What is your medium? Fabric, yarn, paper, pencil, ink, film/video, sound.
Why do you work in that medium? There are many reasons for many different mediums.
I suppose I’m drawn to fiber arts because they were a part of my upbringing.
Knitting, especially, is something I associate with family. As far as I know, it is a skill that has been passed down through several generations in my family - which isn’t as special as it sounds! I really hope that last sentence didn’t give you the impression that I am trying to sound special or unique. I’m not. It’s just how those things go.
My mom owns a small weaving studio, of which I take full advantage whenever I am home (“home” for me is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania). She recently taught me how to weave, which I find exciting. At this point I am really only a novice, but the many intricate processes involved with weaving interest me.
I taught myself how to sew when I was little - by making clothes for my Barbies, etc. Since then I’ve learned to create my own sewing patterns for fiber sculpture pieces. I still only sew by hand, however. Maybe one day I’ll invest in a machine.
I enjoy knitting (and crochet, to some extant) because through these processes one can literally make any 3-dimensional plane. There isn’t a shape that can’t be represented through knitting, even when it comes down to theoretical geometry. This idea fascinates me. As a medium, it is both infinitely limitless and restricted.
I have made my own paper in the past, and would use it as a drawing surface from time to time. Back then I was looking at early feminist artists such as Eva Hesse and Louis Bourgeois (even though neither of these women ever labeled herself as a “feminist” artist). My work started to become more sculptural then, but always was in some way married to the wall. I fell into a feminist slump for a while. I feel like this happens a lot with female, fiber artists. When I look back on the work I made during that period I am not as proud of it, but it was a necessary step forward for me. It led me to an interest in the work of Yayoi Kusama, which led me to discover more performance and installation artists whom I admire. In hindsight, the work was more in dialogue with the past than with the present– it was a means for me to understand the history of the mediums in which I choose to work. Currently, I feel like my work is more involved with the present and is far less personal. These are good things.
Most recently, I’ve made some large-scale drawings in ink and pencil. A common thread (no pun intended) running through my work is that it is largely concerned with the idea of drawing, and testing the limits of this concept. Strictly speaking, I don’t draw. I trace, and then I trace what I’ve traced. Somewhere along these lines, a drawing is created.
Finally, I’ve dabbled in film/video and sound. I don’t have a lot of the equipment required to continue making this kind of work, but I love making it when opportunities present themselves. Sometimes it’s just the most obvious route, when the concept is specific/strong enough. In the past I have projected my work onto fiber surfaces (handmade paper, fabric, etc.). Finally sound, as a property, intrigues me – particularly when it comes to sound editing. I’ve found that I understand very little about the properties of sound and the processes of sound editing, but the theories behind it blow my tiny mind away.
Do you have any special devices or tools that are unique to your creative process? Yes! I love my tools. I google image searched a few of my favorites:
What is your art about? Wow, we’re really cutting to the chase here. Most recently my art has been about our shared experiences shaped by consumerist culture. There is still a lot to be said here, and I can see myself continuing to explore this concept over of the course of this semester… but there is room to expand, I think. Perhaps I could modify it so that it was more specific to “artists” – how are artist’s experiences shared and influenced by consumerist culture? This might have something to do with the tools we use. The one artist’s tool I use the most is one I forgot to picture above, and that is my little red shopping cart. I feel like I could make a whole body of work about this cart. We’ve been through a lot together. Or I could expand it to “tools artists use,” as in artists I know personally. But for now I am enjoying the specificity of the little red cart… It looks something like this:
What are your art historical references? I feel like I might have discussed this a bit in one of the above paragraphs, but to reiterate, some are Eva Hesse, Louis Bourgeois, and Yayoi Kusama. I am also interested in any human attempt to classify/catalog organic matter or human experience, so paintings from the French Enlightenment era amuse me.
What contemporary artists are you looking at? Mostly, the work of a few close friends. But here are a few more famous folks: Chris Johanson,
http://chrisjohanson.com/ Guy Ben Ner,
http://m--a--p.net/4.htmlHarmony Korine,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-IGcCfLdAoTim Hawkinson,
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/hawkinson/Margaret Kilgallen,
http://www.google.com/images?q=margaret+kilgallen&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=vi&biw=1152&bih=531Sol LeWitt,
http://www.massmoca.org/lewitt/Marcel Dzama,
http://www.richardhellergallery.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=3Takashi Murakami,
http://www.takashimurakami.com/Rachel Whiteread.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/rachel-whiteread-ive-done-the-same-thing-over-and-over-2068718.htmlWhat else influences your work? (i.e. philosophies, beliefs, music, ideas, stories, locations, maps, etc.) All of the above.
Where do you look for artists and influences? books, blogs, tumbler, internet, google, other, or all of the above that you are looking at.
Be specific Share with us the books, blogs, tumbler, internet, google, other, or all of the above that you are looking at. Google is great. Also, libraries. Art:21 is a great resource. There are so many art documentaries on Netflix’ instant watch. I love the “Vitamin” art books, especially D (drawing) and 3-D (sculpture and installation). Also, visiting museums/galleries.
What are you proposing to do this semester? Well, since I’ve been writing I’ve been dancing with the idea of doing work about my little red shopping cart. I can see myself making some more drawings. I like drawing, because it’s easy to walk away from drawings (at least for me). At this point in my life, I need something I can walk away from and trust that it will still be standing when I return. In other words, student teaching keeps me busy. Another topic that I feel relates to “shared experiences around consumerist culture” is the fact that Hi-Lo foods in Jamaica Plain is soon to become a Wholefoods. I went there today with my roommates to stock up on frijoles and jaritos and took some pics of the sad, empty shelves. Also, I was reading an article on Boston.com and in the “comments” section, someone had posted this:
“I live here and I am happy Whole Foods is coming. Why people need help finding jobs is beyond me.......everyone needs help finding jobs, you don't enable people to find jobs they have to get up off their butts and do it. As for the "amazing diversity" argument, I've had 7 people shot here in 4 months. 2 of them are dead and mostly excuse me completely it is hoody gang bangers. Is that my responsibility? Absolutely not, I can't force anyone to do anything and why should I? Not my problem, not my culture. If you don't want to matriculate why should i care. I don't. On the other hand I am not responsible for your wellbeing either, if you want to behave and act normal rather then all this machismo garbage that struts around here which is completely an import your more then welcome to, I don't have to like it. Most people achieve in this country with patience and humility, if that's not your MO your in the wrong place.”
So, I thought that was weird. Hmmm…
