DoA: II

For now, I define art as something that is artificial. If done well, it can stand the test of time to illuminate the past, present, and future. Although it is not necessarily an object, documentation does currently play a key role in posterity and communication.  It exists first in the mind of the artist then in the mind of the viewer. 

What I enjoy about art is that when I experience a piece of art, it stays with me and is later manifested consciously or unconsciously in what I make or in my daily life. Art has become both filter and a large set of ideas that I can apply to my everyday navigation of life.

OPERATION: DEFINITION OF ART

I'm starting a project. Let's call it: OPERATION: DoA.  I don't know where it will go or how it will resolve itself but I will use this blog as the platform/medium.  I am going to document how I define art.  Personally, I am fickle and my connotations of things change by the hour (soon to be by the minute).  So, I am going to periodically record my definition of art.  I hypothesize that it will change, evolve, and not end up where I began.  Also, I hope it also reveals that my mindset is expanding and loosening in my conception of what it art. 

So, I shall start simply:

Art is something that is teased into being.  It is artificial or utilizes artificial means to illuminate "that which" (- insert topic here) strikes the artist's fancy.  It is not limited to an object that one can behold.

That is all for today's DoA. Perhaps one day my DoA will be 10 pages long. Perhaps one day it will be one word.  Ultimately, it has to come from digesting lots of varied sources- first person and secondary.  It is not an excerpt from any source.  It must be in my words. 

CATCH UP

Dear Blog, 

So, alot has transpired since my last visit. I apologize for my lack of dedicated blogging. It's a conundrum: the more I post/blog, the more connected I feel to others; at the same time the more I blog, the less time I've spent in the studio. The more connected I am to the internet, the less time I've spent painting; the less time spent painting the less I have to show of myself, my ideas, my ideals, and everything that's been handed to me. I admit, I'm a bit jealous of those that have integrated this practice into their lives but I probably never will. 

Anyway, quickly, here is everything that's gone down since June:

JULY (in KCMO):

 

Had solo show that opened first Friday in June at the Arts Incubator- thanks to Jen and Chris Bohatyritz!! 

Participated in Kemper Museum's Artist Lecture Series -  gave presentation of work

Work featured in KCPT (local PBS) series "Uniquely Kansas City" 

Birthday: Turned 25! Room 39 with the Brown's; Matt threw a great "surprise" party!

Travel: LA 

visited Kate and Patrick (thanks for letting me stay with you!)

hit up The Pacific Ocean, LACMA, ACME gallery, Happy Lion, hiking in Will Rogers State Park, Pinkberry, etc.

Highlight: Monique van Genderen, Monica Pietro, and last but not least Allison Miller. 

Questionable celeb siting: Dennis Quaid on horseback at Rogers Park 

*shout-out John Staddler! What a pleasant surprise you were! :)

Travel: NYC 

visited Jamie & Steven (thanks guys!) 

Experienced: Central Park to the full extent (gorgeous!!!!), Mr. Softee, MoMA, Chelsea, LES Greene's new locale opening (Congrats Nathan!), bit of shopping, a bit of catching up with the Ringling peeps in Williamsburg, a little bit too much "frat boy special" with the ladies and Mauro, a little bit of sleeping at Marcie's and re-connecting with the kitties.

Celeb siting: John Turturro on the 6

AUGUST: 

Work featured in New American Paintings

Sprinkle in some studio visits before I moved; start work on website

Matt and I receive grant to repair exterior of our historical home in KCMO; work is completed; house looks amazing; neighbors are jealous. Matt's brother moved into the third floor "loft."

SEPTEMBER:

moved to Chicago!!! 

You can find me on the south side (Obama-ville) making my home in Hyde Park. Chicago has been so good to me! Great apartment, even better studio space, beautiful campus, amazing faculty... I've retired the car and taken to biking. This is only the second week of classes and my brain is already full speed ahead. Matt is finally here! He's trying to find his niche among the plethora of med programs. He's just looking forward starting residency next year (and lasting 4-6 years).  

 Whew! I'm parked here for the near future and I promise I'll blog more.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for my work in The Benefactor. It's an art magazine and the issue will come out Dec/Jan 09. 

ttyl

The Big D

Matt and I are on our way to Dallas- Love Field. I 'love' the name of that airport! This will be our first trip, er... VACATION... since our honeymoon 7 months ago. It's Matt's first break since then! Wow. We've been workin' it hard. Over the last week, in-between work and work and other stuff, we refinished the floors on the third floor of our house. It is safe to say, that is some back breaking work!! Good lord, I really underestimated that project. I tried to stay out of the house all day so Matt and Andy could just, um, get it all done without me! We had a great time at the artist talk at my show at the Arts Incubator. Then I de-installed my work at Paragraph and hauled the work across town to EG Schempf to get the slides done. I chatted with him and Lilly, had a beer and chatted about the kcmo art scene. He has fantastic, lifelong, insight on the subject. I prolonged this meeting in hopes the sanding would be done when I got home. No dice. I returned and helped sand the second and third finest grades of sandpaper. Then we feverishly stained until unthinkable happened - we spilled can of stain. No biggie, you can't even tell. Whew! Hope Andy is here to enjoy it but we'll see... Calli is calling him.

The Painting That Crashed and Burned

Okay, so apparently, not every painting is a smashing success. Today I wanted to feature my first photo on the blog to elaborate on how I suffocated this painting. Embarrassing, I know, but getting this out in the open can only make it better! So, for some reason I wanted to throw every trick in my bag into this piece. That was my first bad move. Previous to this one, I had been working on several pieces that required lots of restraint. By restraint I mean making more conscious, tough decisions and stopping to look, think, and examine before I make another mark. And to err on the side of not making an unnecessary mark rather than adding masses of them. But not in this particular painting. Argh!!  If you can imagine- this pic is not the most recent stage- it actually got busier.  Yes, it's horribly true. From this I have learned that I cannot fix everything. And, more importantly, I cannot approach a painting with a desire to just be brash and showy for personal catharsis without content motive. It left me without a way to navigate. Sometimes paintings crash and burn- but we painters don't want to disclose this. One of my undergrad instructors encouraged us to make seemingly tons of work, "because only 30% of the works are the really, really good pieces." Some things just have to fail in order to move me in the right direction.  

It's funny how this failure in painting illuminated the relationship category of my life. My husband makes a visit to the studio, takes one look at this garish painting and says, "just start a new one."  With an air of, what's the big deal? He single-handedly helps me take myself waaay less seriously. Yes, his read was simple and  straightforward but that is why I love his presence. I take what I do so seriously, sometimes letting go of an unsuccessful piece is terrifying. I think, there is no logical way I can start and complete another work by the deadline. And I am wrong. My art does not really function on a logical level- it is measured by how much furious effort and intent I pour into it. Rarely am I not rewarded for taking an illogical risk. 

I hope that I never take him for granted. 

For Like Sure

I'm not interested in being definitive. I'm not interested in attaining anything remotely close to perfection. But I am interested in peeling back all the layers to get to the core of my work. I believe I knew what the core was back in 2006. However, many evolutions since then, I can't put my finger on it. I just follow this instinct. I know what I need and then I make it. I am always surprised as to what comes out. I constantly thwart any concrete references to anything understandable and distilled.

I wonder if that core instinct is instinct itself? How I and many others navigate our daily lives is far removed from any kind of natural existence. It is built upon many givens that can be taken away if one block is pulled out of place. My life right now is not about immersion or slowly becoming aware. It's about hustling- in more than one meaning. At every moment in the back of my mind I think about taking life at a pace I dictate. That sparkling possibility looms in front of me starting in September and I wonder if I will be able to accept this. I had a conversation with a 1st year when I visited U of C about just that. It is so easy to stack duties in front of you that add up to instant gratification but thwart ultimate goals. What will I do with myself when the opportunity to focus is in front of me? Will I be prepared to accept that? How does one go about reversing their habits of survival of go, go, go and being acclimating to their own true inner pace?

Houndstooth

Okay, so I've been avoiding blogging. Apparently there are expectations I have of my "live" writing abilities. These expectations can really be debilitating. And so, I'll move swiftly on. I am currently moving into my new studio digs. I am finding how much I enjoy a blank space to work in. My knee-jerk reaction was to move-in as much of my stuff in as possible. Now I realize I would rather have a blank contemplative space to work. More junk surrounding me, the more jumbled thoughts I have- more organization, more clarity. And I don't like chatchky or bric-a-brac... I really admire it in your home, I just don't want it around me. Who knew, even as an artist, I had a stereotype in my mind. Not all artists are funky-dory.

I don't believe that "everything has been done before." I just don't. I do believe that the forces that be (mass media and such) don't illuminate things that are new and different, that cross boundaries and re-examine history. This structure of influence and exposure makes it necessary to turn over rocks on the Internet and follow breadcrumbs of influences in order to find the really heady stuff. It's there. Though it might be thinly veiled and require some effort to access. "Original thought" is also a myth. No one has a thought that isn't built upon one or one-hundred thoughts of others before them. Those thoughts just come in different packages- be it a loaf of bread, a man-hole cover, a poster, a wrapper, a building structure, music, religion, theory, etc. And I am proud to absorb everything around me in order to make "new" work. Just give it props! Do people genuinely believe they came up with something completely on their own?

http://http://www.turtlezen.com/originalthoughts.html

http://www.originalthoughtmag.com/mag/

http://www.philogos.org/original.html