Saturday, September 20, 2014

portland chirp pomegranate



Artists committed to non-representation believe that a signature completely destroys the illusion of space... signing your work in the world of the more representational art world is still fine. It just depends on which art world you want to be part of. (Adria Arch)



That Jobs quote is particularly applicable today because TY suddenly found himself in charge, being the closest relative,  of a cousin's last wishes in spite of not having seen him for probably 10 years.  He had a heart attack in his early 50's and was declared brain dead yesterday leaving TY to find his friends, make the decisions, and plan a memorial service.  Thankfully TY is back in Boston and able to do this.  I am at the ready if needed to fly back to add my 2 cents when necessary.  I am hoping it will not be necessary.

In a happier place, here amongst the living, I was able to spend time at the studio yesterday stitching on the kantha piece.  I also tried a bit of pick-up and put-away but didn't progress very far.  I think what's holding me back is my STOOPID need to finish one piece before starting another, but we all have our rules that must be obeyed.  I am going to stop by there today to stitch  bit more, put more stuff away, and think heavy thoughts about what comes next-  hopefully spurring me on to push at it faster.  I got very discombobulated from being away, and missed several deadlines I was aiming for so hope to get back on track.

The finished set of house plans got delivered yesterday but there wasn't the change noted for the second floor plan so I called to get that revised and hope it's no big deal.  It kills me that these simple things are eluding me, probably because I have so many details on my mind wondering how it will all go together.  I want to use the stuff I have already and buy as little new furniture as possible, but that also hinges on whether we sell the current place furnished.  Meanwhile the clean out and surface clearing continues.  The garage is completely full of stuff to donate or trash, and the studio is starting to sag from the weight too.  I would LOVE to bring the stuff I have in the Newton place down rather than buy a second dining room and two bedrooms but TY likes it where it is.  I don't think he gets that I am never going to live there again!  Oh well.  But enuf of the house stuff, let's get on with the art stuff:





Starting with vintage photography and illustrations of models sporting fashions from the 1950s, Amsterdam-based artist Hinke Schreuders applies a rich layer of hand-stitched embroidery, beading, lace, and flourishes of ink to entirely new images that can be both unsettling and exuberant. The pieces seen here are part of an ongoing series called Works on Paper, started in 2008. With her work Schreuders says she seeks to “subtly confuse notions of feminine vulnerability and reinforce the position of embroidery as an artistic medium,” something I think we can all agree she has done masterfully.

















The Italian-born, British-based Mauritzio Anzeri searches out vintage portraits in flea markets and junk shops, viewing them, he says, as landscapes on which to map out his own unique geography of suggestion. Faces are criss-crossed with coloured skeins, or patterned in curves and circles until they are barely visible. Sometimes the end result resembles an elaborate mask; at other times an interior landscape made by a latterday surrealist plundering his fertile unconscious. Here, the poignancy that attends all discarded photographs – remnants of another time, another life of which we know nothing – is literally covered over.

IF you like this sort of thing I found another one but she has warnings all over her website to not grab her images-  so instead I'm sending you to see it!  Julie Cockburn  Go, you will love her work.  Julie Cockburn transforms second-hand objects and vintage photographs into meticulously constructed, psychologically charged artworks, by using a mix of embroidery and collage techniques. Cockburn scours garage sales and the internet for high school yearbook portraits, Hollywood headshots, family mementos and landscapes. The artist then methodically “embellishes, manipulates, tortures and caresses” the surface of the found photograph, adding her visual authorship to the object.



And that calls for a shot of Squirrel Underpants, available for your shopping pleasure at Archie McPhee.  And thankfully they let me steal images so you will go buy their stuff!  


1 comment :

Mary Beth Frezon said...

I'm not sure what I'm more outraged by: squirrels running around in the furry buff, or squirrels running around in their whitey-tighties... I wish I had a stiff drink to ponder this over.