Engaged

Engaging with space it is what art does. How much or how little? Art can wear the mask of normal household objects, but must still have the ability to transform the space, or the person's way of interacting with the space. These are issues I have been tossing around when thinking about installing my work May 7th,

I am asking people to witness stories for themselves, to be confronted with faces that look out them, waiting to be seen.

Working through three different ways of display for the Ancestor/Ancestry project has led me to a long, wall mounted shelf with profiles sitting on the shelf, all of then individualized in some way. I have attached fabrics, paint and other materials to these profiles in order to give them a personality.

Three other shelves will be wall mounted and hold plain wooden profiles.

The mirrored pieces will be hung around a square "room" so the viewer is confronted with multiple reflections.

Part One Done

New York City

After a soggy day in NYC I have some advice/reflections on my experience. First and foremost, never go to the MoMA on a Saturday when the entire country of France is on vacation. Second, always wear proper footwear. Now onto the art: I saw a lot of great work today, some that I knew about and some that is brand new. The most exciting works at the MoMA included Louise Nevelson's "Sky Cathedral", a watercolor scroll by Huang Yong Ping, and a work by Cildro Miladres (sp?) which consisted of multiple hay bales stacked to form one giant hay bale, surrounded by gold thread and a golden needle. The piece commanded the room (which contained a lot of other things).

Other highlights included Robert Motherwell's "Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive, Mark Rothko's "No. 3/No. 13" and some pointy paper spikes by Felix Gonzalez-Torres.

A guilty pleasure -Was thrilled to see Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World".

Once I've seen a Pollock, I've seen them all. The same goes for most abstract expressionism.

The most exciting show in Chelsea was David Altmejd. His works were amazing constructions inside enormous clear acrylic boxes. The grotesque work he did in the past didn't compare to the fragile beauty of the worlds he created. These works were constructed environments that continually distorted my perceptions of what was inside and outside the main frame.

4 down, 21 to go!

working to tie up loose ends

Cabinet raising on Saturday night

staining on a Friday night

Cabinet Building

Tomorrow I am getting the wood for my library shelf to place the faces onto. The shelf will be about 5 1/2 feet high by three 3 1/2 feet wide, with moulding on the top and bottom. It will be stained a deep mahogany. The glass cutting has been postponed a few times because I broke the first mirror and then the glass studio had a workshop so I had to reschedule. It is a good thing though, because I have been thinking about sandblasting instead. The reason for this is because when I cut out the first test piece, there were little chips around the outside of the profile. The surface was only noticeable up close, but not as smooth looking as I hoped.

cuttin' glass

I have located a glass cutting saw and I will be cutting out 20-25 Ancestors this Sunday.