October work in progress

Suburban truisms re-categorized:

      An earlier version printed on a t-shirt and tote bag. This needs work. I am cosidering other domestic objects to print on as well as printing individual truisms on tags attached to domestic objects.

        There are 16 different security companies with signs posted throughout my neighborhood. I am working on a photo-montage of these signs as well as locks and gated areas, that I want to print on  fabric.

          

24 more squares needed to complete the 60 days project.

     I am focusing on the use of text in my work combining words or phrases from signage or words that are significant to me.  I have revised and condensed my artist statement making it more specific:

I make art about suburban idealism. The dream of suburban bliss is a ubiquitous American value. As a white, middle class, middle-aged female I confront this dream by looking at the paradoxes I observe in my suburban environment. This includes the violence hidden in peaceful neighborhoods, and the fear of “other” that leads to isolation. I also examine my own lost innocence—my belief that the world is a safe place and there is justice for all.

In this exploration I am examining and critiqueing my relationship to popular culture, the art world, and middle-class values.

Revised Suburban Truisms

Work in progress September 2014

      I have been experimenting with a variety of projects since July. My strategy this semester is to make lots of work from an intuitive place without over-analyzing the formal elements or the meaning.

     This project involves  bodies made out of newspaper and masking tape and covered with plaster cloth. I plan to make 60 of them Eventually they will be painted, inscribed, stacked or strung together.

     This is a new iteration of the silhouettes I was working on last year. I haven't finalized what will go inside the cut out bubbles yet, but I like the black fabric with text.

Here's a detail:

Starting September first I am making one embroidered square per day for 60 days. The squares will be assembled into one quilt-like piece. I stitch thoughts or images that  occur to me each day.

I have been saving newspaper pictures from the Los Angeles Times newspaper since last year. I will stitch them randomly on long strips of fabric and display them in some kind of  scroll-like fashion. 

     

Last year I was experimenting with questions that have evolved into statements. This is my version of Jenny Holzer's Truisms: 

     After delving into Hans Haacke and institutional critique, I couldn't resist a little cynicsm of my own:

    

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.