studio practice
This fall and winter, I traveled a great deal, unable to be in my studio for more than days at a time, for many many months. I found myself distracted, unfocused, jittery, and unable to sustain levels of concentration.
Read MoreThis summer was a period of intense artistic exploration: papermaking, cyanotype, sculptural paper, natural ephemera collecting, drying and embedding. Different processes demand different setups. Since my studio is small, I needed to get inventive
Read MoreOn daily walks I collect birds’ nests and eggshells. A small but poignant reference to the cycle of life, nurture and industry, ingenuity and adaptability, I marvel at the intricacy and variety of materials found within each nest. I admire birds’ problem-solving abilities in making use of whatever materials are available at the time. This ingenuity parallels how artists work and how women adapt and improvise while juggling many expectations, demands and limitations in daily life. For a long while I have envisioned deconstructing these nests and with the eggshells and other found organic ephemera, embedding them within handmade translucent sheets of abaca paper capturing and preserving their resilience in another organic material.
Read MoreIn my last blog post I wrote about the abundance of amazing classes, processes and materials that I wanted to learn about and work with this summer. I was excited and hopeful about the way these things would find their way back into my work and bring the work to where I see it next. But as so often happens, life can interrupt. Albeit in very glorious and insistent ways but interrupt just the same.
Read MoreI woke up the morning after the installation of Emergence (read more here), already brimming with ideas. It was incredibly satisfying to see the piece come to fruition in a space. It also immediately presented alternative iterations and created questions for me. I see this piece taking over and invading a space: crawling across a wall, creeping around a corner, seeping up onto the ceiling, and spilling onto the floor. I want to think about the negative space more than I did this time around. Think about how different installations can evoke different interpretations.
Read MoreAt times I find it difficult to return to the studio. This is most true after a break of a couple of days, or worse, weeks! This happens often enough with life’s demands. My attention, time, emotional energy and commitment are focused elsewhere. Returning to the studio afterwards and struggling against inertia, can feel like I am wading through molasses. Art projects and the effort necessary to realize a vision suddenly feel too large and make me avoid the studio.
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