August Work in Progress

     
 I'm continuing to work on the three-dimensional figures, covering them with plaster cloth. Then they will be painted, inscribed or manipulated in different ways. I'm planning to make as many as I can.

I'm also playing with these collected strips of torn fabric:

Some other ideas I am playing around with are: a life-sized dimensional body made out of silk organza, kind of like a doll with no stuffing. Also a list of personal "truisms": "Don't apologize for being happy", Each day you are living you are also dying", "Having is not the same as owning", "Being idealistic is not a crime". I'm sure I will come up with more.

July Experiments

Experimental drawings

Trying a new approach with dimensional figures

Critique Space at June 2014 Residency

     The lighting and the surfaces are always a challenge when hanging your work at the Newbury Building in Boston. I was glad to have a grey background since my work in white disappears into a white wall.

     I wish I had access to an iron to flatten out the layered pieces. However, the air movement from the fans in the room did give them an active quality.

     Here are two images of the completed collaborative project that I coordinated for our group. Each member was paired with another member. Each created a small piece of art responding to this quotation by Stephen Nachmanovitch:  “The noun of self becomes a verb. This flashpoint of creation in the present moment is where work and play merge”.  The art was sent to their partner to respond to, then sent to me to compile. A red thread wove the pieces together by wrapping around the mounting pins.


 

May and June work

                                             Gross Domestic Product #3

                                             Gross Domestic Product #4

                                                    Corporations Are People


     The apron project (Gross Domestic Product) is an attempt  to present my ideas about American culture as this divided, schizophrenic structure where beliefs about American identity don't match the evidence. The transparent fabric reflects on the idea of something veiled but not  really hidden. The apron has domestic associations and the sheer  fabric suggests a sexual component. I am drawing attention to the disconnect between the image of domestic bliss and the underlying violence in American homes.

     Corporations Are People is a series of "voodoo dolls" that represent corporations. The piece reflects upon my anger about corporate greed and its negative influence on American society.

New work April 10, 2014

   

                                                         Gross Domestic Product #1

Gross Domestic Product #2

Completed Work April, 2014

Two layered and stitched textile pieces:

Female, 41 x 17"

Male, 41 x 17"

A three-dimensional fused fabric piece:

T

Layers of Self, 20 x 11 x 11"

Exhibition: "Labor-Migrant-Gulf" at Southwestern College, Chula Vista, CA

Three of my small framed pieces from last semester were included in this exhibition curated by my semester two mentor, Doris Bittar.

"Labor Migrant Gulf" explores migrant workers struggles throughout the world with pointed emphasis on workers from Central and Southeast Asia who work in the Arabian/Persian Gulf, Mexican workers on the US-Mexican border, and California’s migrant history. The exhibit at Southwestern College in Southern California joins artists from around the world to bring awareness to the human struggles of the world’s poorest laborers. A sub-theme is the artist’s identification with migrant laborers. Perhaps the artist may be one or two rung above the world’s poorest labor pools. "Labor Migrant Gulf" at Southwestern College will be organized in two parts: One part is a traditional group exhibit of about a dozen artists. The other part is collective wall of pieces made up of art from about 50 artists to form the shape of large boteh or paisley designs. The boteh/paisley is a significant ornamental design that has religious, historical, colonial, counter culture, and labor meaning and inferences. With the boteh/paisley designs we honor Asian migrants that precipitated and inspired this art exhibit. 
Doris Bittar, curator for Labor Migrant Gulf

                                      Eleanor Antin giving a reading at one of the exhibtion events

These are the two "botehs" or paisleys comprised of the work of many different artists. You can see three of my small framed pieces if you look closely.