Summer 2014 - Festivals, Galaxy Pink Jewelry, and New Collage Work

I took part in my first festivals this year. Milwaukee Ave. Arts Festival and Wicker Park Arts Fest.
I brought along new Galaxy Pink jewelry designs and prints of photo montages and collages. These events were different from my experience in a gallery setting.

Galaxy Pink Jewelry

The designs in the collection come with a "Space Blurb" which tells the owner of the piece the meaning behind the specific design [Because Outer Space is Amazing]. The designs without an attributed meaning are called UFOs, and they are not yet released online.

It was great getting to discuss and explain my concepts one-on-one with people, as this is the core reason behind all the art-making. I've been generating ideas relating to man vs. nature for pieces such as...

Highways and Wonderbread
Oil pastel on paper

The loud colors represent the immediacy of the subject. I believe humanity is meant to work in harmony with nature instead of against it, for the simple reason that the quality and ease of life is easier when we do. This picture represents the idealism that moved American culture away from those ideas.
ushistory.org

What it means to add jewelry making to my practice

It happened on a whim, but all the best things do. I have been experimenting with laser cutting. The image actually begins as a digital file. There are many possibilities with it because there is a sculptural element to the creation of laser cut objects, even though they start as flat images. I think that is my favorite thing about it.
It started with a series of ripped tape drawings, so basically the pieces manifested themselves as giant wood replicas of tape.

On the side, I was making little geometric gestures and imagining how many I could make with a sheet of wood. It's like rolling out a sheet of dough and breaking out the cookie cutter. Really, the possibilities are endless and you can make as many objects as you want from one image, which is great for jewelry. It is cool to see these designs that I create come to life.

Multiplicity Art Opening

Last Thursday, I went to the opening night of the exhibition Multiplicity at the Virginia MOCA. It was great to see editions of prints by artists who I primarily think of as painters. I had the chance to get a look at the works of John Cage, Barbara Kruger, John Baldessari, and David Hockney that I had never seen in person before. There were screen prints, woodcut prints, and lithographs. All I can say is, online photos don't do much justice to the impact that most artwork can have in person--in beautiful frames, and as part of a curated show. 

http://www.virginiamoca.org/exhibitions

Strangers

Motives

16"x22"x1.5"

Oil on canvas

February 2014

So much of our identities are sculpted by others' opinions. We are what we are permitted to be. We are taught what is socially acceptable in the society in which we live. Our personalities are filtered by a screen and we act how we are taught to act in public. These screens filter out what makes us different and it is so easy to lose sight of the quirks that set us apart. Commercial society constantly has us thinking about ourselves, selling products that claim to cater to our individuality. What exactly is this paradox doing to the cores of our personality? Do we actually even have personalities at all? Is it possible that we are we all merely reflections of people in our lives collaged together?

Real Glitch Painting Experiments

I'm drawn intensely to vibrant neon colors at this point and time. The instinct to combine unusual colors is very strong, [especially if there is a chance they will look horrible next to each other]. Once that is done, I proceed to find a color that will make the color combination okay again. The repetition is enjoyable, and it is satisfying to reveal a stenciled perfect line. I plan to screen print on canvas sometime soon, and then paint on that. I've been trying to think of ideas to paint, but it seems as though it's better to imagine the second step after completing the first rather than to idealize a masterpiece. That could be one reason why my recent work leans towards abstraction.

Glitch Painting Experiments

Contrasting Spectacles: Show Installation

I'm going to be installing my work at Next Door on the 9th; my work will be along one [giant!] wall and I'll be showing with Jillian Schiavi. The closing reception will be sometime in January or February. I plan to show my work in a new way with the montages I have made. The montages will be presented alongside the painting in order for the viewer to seek out ways in which the paintings deviated from the sources. The montages provide a starting point for a dialogue, and it'll be interesting to see how the conversation changes with them presented as prints in floating frames on the wall. 

Next Door on Artslant