and focusing on line.  I am also enjoying the non human subject matter.

Interesting moment last night- I went to get my nightly chocolate fix and C was in bed asleep sprawled out with the lights still on- and I thought to myself how beautiful he looked in the light. Then I thought to myself how nice it was to just allow myself to see the moment with my husband  and appreciate it and not think about grabbing my camera and making the image into a work of art. It feels so nice to allow those moments to become mine again and turn my needle to other ones. Just confirmation that the shift in my studio practice is the right move.

undulating in Brooklyn.

Finally a brief review of the El Anatsui exhibit currently at the Brooklyn Museum. In short it was wonderful. I went with a great friend so the art was coupled with catching up with a person that I miss very much from Brooklyn. We were both inspired and awed by the craftsmanship, skill and scale of the exhibition.

You walked in the huge open space on the top floor of the museum where a large mostly open "weave" tapestry was. The scale was impressive and little moments of color compelling but it was not the more interesting of work in the show.

The work that truly wowed me was the large scale wall tapestries. The labor of putting these together is mind bending but the incredible use of color and metallic was truly impressive. The works were strong and bold and literally metal but somehow they simultaneously undulated, invited, and quieted you.

I was most drawn to the super dimensional ones in the back room, they were just so incredible with their rolls and ripples of huge scale. There was also a piece that allowed for a soft tinkling sound in the metal in the same space- I liked the idea but the actual sound seemed like an afterthought.  Perhaps it will develop more.

It was very interesting to see early works of El Anatsui which were to me rather boring traditional wood carvings. Works made just within that last 10 years- all the metal works were also mostly made in the last 10 years, This was interesting to me as it reminded me that as long as you keep working, making and thinking at any moment the idea that truly IS you as an artist can come along. His work now seems so authentically him and his culture and his viewpoint that it was inspiring to see that it has really come about in such a short amount of time.

There were a number of documentaries showing his process that I did not have time to watch but look forward to watching in the future as his process is fascinating and SO much like that of a quilter.

Indeed this show is one to see if you can at all make it happen, it is aesthetically incredible, technically amazing and conceptually thought provoking. Go.