Picture Overload

Last week I talked about what I've been researching and reading. This week I'm going to bombard my blog with pictures of the work I've been doing. Enjoy...

I'd like to start with a block party. Here are some pictures of a few of the blocks I finished. I didn't post all of them because it gets repetitive and somewhat boring. From the pictures it is hard to pull the details and nuanced differences. 

Good Conduct Ribbon with 1 star for continued Good Conduct

Again, but with two stars

...and, again with three stars

Gray scale trompe l'oeil fold (painted on all 9 blocks)

more trompe l'oeil fold picture

Lastly, I would like to finally show some progress on my treasure box. Here are pictures of the figurine hand painted and crafted from sculpey, as well as, the start of my medals and ribbons with names. The figurine is 3 inches tall.

Collective Memory

My assignment for my third research paper is a comparative analysis of two texts (my choice!). Well, I've been reading a lot of books this semester, and stewing over artists I haven't been as inspired as I was last semester.  Until now....

A few weeks ago I finished a book on memory in culture. It was a very interesting book dealing with sociological habits and behaviors revolving around the concept of collective memory. There were some vague references to art in the text, and when I finished reading it I figured I would not revisit it. Now that I have to figure out what I want my third paper to be about I have really been thinking about all the books I've been reading. I came to the realization that the book on memory in culture really is inspiring my work. One of the big directions I see a lot of art follow deals with nostalgia. Nostalgia is great in its own way, but I really don't want to talk about nostalgia. The items I am working with, ribbons of merit, don't really bring up warm fuzzy memories and make me want to tell stories that start with,  "I remember when..." So what kind of memory am I dealing with?

I'm afraid of being forgotten. Not just me being forgotten, but the great achievements of the many women I have served with, and those who served before. I went to this great conference in Washington DC a few years ago where I got to meet some women who served in World War II and Vietnam. They were amazing women who did their jobs but never really were recognized. They still held their heads high though, and you could see the shine of pride in their eyes for all the young women currently serving. It's the passing of these events into the vaporous abyss that is the past I want to prevent. I want to create something solid that commemorates this historical passage. So that's why I'm making these shadow boxes, and detailed minimalist paintings.

All the Little Details

I don't have a lot to say about my work right now. The thought process this semester has been pretty consistent for me. Now I'm just working on painting in fine detail. It is time consuming and can sometimes be very boring, but I am happy with the end product so I shall continue forward.

National Defense Ribbon with painted sides

  

First Navy Commendation Ribbon.

 I will have three National Defense Ribbon blocks, three Navy Commendation Ribbon blocks, and Three Good Conduct Ribbon Blocks when all is said and done.

The below images are the start of my shadow necklace project.

Still working out how to hang it on the wall and light it properly

All of these projects have "nametags" as part of the project, but they are on back order for about another month. Hopefully, they show up before I have to pack everything.

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.