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White
Boys statement
Making
these portraits is a way for me to capture and harness my
emotions, to quietly pine lest I speak up and make a fool
of myself. Confident, charming, handsome, funny – each man
possesses traits I desire. But my crushes go unspoken. Ultimately
each piece functions as a precious, tangible ‘relic of my
desire’.
The simple two color interactions are dictated by the subject’s
favorite colors. I choose fabrics that remind me in some way
of the man’s personality like corduroy and wool. Each piece
is stitched with a sincere mark of intention, sewn with a
sense of love and respect. Conceptually the work is installed
salon style to project a group as well as an identifiable
visual hierarchy of my emotional connection to each person.
Infatuation dictates the size of each portrait while admiration
is indicated by the height of placement on the wall.
Each man is a trusted friend as well as an active artist in
my sphere of cultural influence. They have all inspired me,
helped shape my understanding and appreciation for contemporary
art similar to the ways in which I have been influenced by
major historical figures such as Albrecht Durer, Agnolo Bronzino,
Fairfield Porter and David Hockey.
My self-portrait is a life sized, hand stitched image on transparent
fabric designed to conduct a secondary figure of shadow on
the wall behind it during exhibition. This piece is intended
as an homage to the 1851 painting “Madame Motessier” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Madame Motessier was a well known member of French
society and an influential collector of art. Ingres considered
her one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, smitten
with her to the point that he labored over this portrait for
more than four years, no doubt to extend the amount of time
he could spend in her presence. Like the original it is based
on, this piece is 58 x 39 inches in size. For the installation
of the white boys series this piece is hung in the center
of the room with the portraits of the men flanking it on either
side. It is the largest, most articulated image hung just
slightly above all the others. The placement and posture is
intended to assert my position of power in the visual hierarchy
as the artist and admirer of my subjects. ©
2006
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Posterity statement
These
couches are a sketchbook that documents my experience of spending
time with people I admire. Over the summer of 2006 I invited
ten couples who have inspired me (such as Richard Rezac and
Julia Fish) to visit my home/studio in the Bridgeport neighborhood
of the near south side of Chicago. Most of these people are
actively involved in the Chicago arts community and all are
supporters of the arts in general. But more importantly I
invited them because they have a special chemistry together
as partners. I wanted to spend time with them to try and figure
out what that special something was. The couches were a way
for me to create a visual metaphor for how my life had intersected
with theirs as well as to sincerely make note of how honored
I was to spend time with them.
The process was simple. I took a digital photo of my
subjects and then traced where they were sitting with air-soluble
quilting markers. These markers forced me to sew the lines
immediately before they evaporated. It was a bold departure
of sorts from my previous work. This project became very collaborative
and interactive with my subjects and demanded that I learn
how to use a sewing machine for the first time. The mark making
was quick and gestural, much more fluid and less controlled
than I was used to.
In the past all of my portrait pieces and formal abstraction
work has always been meticulously hand-embroidered. Using
a machine to construct the slip covers and render the line
work was a great way to learn news ways of making. It also
taught me a new respect for people who use these tools.
The display rack of threads was provided for my subjects to
choose the color of their lines. I marked on the little tags
the names and dates when they participated. These fragments
of information in the form of the thread and the photo album
are here for you as the viewer to figure out who these people
are if you are interested. You are welcome to sit on the couches
if you so desire, perhaps to spend time with your own friends
and family in a new moment of your own making. © 2006
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Betwixt statement
The
new body of work I propose to focus on this summer is called
“Betwixt”, a series of abstract portraits of people and places
I experience which are crafted in the form of short experimental
computer animations. These little videos are constructed from
‘found objects’ like scraps of fabric and bits of sound I
collect from every day life. My source materials are captured
by audio recording commonly experienced noises such as animals,
machines and nature. The textile elements are snagged by making
digital photos of clothing people around me wear, surfaces
of furniture I come to rest on or drapes hanging in the windows
of places I visit. The process of gathering these components
creates opportunities for me to meet new people and discover
new places, hunting and gathering my sources of inspiration
outside of the safety and solitude of my studio. Conceptually
this new way of finding my materials necessitates a much more
active observation of my surroundings that engages my senses
more fully. It also fosters a desire to seek out unique aspects
of beauty wherever I am.
Computer
animation is a challenging departure from my previous hand
embroidered works of art, but also an opportunity to revisit
the craft of film editing which I fell in love with as a student
of 16mm filmmaking in undergraduate school. Although I am
just now learning computer editing software for digital media,
the process is surprisingly similar to embroidery and film.
The components of sound and video need to be ‘stitched’ together
and exude a truly tactile nature in their animated states.
In contrast to my other pieces which were planned out in advance
and realized through methodical technique - the final form
of these videos is amorphous and in many ways unknown to me
until I finish them. In this way “Betwixt” is taking me into
a familiar yet uncharted area of creative expression fueled
by experimentation and intuition. These finished animations
will be short, running between 30-120 seconds, looped and
displayed on monitors. To accompany the 4D moving pictures
I plan to make stills for each one in a variety of shapes
and sizes. These
will not be printed on paper but sewn as objects, tailored
from the tactile bits used in each vignette and visitors will
be invited to handle them during exhibition. Please see the
“Betwixt” slide image as a rough sample of this still idea.
All of this work will be inexpensive to make and exhibit.
As a compliment to the animation project I would also like
to try some ‘a la prima’ real time embroidered portraits of
the people and places I encounter on the OCAC campus. My goal
is to continue my experimentations with more quick and gestural
approaches to sketching on fabric with thread that I began
in the “Posterity” project. The making of these quicker studies
will be limited to the actual time I can sit with my subjects.
Conceptually they will be less about finding an accurate likeness
and much more about capturing a sense of being with the subject
in the surroundings.
I truly believe that this fall fiber residency would be ideal
for me to participate in at this point in my career. I will
have just completed a very successful and prolific MFA program
at SAIC in Chicago and moved to Portland, OR in August. I
am personally invested in getting to know the people and places
of Portland in order to become an active member of the community.
“Betwixt” will be a wonderful project to engage in as I begin
the next phase of my life as an emerging artist. © 2006
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Inflorescentia
statement
This
project is a color study of the painting "Vase of Flowers"
c. 1645 by the Dutch still life artist Jan Davidsz de Heem.
Made over the course of 2002-2005, these 27 pieces focus on
individual elements in the original composition such as flowers,
snails, butterflies, and pea pods. I chose this painting
primarily as an outstanding example of the work of this artist
who's work inspires me in my own studio practice. When I
viewed this painting in person at the National Gallery in
Washington, DC, I had a very intense emotional reaction. I
was sincerely awe-struck and humbled by it's beauty as well
as the technical skill it embodies. Each rendered flower
is enchanting in it's complexity, transcending the actual
physical object that inspired it. The original painting is
oil on canvas, a modest size of 27x22 inches but this smaller
work of art had a huge impact on my artistic practice. For
the last three years it has been an obsession. In the grandeur,
complexity and sheer size of this final form I hope to communicate
the importance of viewing the original painting.
As a visual narrative, this collection of flowers depicts
an impossible state of being, a dream of the fantastic that
could never exist, let alone flourish, in reality. The flowers
in the painting would never have bloomed at the same time
to create such a bouquet. The animals featured all have coded
meanings such as the butterfly often considered a iconographic
symbol of the Resurrection.
I can see many striking comparisons between 17th century Dutch
culture and contemporary American culture. Although centuries
have passed mankind is still obsessed with controlling nature,
mortality, and wealth. The artist painted this floral arrangement
(which features many tulips) after the crash of the Dutch
tulip commodities market in 1637 that devastated the economy
causing the first capitalistic depression in Amsterdam. The
artist could therefore be making a comment on the Dutch obsession
with scientific achievement and wealth. The culture’s widespread
obsession with pride and decadence inevitably led to downfall
and decay.
In my own work I strive to create hybrid art forms that merge
traditions of craft with the influences of painting, drawing,
fiber and material studies. I blend thread as another artist
would blend paint, stitch as another would make hatch marks
in a drawing. My process-based abstract designs are inspired
primarily by the work of Joseph Albers. The mesmerizing
complexity of the embroidered images as well as their arrangements
are inspired by more post-modern artists such as Fred Tomaselli.
(c) 2005
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Girl
on Guy project description
Loving
men and being a feminist is not a contradiction. Yet most
women artists today rarely express an unabashed desire for
men in their work. “Girl on Guy” presents evidence of a passionate
and sincere feminine perspective, repositioning the term feminist
as it relates to current artistic practice.
Although
women have strongly encouraged each other to express their
wants and needs over the past 40 years the longing for men
has generally been discouraged. When female artists have
produced positive, sensual depictions of male subjects in
the past they have been criticized for promoting reverse-objectification.
Over time this seems to have resulted in a repressive state
of disconnect between vital aspects of creative feminine voice
and personal desire. All portraiture inherently objectifies
the subject whether they are male or female. Continuing to
limit the interpretation of these objects negates their worth
as valuable and necessary expressions of the human condition.
Although the post-feminist climate of today has warmed somewhat
toward women who articulate adoration for the opposite sex
in their studios, they still tend to lack appropriate exhibition
opportunities for viewers to recognize the genuine nature
of their intentions. They also fear these efforts will be
dismissed as trivial or reactionary by an increasingly cynical,
market-driven art scene. “Girl on Guy” offers a constructive
platform upon which to seriously consider the merits and importance
of this work. Marci Rae McDade, Curator © 2007
Featuring: D. Denenge Akpem, Sally Alatalo, Dinae Arbus, Stephanie
Brooks, Cynthia Plaster Caster, Orly Cogan, Jane Fisher, Oriana
Fox, Pia Guerra, Julia Hechtman, Inge Hoonte, Katarzyna Kozyra,
Riva Lehrer, Heather McAdams, Dawn Reed & Carl Warnick, Melanie
Schiff, Keiler Sensenbrenner, Sylvia Sleigh, Stacia Yeapanis,
Mary Lou Zelazny and the Bruised Orange Theater Company.
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Perfect: a group exhibition curatorial
statement
Independent
National Tour 2005-2007 presented by the: Chicago Cultural
Center, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Art Museum
of the University of Memphis, Fermilab Art Gallery and the
Illinois State Museum.
The concept for Perfect began to take shape in 2001 when “Deathstar”
by Chris Uphues first appeared in Chicago, IL USA. Featuring
a lone planetary sphere covered with colonies of stars, spirals
and smiling faces, “Deathstar” was a tour de force of whimsical
obsession. Uphues brought this work to its final form through
meticulous, time-consuming modes of construction using ordinary
imagery from everyday life. Perhaps because such obvious care
and concentration had been exerted in its production, “Deathstar”
appeared precise and complete in its nature, achieving a unique
kind of perfection. This combination of elaborate process,
common materials and unexpected imagery became the prerequisite
for selecting all of the works of art in this exhibition.
Amy
Honchell, Cat Chow, Susie Brandt and Mark Murphy are enchanted
with the qualities of texture and color that they discover
in ordinary objects like rubber toys and fabric remnants.
For these artists, the physical manipulation of their chosen
materials is what fuels the creative process. Adding an unexpected
twist to the socially responsible act of recycling, Mark Murphy
uses the paper packaging from products that he buys and enjoys
as a consumer each day, such as breakfast cereal and soda
pops. Using the jigsaw puzzle motif as his template, Murphy
carefully transfers, cuts and shapes the identifying outer
layers of each cardboard box to form his abstract collages.
The final image is a field of interlocking fragments that
obscures their origins while playfully communicating a sense
of memory and desire for childhood delights.
Michael x. Ryan,Vincent Como, Teo González and Matt Irie are
captivated by the making of a mark. Whether it is made with
a pencil or a paintbrush, the repetition of this mark produces
a tactile satisfaction and allows for the development of different
artistic processes. These processes evolve over time into
physical forms of meditation, grounding each artist in a deeper
sense of self. Using plagiarism as an element of design, Matt
Irie maps out each piece with grids which he then systematically
fills with text. This text gradually loses its meaning as
the scope and complexity of Irie's patterns begin to emerge
through an orchestration of shades of black achieved by using
several different brands of ink pens.
Timothy Ripley, Ben Butler, Marci Rae McDade and Anoka Faruqee
have chosen to develop new forms of visual language to describe
various aspects of life that fascinate them. Through experimentation
with design and technique, Anoka Faruqee is able to pursue
an understanding of how the human eye perceives color. In
her diptychs, Faruqee reproduces, mark for mark, one of her
own paintings using a totally different palette. In and of
itself, this would be a feat; but the challenge is heightened
by the fact that each image she duplicates is carefully rendered
with thousands of tiny, interlocking shapes. Each pair is
an exercise in contrast and comparison. By placing bright
tones against dull ones, dark shapes within light, both pieces
are designed to present the viewer with a comparative mosaic
of color interactions.
Whatever
the individual motivations may be, it seems clear that these
objects are more than a mere product of process. Each piece
represents a sincere attempt to manifest the complexities
of a vision as well as a desire to make it perfect. Marci
Rae McDade, Curator/Organizer ©2005
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