Weaving Complete!

Toiling away in my studio! I finally finished my weaving! I have one flag box prepped for paint as well. I'm still working on sewing everything together, but I am very happy to be at this stage. Weaving is a therapeutic methodical process. It's very repetitive and it gives you lots of time to think. I thought a lot about where the project was going, where the holes were, how I am going to approach the rest of the project, and how I'm going to make plaster molds. I also thought a great deal about color and my use of color. I kept thinking back to the book Chromophobia I read in my first semester. Why can't I use a very minimal color palate, and what are the sacrifices to my meaning by making the color more "interesting". I haven't decided where this will end up...

I did add some interesting colors to my weaving, and attempted pattern. Turns out you can't do a lot with pattern when you only have a basic two part loom. So I got creative. Here's a picture of the progress so far...

 

The wood box is made of pre-primed pine. I'm going to have to prime it again though since it has a bunch of wood filler and black marks on it. I found last time it was easier to cover the dinks if I primed them first. Otherwise I go through a lot of expensive white spray paint. I put a 24" ruler between everything so you could get a sense of the dimensions. I'm still working on sewing the fabric pieces together. I was trying to finish tonight but it was just too much work for my hands. It seems with making fabric I feel like I am working fast and when I look up at the clock all this time has slipped away. It doesn't help that I had to rip out a bunch of work and restart a few times. 

I feel like I have a huge list of things to do and I don't know if I will have time to get to everything this semester. I guess I can save a lot of it for later. It's always good to have ideas on the back burner. I know I won't be running out of things to do in my studio in the near or far future :)

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Back in my studio finally. It feels good and bad though. It's summer, which means it isn't raining here on Whidbey Island. Salmon fishing, crabbing, clamming, crawdadding, hunting, berry picking, our new boat, the hammock out front, the garden, and the sun shine are all calling me. I feel cooped up a bit, but I'm really inspired by the work I am doing and I want to be in my studio. Finding the balance is a challenge.

Since my visit to the east coast I have been able to get out of bed earlier. Unfortunately, my fibro caught up with me today and I couldn't roll out of bed until 0900. I've made it into the studio but it's going to be a slow work day for me. I've done almost 40 hours this week, and at that grueling pace I will most likely put myself out of commission. I'm working on figuring out how to get everything done with less strain on me physically. I'm sure there will be some changes in my process to accommodate my physical ability. At least when I was laying in bed trying to will myself up I came up with what may be some pretty fantastic ideas in my humble opinion. Fia wants me to do some color studies before really digging into my process. I think this is a good idea, but it had me stumped for a short time. How do you do color studies for a sculpture? So I set up sketch canvas in a grid on my easel and just lived with it for a few days while I worked on weaving. I have a good idea of where to start now, and if they aren't too embarrassing I will post them next week.

This week I wove. I wove until my back was aching, my hands and arms were sore, and my eyes were burning from staring at the weaving. I tore it apart 3 times, broke some warp lines and had to restring, and didn't pull it tight enough to get what I wanted. Yesterday, I managed to produce two usable strips for my woven "flag/ribbon" piece for my flag box. FINALLY!

This is hard to see. The two weaves in the middle have green, orange, burgundy in them.

This picture is a pencil schematic of the flag boxes with all the measurements so I don't waste time making something too big. The weaves on the outer parts were really just practice. They are terrible and need to be redone. Problem with learning a new craft is the time it takes to learn to do it right. Those larger weaves took me about 35 hours of studio time. The smaller, cleaner, more intriguing color and weave-wise took me 30 hours as well. BUT!!!!.....

I think things will move much faster now. I've got a good technique down and I'm getting more comfortable with my loom. I may actually vary the thread I am using to get some different textures as well. Really, right now everything is just an idea. Once the process starts there has to be room for change and variation. I've also been thinking about color use more critically. I'm reading What Color is Sacred by Michael Taussig, as well as, many books from last semester and my Roland Barthe Mythologies. The reading really helps me slow down and think through my working process.

BYC and New York City

The last two weeks I have been on travel in the name of Art and Grad School. My first stop was in Boston to attend the opening of the Boston Young Contemporaries Show. The gallery lighting is bad, the crowd was small, and the press was minimal, but it was my first show in Boston so I wanted to attend.

It was nice to see my work on someone elses wall for a change. I spent four days with friends from AIB and made new friends as well. It was helpful in getting me invigorated for the semester again. I have to admit I was feeling very wilted after Laurel's professional development class. I'm still dealing with accepting that I can only do what I can do. I'm also working on making art that is what I want to make and not directed by outside influences.

From Boston I met up with my mother and a few friends for a week in New York City. I managed to shove a lot of art into a very small span of time. I was mentally and physically exhausted by the end of the trip, but now I have new ideas and a positive direction for my studio and research practice. It was nice seeing the work that I have studied for years in person finally. Some of it did not impress, some were smaller than I imagined, and some were so fascinating I couldn't get close enough to examine to my fill. You can see everything I photographed on my facebook album:

New York Art Facebook Album

I couldn't photograph everything, and why would I want to, but I did get some inspiring ones like this Barbara Kruger piece. She uses text in an interesting way, and she is someone I will probably research further this semester.

I also saw a new talent at a special exhibit at the Whitney Museum. Stewart Uoo.

 

He uses the usual material for sculpture but adds interesting materials like hair, nails, maggot and fly carcasses. He makes an interesting comment about current cultural views damaging nature of self-image. I also found it interesting how the sculptures were displayed. Some jut from the wall hovering just above the floor while others hung from long poles in the floor so they loomed over the viewer. I tried to keep in mind how the position of the art affected the way it read to the viewer. 

I saw this piece in the Flag Art Foundation Gallery. It is by Brooklyn based artist Jennifer Daltan. It addresses a political issue in an interesting way, but at the same time I didn't know if I was allowed to touch it or not. This began the nagging question, "Is participatory art in the gallery and museum space dead?" Is the only real way to make a participatory piece accessible through public art like Orly Genger's Madison Square Park piece.

This piece is amazing. The viewer can touch the work, sit on it, against it or just walk around it, but at the same time it is not fully open to the public. There is a hired guard watching the piece and everyone around it. There are three different colors in three different sections of the park, and only one section is open to the public at a time because there is only one guard. How is that functioning in the way the artist wanted? What sacrifices did she have to make to get the city of New York to allow such a large structural installation? Is there liability if someone climbs it (which you aren't allowed to) and gets hurt? So is the only true form of participatory art public installations of utilitarian objects like my last mentor Susan Robb's octopus bike rack?

I'm a tactile person. I like to touch things and interact with my world. I would like to share that fascination with my viewers, but is there really an avenue to do that anymore? Is this maybe something I want to discuss in my future work? If placement really matters for making a work of art speak to a viewer is there a way to address the issue of non-interaction without putting off the viewer? Lots of questions I hadn't thought of before my trip. It was interesting to see the different people at the various art venues, as well as, the different settings for all works. The galleries were quiet and sparse, the museums loud but very sterile, and the park was pleasant and inviting. Where do I want to fit now????

Slowly but Surely...

...making progress in my studio. It has been a struggle to not let the academic and professional side of things take over my studio time. I've been on the phone correcting errors more than I've been thinking about making art it seems. Adjusting to the family summer schedule has been rough as well. I have managed to eek out the required studio time, but I would really like to dedicate more time then I have. I leave for Boston and New York on Thursday, and I'm hoping my return from New York will help propel me forward the way I need to.

They BYC show is on Saturday. Being swamped by paperwork and my own past laziness to get ready for everything. It seems appointments, paperwork, and dirty dishes always get in the way of my day running exactly the way I envisioned it prior to rolling out of bed. I'm already thinking about writing my first paper, and I feel like this semester is a struggle like my first semester. I don't really want to deal with the mind bending task of writing critically.

I met with my new mentor for the first time last Tuesday. Seems Claudia Fitch will be a great fit. She has recommended I work on Stream of Consciousness writing to inform my work and choice of color. She has also suggested I begin collecting and surrounding myself with things that I like. I'm not much of a collector so I'm not so sure how that part will go. I get really depressed when I'm surrounded by clutter. Also, I have a few readings she suggested that I will be taking to Boston to keep me company on the plane.

As for studio progress I don't have a lot to show right now. Since I'm working on the flag portions of my flag box idea the process is slow right now. I will post when I have things more finished and readable. I fear if I post them right now it will just look like a bunch of junk on the table. Also, trying to get my boyfriend to make the boxes for me is a bit of a struggle. The weather is nice, fishing season is here, and his boys are visiting so he doesn't have a huge itch to break out his wood working tools. I know in time he will make them for me, and I know what I want, but I don't have anything to show for it right now. Seems to be a typical start to my semester! :)

Onward and upward!

Barry McGee and others at the ICA

My first art exhibit excursion took me to the Barry McGee exhibit at the ICA. I had planned on seeing the Peabody Museum glass flowers but I was just too wiped out. Anyway, here are some photos:

There was a wide range of his work including large installations and small sketches. I found his sculptural objects the most intriguing. They gave me a sense of the artist whereas the giant installations felt really cold to me. I also was completely turned off by the mechanization in some of his installations. I didn't see how they added any value to the overall aesthetic, or why it was relevant. It really made me think of how to make my own work discuss an issue without discussing it too much.

There was a special smaller exhibition as well, the James and Audrey Foster Prize 2013.  I got to experience a second mark cooper, the first at the MFA in the white blue show.

         I'm a student of visual culture and visual language - the more I learn, the less I know, and I find           that intriguing...

                             -- Mark Cooper

I find his work to be very welcoming. I want to study every nook and cranny. It is interesting to me how he represents the messiness of life and humanity through such abstract structures. There is a frantic gesture to each installation that I find energizing and intriguing. Do I want my work to be energized? How do I want my visual language to read? Do I want it to be stale stoic and detached? I feel in some ways, that boring side of my work is important to the overall meaning.

From Mark Cooper I ran into Annette Lemeiux whose piece I would say has that dry sensibility that is so important when discussing issues of institution. Obviously, something I will have to look into further.

On a side note, next week I get to meet with my mentor for the first time. I'm excited to hear what she has to say. I'm sure she will have an entirely different approach than Susan had, and I'm curious to see what she thinks of my new direction and my old.

Shameless plug of my new website again :) http://www.mariajonesartist.com

The Summer Residency

This summer the Residency was a bit tougher on me physically. I did however, develop a fabulous new tangent for my work! I'm super excited to get working in my studio, which is always a good sign. Here are some pictures of my space this semester:

I had a bit of an issue with my shipping company so I am still waiting for everything to make it home safely. Although, the feedback was mostly positive I think I will probably photograph and destroy most of the things I made this semester. Sculpture and installation take up a lot of space, and I really don't think the things I have made in the last six months are really the selling type.

I learned a lot (and freaked out) about professional development as an artist. It seems like an extremely long arduous toil to get to some modicum of success. Which is then another giant leap to being able to teach. I'm trying not to completely be overwhelmed by the information. Instead, I put my anxiety to good use and wrote my residency summary, book list, artist list, developed a professional artist page, press release for the BYC, resume, business card, and e-mail address. :P

http://www.mariajonesartist.com

It is not the best site in the world, but it is mine and it has a lot of what I have been making on it. Once everything makes it back to Washington I will toil over getting someone to photograph them professionally for me...maybe...or maybe I will use the photography skills I have to photograph them myself (if they look like dookie I will hire someone).

Boston Young Contemporaries and Vacation Time

So I found out last week one of the three pieces I submitted was selected to be a part of the Boston Young Contemporaries Exhibit in Boston starting on July 26th and running to August 24th! The piece they selected is called "the women" and here it is...

The opening and awards ceremony is on July 26th from 6-9pm. I will be there for the opening weekend only, but at least I will be there. From the exhibition in Boston I will be taking a detour to New York City for a week before returning home. Hopefully, I will get to every art museum and be completely inspired and ready to get to making amazing art when I get home. I'm excited about the summer, but at the same time I'm still trying to figure out how to keep my Fibromyalgia under control while it is all happening. I think the last will be a lost cause, but I have a lot of coping mechanisms and when all else fails really strong pain killers and drugs to knock me out :) Not letting my illness bring me down! As my mentor says, "Onward and Upward!"

Also, I have let all my work dry and dropped it off to be packed up and shipped off to Boston! Two weeks to residency. I'm looking forward to it! I'm taking the two weeks before residency as vacation time from school. I will be spending time in my studio but not as diligently as usual. I'm making time to do things outside, exercise, visit and talk with friends (finally), and of course do the readings and rework some of my papers.

With all of the ups and downs of this semester I think it turned out to be a good one. I'm ready for Residency 3 :)