Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Resurfacing At Last

I am returning to the blog world after a hiatus and plan to resume my posts again . Hopefully you’ve missed my creative musings and explorations.

The Catalyst for my Immersion – “Entwining Alphabets”, a new solo at Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts.

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The opening reception will be July 10, 6-8 PM. If you live in the area, I hope you will attend.

The New Work

I’ve been wanting to return to work on the Pages series. The idea behind them has been to create a series in which the letterforms gradually free themselves from pages and get to dance (or so I see in my imagination!).

Here are some of the new works I’ve completed. Others are still in progress.

_IGP8600 _IGP8601

Pages 6 diptych, 33” x 90”. Threadwork construction with dyed and printed silk letterforms.

I also completed a second set of these that are almost identical to this one but shorter.

_IGP8610 _IGP8611

Pages 8, 31” x 48”, distressed and manipulated synthetic fabric; dyed, painted and applied silk letterforms.

 _IGP8614_IGP8615

Pages 9, 31” x 48”, distress and manipulated synthetic fabric; dyed, painted and applied letterforms.

_IGP8607 _IGP8608

Pages 10, 44” x 65”, dyed, painted, screen printed silks, constructed with thread.

The Process

The creative intensity of this past six months became most apparent to me once I shipped off the boxes of new and existing work for my exhibition. I’ve felt like a quivering bow trying to hold steady as it sites its target and waits to release its arrow.

This exhibition has been a wonderful catalyst to immerse in my artistic process. I laughingly have referred to it as “My Guggenheim” and have treated the opportunity as though it were an invitation to exhibit in the finest contemporary art museum.

The immersion to actualize some of the ideas inside me has been an amazing gift. The intense creative energy, depth of ideas, exploration and growth have been heartfelt, personal and hard to explain in words (imagine that!).

Simultaneously, as I’ve focused on making new work and preparing for the exhibition this past six months, we’ve also dealt with my husband becoming ill and finally having a major surgery in mid-May. He is fine and recovering well – the two experiences in tandem have heightened my appreciation for my wonderful life and opportunities to grow and express as an artist and maker.