Pipilotti Rist and Progress

Thursday I took myself to the Henry Art Museum on the University of Washington campus. This was the last week for the Pipilotti Rist installation, A la belle étoile, and I didn't want to miss it. Unfortunately, there were no photography signs everywhere not to mention all the guards so I didn't get to take pictures. I was very skeptical of her work. Before experiencing it I thought it was impossible to stimulate a persons mind and body by just projecting images on a surface, but being in the piece has since changed my mind. Her work is very warming and gave me "warm fuzzies" as I stood in the whirling glow of her piece.

The Henry also has the exhibit Now Here is also Nowhere on display. It is an interesting look into artists' exploration of intangible concepts leading to the destabilization of the art object. There were pieces from artists like Duchamp, Tara Donovan, Bernice Abbott, and Cy Twombly to name a few. Overall, I found it nice to get out of my studio and see what is happening in the art world today.

Moving on to my studio progress...

Slow and steady wins the race. I thought after talking with Susan I would be able to just whip right through my ideas, but process always takes longer than thought. I've been focusing all of my studio effort on creating ONE dogtag/necklace. I want to have a prototype so I know where I am going and what I am getting myself into. It's not so easy to paint straight lines on a wavy sculpture, or to string a bunch of beads in the perfect manner. I believe the process for the remaining seven necklaces will be easier, but I think there will continue to some struggle.

 The necklace below is only half finished. It will be representation of the dogtags every military member is issued. Each teardrop beads represent 1,000 service women. This necklace is for 2012 and represents the 214,000 women that have served. It will be a wall installation with a cast shadow to signify the memory of these women. This is a lot of uncharted territory for me, but I think once it is complete it will be a successful piece and series. The artists and books I am reading right now have really influenced the projects I am currently working on. I don't think I would have made it to this point without them.

The medal and beads are different shades of red, but I couldn't get the camera to pick that up.

Movin' Right Along

Thursday I took myself down to Seattle (with a friend) to attend First Thursday. I learned the Art world is very different than the Art world while you are in school. It made me think about how I will continue to move forward after school. It seems very easy to get lost and consumed by your own thoughts once out of school. I am finding it will be a constant battle after grad school to continue to learn, change, and experience art outside of myself.

This week I had my second meeting with my mentor. A week before I was struggling with my projects. I didn't like the direction a few of them were moving in. It seems a lot of my ideas begin with good intention, but don't develop into anything solid enough to put forth further effort. I've found grad school really makes me think about where I'm spending my studio energy. With all of that said, at this time I've set aside my weaving attempt, my quilt, my postcard series, and my candy dish for now. My remaining ideas are very time consuming, and if I manage to complete them at the level I'm satisfied with I will probably look into developing one of the ideas I set aside.

My new ideas have been largely driven by the influences from my artist research and readings on memory and identity. One book in particular, Making Memory Matter has given me some ideas involving shadow boxes and the use of the shadow in my pieces to represent memory. It is very difficult to grasp such an ephemeral idea as memory. It's very diaphanous and difficult to express in physical forms. This is something I have been struggling with in many of my projects I have set aside.

Susan has been really great. She is really pushing me, and helping me develop my ideas in a more meaningful manner. After our meeting on Thursday I feel very solid in the direction I will be taking for the June residency. I feel really good about this semester even with everything happening in my non-grad school life. It's interesting to watch my art grow and change. I know now grad school was the push I needed to overcome my mental obstacles. This coming week I will be posting pictures with further description of my "good" ideas I will definitely be developing for the June residency.

Things on my mind

So my mentor has me really thinking about how to express the idea of women in my work without essentializing. So with my medals I have decided to add names in place of where stars, v's, e's, and s's would normally be. The added metal symbols are for repeat awards and award above and beyond.

A close up to show the texture in the fabric

I also started on my watercolor "postcard" series. I'm not sure if this is the direction I want to go with these as the pink is borderline forced opinion of feminine.

Lastly, I've been dealing with a medical legal hearing and it has really been weighing on me. It is bringing up a lot of old bad memories, and I just needed to paint something for myself. I set-up a photo shoot so I could get some images of myself, and I laid in my under painting this evening. This may be a series I want to pursue alongside everything else, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I have a lot of different directions happening right now. I guess that is ok since next semester will be used to lock it down solid.

This painting is 3'x4'. It looks a little scary right now, but my under painting are generally unrefined and somewhat sloppy. I really just use it to get a nice tone underneath the final painting.

Pictures of Progress

I started the week trying to figure out what to do with the original block painting below. As it sits it is just a painting of a military ribbon. So I have been experimenting with ways to add a feminine touch to each block.

Acrylic painting on birch block

Flower camo acrylic sheet (Started but not finished)

Enamel painted with pink sides to the block

Close up of my weave

Besides painting on blocks of wood I am working on my sculptural aspect of my work. I struggled like crazy to make a good mold. I experimented with victory wax, plaster, and silicone. Ultimately, I decided to make one sided molds in silicone because it is the most flexible. The pieces are only going to be viewed on one side anyway. After making that decision I also decided to work with sculpey instead of clay requiring firing. This should help me get through the process faster. Also, sculpey seems to be easier to work with at this time.

This picture is the first set of ribbons and medals crafted from sculpey in silicone molds. So far so good. The forms are much more precise than the clay forms I made last semester. It took me two  months to get to this point, and I hope it just keeps going up from here.

It's All Unfair

Last week I made a great deal of progress in the studio. I was so pumped about my work I completely forgot my blog. This week I will be posting two updates to make up for last week.

I finally received my history of medals and ribbons book. It is dry and boring just as I suspected. There really isn't a huge exciting history for the advent of US military recognition. Either way it is making me appreciate more the fact that I have some kind of recognition from the military. Today the Navy is making huge leaps and bounds. They have revoked the don't ask don't tell policy, women serve on submarines, there is better protection and assistance for victims of assault, and women can now serve in combat. These are all amazing steps forward for such a masculine organization. The women that are benefiting from these milestones though are standing on the backs of those that came before them. Women that suffered injustices and spoke up to make the Navy better. Women that serve and get no recognition when they are in the civilian sector, because they don't "look" military. It's all unfair and sometimes hurtful, but that is not what my art discusses.

My work celebrates these women. It recognizes their sacrifice through these little gestures of appreciation, the military ribbon. It celebrates the fact that through adversity, pressures, and sexist treatment the women that have served maintain their femininity. They are women, they are brave, and they have remarkable tenderness for the injustices suffered. Women in the military, volunteering, sacrificing and serving is a remarkable thing. I think the art world should experience this awesomeness, and recognize the struggles women have endured to achieve so much in a very anti-feminist organization like the military.

Progress

My last few blogs have been about my thoughts so I think it is time to share a bit of my process. This blog post will be dedicated to the making process as opposed to the thought process. Since returning from the January residency I have be going through a learning process...again. I purchased an inexpensive small loom and have been working on weaving fabric. It is time consuming and a steep learning curve. I decided to start with my most simple ribbon, the Navy Commendation Ribbon. Here is what I have so far:

The cream colored yarn at the bottom is my header or weft waste.

I have been working this weave in a manner called grosgrain. It is primarily used in ribbon making with satin to create a stiff ribbed appearance. Since I am working with yarn and making a larger fabric it has a softness to it, but at the same time the ribbed affect is coming through nicely. For my first attempt at weaving I think things are going well. I have a book on how to weave as well as a brief history of the loom. I may hang these pieces as individuals or I may decide to cross stitch names onto them. I will make that decision as they progress.

I am also working on painting surfaces. I've had some wood blocks made, and I am testing painting enamel on wood. Here is my first layer attempt.

It's not as glossy as I had hoped it would be. I will also need to tape it off to get the lines perfect. I made the ribbon bigger, but I'm not sure if this is the direction I want to go as far as size. I like the smaller size as a relic, souvenir or memento. This feels a little clunky. I am going to experiment with aging the white layer as well to give a sense of time passing. Right now it feels very sterile and I'm not sure if I want to make that comment in my work. I'm also going to attempt a ribbon with acrylic and possibly a watercolor. I have a lot of directions to work right now and I'm trying to not go too overboard.

On top of that I am fighting with my molding capabilities. I created a two part gel flex silicone mold. Last semester I worked one sided so it was very simple. This semester I want to get both sides of the object as exact as possible. Through a process of trial and error over the last three weeks the below two part mold is finally complete. I decided to pump up the thickness of the ribbons and medals because their actual thickness would have been too fragile to work with in clay or plaster.  I started with a clay slip injection. It has been setting for 24 hours and I'm not sure it is going to dry fast enough for my process. A plaster mold would suck the moisture out of the clay so this mold may have to be for plaster and wax molds. This is still in the baby stage.

It's not a complete failure at this point, but I think it may be heading in that direction. If it isn't dry by the end of the holiday weekend I'm going to attempt plaster injection. If that doesn't work I may have to call an expert :/ (that's my frustrated face).

 

Why do you want to be an artist?

This is the first question my new mentor asked me at our first meeting on Monday. I was having an off day so all I can remember is fumbling for words and struggling with the why. She also told me she sees a very inward person and my art is very personal. She does not see me interacting in the art world in any way. I've since taken a few days to really think about everything she told me. At first, I was upset and slightly angry at myself, but I'm now ready to apply her information to what I am doing. After all, the mentor is there as an objective viewer to help us grow right?

Things my mentor said about my current work:

It's too didactic. Stop teaching the viewer and let them have their own experience.

I need to navigate my thoughts more fluidly.

I need to bring more depth to my subject not just my own emotions. Really research my subject and get involved in my interest.

Find a way to make other people interested in the work. Make them want to care about it.

Study artists that are working in war and military.

Above all, expand my thinking. The sky is the limit and try new avenues.

With all of this information it really made me stop and think about what I am doing.  I am using the trace, an insignificant object and imbuing it with identities and memories. I need to find a way to make this information come across in an interesting way. I need the viewer to have an experience without having me there to explain the deeper meaning. Maybe I need to draw on my graphic design background to make these objects speak for themselves. She was not interested in the small images and objects, but I think I've come to realize from the residency that that is a personal opinion, and I have to decide on the size for myself.  She recommended I work with just the color field aspect of the ribbons in a larger format. 

So with all of this information I am now soldiering forward. As for why I want to be an artist...I still don't have an answer for her that is anything other than a selfish egotistical reason. I can't physically work. Some days I can't physically make art or take care of the house. I live in chaos with my boyfriend and he is very understanding. I will never be the artist that is physically capable of installing massive projects and jet setting around the country. I will probably never be able to physically participate in an artist residency. My body may be hard to work with now, and in the future I may not have control over it, but for now I do. I know I want to create beautiful things for people to enjoy. I want to teach people that are eager to learn artistic skills. I want to share this knowledge I currently have. I don't need to be famous. I need art because I need purpose in my own life. I can't teach without my degree. So I am getting my degree. That does not mean I don't want to grow and learn personally. Does all of this mean I am not and never will be an artist? Some would say yes. Those people are down the path of fame though...so why does their opinion matter?