Inspirational talk by Callie Curry

I just came across this wonderful talk by Callie Curry aka Swoon–her attitude, sense of wonder and possibility is so inspiring!

Streetbox update

Hot off the presses–this week’s city paper reveals our box locations. Mine will live in Cleveland Park at 3426 Connecticut Ave. NW in front of Loews Uptown Theater! Beginning July 1 you can vote for your favorite box at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/  ps. vote for me! Ha!

Streetbox named desire

I recently participated in a project called “A Streetbox Named Desire”–The Washington City Paper and Pyramid Atlantic Art Center teamed up to celebrate both of their 30th anniversaries by inviting a group of artists to design artwork for some of the City Paper’s newspaper boxes. 10 artists participated, and we had total freedom to do whatever we chose to the box, so long as our additions could withstand life on the streetcorner. for example extreme weather, prying hands, etc, and weren’t pornographic So, the results are all quite different as you can see, and all really great. There’s actually going to be an opportunity to vote on your favorite one–I’ll post the link when they put it up. We also don’t yet know where our boxes will end up–that’ll be published in the City Paper soon.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My box design, which I’ve titled “Moon-eyed”  utilized stenciled silhouettes, transfers using carbon paper, block prints, and hand drawn elements. I wanted the imagery to be graphic and bold, easy to make out from a distance, yet also include layers and details that were subtle and rewarding only at a close range. I had a variety of themes in mind, and in the end I chose to remove the figures from their context (for example, one of the stencils came from a drawing of a woman hanging clothes on a line) and just focus on gesture. I chose my title by thinking about my relationship/reaction  to the city–wide eyed with wonder sometimes and fear others, expecially when considering the city at night. I’ll find out soon where it’ll end up (i’m crossing my fingers for H street!)

 

sculptural elements

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’m really pleased with the way our nest project turned out! Thanks to a group of handy volunteers (Leanda Gaegan, Mike Wozniak, Patti Harden, Sarah Hanks, Claire Schwadron, Morgan Ward, Leslie Smith, and Anna Spelman), Gretchen and I were able to assemble a really lovely felted cluster of nests on the waterfront for the project I mentioned in my previous post. There are also lots of other great nests in the area, and inside the Torpedo Factory (in the Target Gallery) is another nest inspired show that is not to be missed–all will be on display thru May 15th, unless of course a tornado blows our nest away!

Working with felt on this project was really fun–I got to visit a really great shop called Dancing Leaf Farm http://dancingleaffarm.com/, where the owner Dalis (an avid felter, shepherd, spinner, knitter, etc.) gave me lots of great tips, and sold me some lovely hand-dyed roving wool and a dozen of her hen’s fresh eggs (including a blueish green one!). Using the info I gathered from her, other felters I know, and videos from YouTube, we were able to make about 15 nests of all different sizes and colors, and then Gretchen and I selected a grouping that had a similar color palette.

Working with this fiber was fun, inspiring, and gave me lots of ideas for projects I’d like to do in the future! I posted before about the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Natural History Museum, and after visiting it I’m even more excited about the possibilities of working with wool and creating work that has sculptural elements!

Nesting

I am excited about an upcoming art project, and would like to share some information about it, and hopefully encourage your support and/or participation. The Target Gallery, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, is sponsoring an outdoor exhibition of artist-made nests created by local arts groups. Pyramid Atlantic Art Center has been invited to participate, and Gretchen Schermerhorn and I will be leading. The installations will be near the Torpedo Factory Art Center along the waterfront of the Potomac River in Old Town Alexandria from Sunday, April 10 through Sunday, May 15, 2011.

The goal of the project is to inspire folks to look more closely at their own habitat. Coinciding with Earth Day and Mother’s Day, the hope is to increase environmental awareness and encourage care for the planet we all call home.  Habitat’s work for building decent and affordable homes will also be highlighted.

There are some great opportunities to participate in the event, and to donate to the kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/targetgallery/the-nest-project-what-does-home-mean-to-you to help offset costs for printing signs and maps, lighting, and the like.

Currently Gretchen and I are brainstorming about a nest made of felted wool, perhaps from old sweaters assembled from the back of our member’s closets…I’ll be sure to update this as opportunities to participate arrise.

Nest Builders – Participating Art Groups

• Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association
• The Art League
• artdc : featuring the artwork of Michael Winger
• Art Whino : featuring the artwork of James Walker
• flux studios featuring the artwork of Novie Turmp, Jessica Beels, and Laurel Lukaszewski
• Hamiltonian Artists
• Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center featuring the work of Sabeth Jackson and Gretchen Schermerhorn
• Convergence
• Washington Alexandria Architecture Center featuring Virginia Tech’s Master of Landscape Architecture Graduate Students led by Laurel McSherry, program director
• microWave project featuring the artwork of Pam Rogers

Project location: Alexandria, VA

superconnected

I wanted to share this wonderful exerpt from a new yorker article i just read called “Social Animal” (there’s a link to the full article below)–it’s the first time i’ve heard someone use genetics to describe something like Joseph Campbell’s universal consciousness. It also does a wonderful job of describing why losing yourself in a conversation, or a song, or a drawing can make us so happy.

During the question-and-answer period, though, a woman asked the neuroscientist how his studies had changed the way he lived. He paused for a second, and then starting talking about a group he had joined called the Russian-American Folk Dance Company. It was odd, given how hard and scientific he had sounded. “I guess I used to think of myself as a lone agent, who made certain choices and established certain alliances with colleagues and friends,” he said. “Now, though, I see things differently. I believe we inherit a great river of knowledge, a flow of patterns coming from many sources. The information that comes from deep in the evolutionary past we call genetics. The information passed along from hundreds of years ago we call culture. The information passed along from decades ago we call family, and the information offered months ago we call education. But it is all information that flows through us. The brain is adapted to the river of knowledge and exists only as a creature in that river. Our thoughts are profoundly molded by this long historic flow, and none of us exists, self-made, in isolation from it.

“And though history has made us self-conscious in order to enhance our survival prospects, we still have deep impulses to erase the skull lines in our head and become immersed directly in the river. I’ve come to think that flourishing consists of putting yourself in situations in which you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other people, experiences, or tasks. It happens sometimes when you are lost in a hard challenge, or when an artist or a craftsman becomes one with the brush or the tool. It happens sometimes while you’re playing sports, or listening to music or lost in a story, or to some people when they feel enveloped by God’s love. And it happens most when we connect with other people. I’ve come to think that happiness isn’t really produced by conscious accomplishments. Happiness is a measure of how thickly the unconscious parts of our minds are intertwined with other people and with activities. Happiness is determined by how much information and affection flows through us covertly every day and year.”

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/17/110117fa_fact_brooks#ixzz1B8oFriYh

daydreaming

I’m currently dreaming up ideas for a new project:  I do that by sifting through my notebooks were I’ve  scribbled notes, clipped pictures, doodled, and by looking at other artwork that I find inspiring. I’m hoping to create a variety of pieces that communicate my feelings about “home,” and I just might try my hand at some 3 dimensional work…here are some things that i’m really digging right now:

check out more of Shane Waltner’s work at http://www.shanewaltener.com/index.html,  Mariah Johnson at http://www.mariahjohnson.com/, and Monica Cook at http://www.monicacookart.com/index.html

The majority of my work is figurative, but I keep feeling a really strong attraction to work that references nature or parts of our environment, and uses materials or techniques to do so that are both beautiful and full of emotions and history.  If I remember correctly, Monica Cook’s self-portrait above is painted on old mattress fabric, and Mariah Johnson uses bed sheets that she buys second hand. I love the idea of using materials that have such intimate, evocative associations.