From my sketchbook

Stuff is Happening

Some seek previews of art type things I'm working on. I’m working on a whole bunch of things at once so it’s slow progress on all of them. In the mean time I got on the roster for Seattle Storefronts, so I’ll be doing another storefront installation sometime this year. Also, I was accepted to a residency program in Wyoming, so this fall I get to spend a month on a ranch doing nothing but art! Stuff is happening, there’s just not a lot to show for it yet. In the meantime, here are a few mysterious glimpses into my progression.

And now for something completely different

Pre-crazy processing this photo was going to be a part of the last outfit post, but it took on a life of it's own and became something that's a little outside my usual style. As I'm trying to build towards accomplishing a long term goal, I have a tendency to plan everything I create in accordance with that goal, in other words everything I make has to bring me closer to that goal. This picture was an important reminder that sometimes you just need to create and see what happens. It may not fit in with your current style, you may not even like it in the end but it is still very significant and you need to pay attention to what it's saying to you.

In Progress

Just in case you thought I forgot I'm an artist. Here's something in progress. Can you guess what it's going to be?

From My Sketchbook

I can't get these landscapes out of my head fast enough.

From My Sketchbook

I'm interested in the way structure holds memory

A funny thing about this drawing, when I was making it I wasn't thinking about anything out right gory. I was thinking about that feeling that you've outgrown your life, that you're trying to shove yourself into a life you don't fit into anymore, that feeling of being disconnected from your body, and feeling confined by symbolic structures. It wasn't until after I showed the drawing to someone and their reaction was "Oh! That's disturbing," that I realized if viewed literally, it is kind of disturbing.

From my sketchbook

See more from my sketchbook here

Of Two Minds

This was taken in the cabin from here. Originally I had much darker intentions for this photo, but the photo itself would have none of it, so here we are.

Coming Home

 Coming Home

I was thinking about coming home as an adult. There are a lot of young adults that are moving back in with their parents after college because they can't afford to live on their own, myself included. That safety net is very comforting, knowing that there are people that will welcome you back, even when by society's standards you're failing. But, it can also be incredibly infantilizing, to be taken care of, to be surrounded by the objects and the memories of past personalities that helped you become the person you are know, but honestly you would rather forget. There's always the potential to revert, to return to the half formed person you were growing up.

I was thinking about coming in from the cold to the warm glow of home, a warm glow that can blind and overwhelm you.

Finding a Way In

Infringing Forest

Recently I had the opportunity to do an art installation in an empty store front in downtown Tacoma. If you're not from this area, you might not know that Tacoma and Seattle have a little rivalry going. Seattlites think we have the market cornered on all things urbane and cultural, while Tacoma is a simple industrial city. To put it bluntly, Seattlites can be big snobs sometimes. Some of that elitism must have worn off on me a little because I have to say I was surprised (pleasantly) by the amount of support the arts receive in Tacoma. Every time I turned a corner downtown, there was more public art to see. It was great to spend some time down there and wander around downtown and rediscover a great city.

As for the installation itself, the experience was a good one, but also stressful. Stressful because I had to squeeze it in on the weekend after working all week at my new and somewhat overwhelming job. I have to say the experience made me want to work even harder for the days when I will be able to support myself solely through my art, until then there will be a lot of squeezing things in on the weekend. When I arrived at the space, I was temporarily taken aback by how raw it was. I'm not totally sure what the space was in its past life because pretty much everything was stripped away. It was dark and dusty and I had no idea how I was going to hang my trees from ceilings that were at least 20 feet high. Even the wallboard was ripped off the walls, exposing solid concrete, which made drilling into them impossible. At that moment I was so grateful that I had a parent with me who morally supports this craziness. My mom and I were able to find a solution, but building that solution took an entire day itself. After that first day I was beset by a streak of annoying inconveniences that taken by themselves wouldn't be too bad, but altogether they set me back quite a bit. Ran out of this, couldn't find the right that, that sort of stuff. But, as you can see from the pictures, I managed to finish it and I learned so much from the experience.

The piece is entitled "Infringing Forest" and is about 11 feet high and 15 feet wide. The trees are acetone image transfers on rice paper. The figures on the ground are a person, a raven, a bear, and a chipmunk, made from clay. The sun is made from fallen leaves. If you happen to be around Tacoma and want to see my installation or are interested in seeing the other great work that is a part of Spaceworks Tacoma, comment or send me an email and I'll give the address.

Preview

An ordered environment sits in the middle of a wilderness. 

Our streets are straight and systematic, our buildings sturdy and strong, 

but even while we walk down those streets and work and live in those strong

buildings, a wilderness surrounds us and waits for us.

I hope you pause while you’re walking down the street, in between the buildings, 

and think about that wilderness just out of sight.

From a project I recently finished. More tomorrow.

New Drawings

Scape #1

Scape #2

A couple of drawings I recently finished. They are drawn in graphite on grey paper (which made them kind of hard to photograph). They are actually meant to hang next to each other as a diptych. As usual you can read more about my work here.

The Weight of too Many

The Weight of too Many

This is a small piece I recently finished. The figure is made of clay and the arms are strung together with bookbinders thread. The base is made of wood and covered in dollhouse shingles. If you would like to read a little more about this piece, and look at some of my other work, you can do it here.