a book of d's...

When I was in graduate school, based on the intimate photographs that I was taking of C and I, a professor recommended that I look at the book A book of D's by Danica Phelps and after much searching I found it, bought it, and loved it.



Last week t was in all my books at the studio and... as I was working today I picked it up and as usual was so moved. The book consists of gorgeous contour drawings of Danica and her lover in moments of tenderness, making love, holding, kissing, etc. Her hand and her way of drawing is, in short - exquisite and because of her approach of contour it seems very much like thread.


I truly love how Danica captures such love and the power of the intimate touch and then layers this with documentation of the banality of her day through to-do lists (in book). This somehow reminds us of how that with in our everyday banal existence there is such incredible beauty.



If you have not seen it you need to.

I know that today it blew my mind and totally inspired something exciting in me for my work.

Unfortunately it is hard to find images of this work but you can buy the book.

Hope to see you tonight!!!

International Women's Day Celebration

March 8th 2011

6-9pm Benefit Haircuts

After Party and Joetta Maue art opening 10pm-1am

Donations will be accepted at the door $5 if you're financially challenged, $20 if you aren't.

DJ Dhundee will be providing the music for the evening dance off.
Edisa Weeks with Delirious Hair Designs will be creating amazing updo's for the afterparty's guests
Jenn Silva from Fringe will be "putting a bird on it" and applying Feather Hair Extensions to our guests heads.
248 Broome Street New York, NY 10002
All info here.

come and play with me...

Only 2 weeks until the deadline. Cannot wait to see your submission!!!

Details for my Call for Work PLAY here.

we will see.

So sorry about my lack of post on Friday I was hectically getting ready to go out of town for the weekend while getting work done on my car, that I cannot afford, and before I knew it the day was done, I was in rural Massachusetts, without Internet, and had not posted.


But my weekend was lovely. My dear friend recently moved to a farm with her new hubby and they are beginning a farm. T loved the cows and touched one of their goats. I loved getting to catch up and also talk deep with one of my closest friends, along with eat wholesome food including raw milk and home made bread, take a walk for an hour without a sidewalk in view, and simply be out of the city. It revived me as well as reminded me how much I love my own community and life in Brooklyn.

This week the main goal is to finish this piece, it is getting there though I cannot say that I am totally in love with it. Aesthetically the piece is lovely but it is missing the emotional aspect that I want and love in my work. This may come out of the fact that it is a "commissioned" piece, based on a historical piece that I was not too crazy about, and that the deadline was a bit too close for comfort. If I was starting the project now I would do something totally different but for now am hoping to turn the piece around... We will see.

Future Heirlooms.

In case you missed it please go over and read my interview with Kathie Webb at the Mr. Kathie's work and story are inspiring and powerful.

Speaking of alumni, I was over looking at the OSU website, my undergrad, and was super psyched to see that their current visiting artist is Orly Genger. I have written about her work here before but is is cool enough to mention again.


For some reason when I think of Orly's work I always think of her outdoor installations rather then her interior work and it was nice to be reminded how gorgeous and heavy her interior work is.

awesome chair....


I have been thinking a lot about piles lately and how I can work with them in my work. To me the pile is such a powerful image and my studio is full of them, which visually I love, but now that I am a mama my house is full of them too. Piles of clean clothes, dirty clothes, toys, diapers, dishes...It is such a symbol for domestic life. So even though though Orly's work is totally not about that - the piling she tends to do totally inspired my brain.


If you are in Ohio make sure to check out her speak March 10 at the always impressive Wexner Center.

NYPOP

Today I am going to do a little shout out to a program at my grad alumni called NYPOP, an acronym for New York Outreach Program. This has been a program for quite a long time at UMASS and really was one of the number one reasons I chose UMASS over the 6 other schools I got into (plus they gave me a TA, aka money.) But seriously this program is amazing and is all credit to the incredible professor that runs it artist and teacher Jerry Kearns.

Jerry is getting to the time in his life where he is thinking about what will happen after he retires and since this is his legacy at the school he went all out and has managed to get approval, money, and increased staff to expand the program into a national program where classes from schools all over the country can get the NYPOP experience. What is that you ask?

an old school image of me and my NYPOP crew in Chelsea.

NYPOP brings students to NYC 4 times a semester for the weekend. We would then get the opportunity to have a one on one intimate conversation with a working artist, curator, gallerist, etc... Through this class we were able to get first hand knowledge and information on what it is like to be working in the arts in NY. The idea of the class is to better prepare students for the transition of moving to NY and/or simply navigating the NY art scene. As a graduate student you are allowed to take this class every semester so I did, giving me 3 years of it.

a shot from the annual alumni exhibit in Chelsea.

I am so happy for the program and Jerry for its expansion and am super excited to see there new website which celebrates the program, informs schools about its possibilities for them, and shouts out to the awesome alumni that have walked through it. So please go take a visit especially if you are a professor as you can take your class to NYC for an invaluable art filled weekend.

You can see my alumni page where I shout out my appreciation here.

ambiguous..."contradictory truths"

I mentioned the work of artist Gema Alava on Monday and wanted to delve a little deeper into her work and share more here. She has a wonderful sense of simplicity and minimalism while still keeping it playful.


Generally keeping her medium to pins or nails and thread on the wall with a little help from Mr. Shadow.


Her statement says:

Fragile and subtle materials allow us to enter calm but intense spaces. They represent the power of the minuscule, of the almost.

I am intrigued by how we react to the kinds of situations where we are faced with something that looks like it is about to fall. Do we just let it go and rebuild a new structure? Do we try to hold, maintain, balance what is mostly gone? It might involve indecision; we might just look at it wondering what we should do.

Shadows are important. If you are able to freeze a shadow you are capturing time. Peter Pan got in all that trouble because of his shadow.

I find it extraordinary how people respond in such different ways to the same situation. I've been using materials that allow me to work with this ambiguity, these contradictory truths. It is that difference of opinion that I find interesting, and so I always try to make sure that I leave space for interpretation.

Love her words and would love to see her work in person.

See more here.

don't forget...

That it is time to PLAY!!!!!!

Deadline for submissions coming up March 20.

Details here.

fringe....

I had a hectic day yesterday ... drop off t, to the studio, into the city to finish install, back to pick up t, back to the studio, work, do a studio visit for play, home, off to teach, home. It was 10pm before I even realized I had never sat down at my computer. I think the no computer rule at my studio is good as I focus so much more on work but sometimes it leaves quite a lot of my life neglected.

My show here is hung and ready for the opening next Tuesday night. I think it looks good and am in general happy with the way it all turned out but for the most part the work is all quite old and that always leaves me with mixed feelings. I would really have liked to have some newer work hung but my 2 newest pieces have sold and all my other works are either large or still in process so...I am choosing to look at this show as a sort of last hurrah for most of this work and also maybe this exact type of install.


But I do love how my work looks with all the domestic touches of the space, like the lamps, textured wallpaper, and awesome new printed wallpaper (hung with the show in mind.) So when I go back with my good camera I hope to get some great shots to keep in my archive.


For the future, installation wise, I want to push everything further, not that I know what that means.


Hope to see you next Tuesday and more pictures after the opening from a better camera than my phone.