Mother Tongue

Many hands came together to help make the installation and opening reception for Mother Tongue a success. The show will be on view at Gallery Seescape--a truly a special gem of a place in Chiang Mai--until December 8th.

A big thank you to everyone at Seescape and to all those who made it to the opening. Special thanks to Becky Weldon, Neung Nukul, Harry Kevitz, Philip Jablon, and of course, the endlessly supportive, and many time hero, Anthony Irwin.

Below are a few photos from the installation as well as (most of) the final work.

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Dragon Fruit, mirrored plexi-glass, 2014

Cloud Forms, mixed media, 2014

Pow, Kapow, plexi-glass, silver leaf, gold leaf, 2014

Reveal, watercolor, gouache, ink on paper, 2014

Knot, watercolor, gouache, ink on paper, 2014

Lift, watercolor, gouache, ink on paper, 2014

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And, below are some photos of the opening provided by Gallery Seescape. You can see more here.

City Life, a monthly news, art and culture magazine based in Chiang Mai, came and took some photos of the opening as well. Take a look at here to see!

SCRIPTopia Opening Reception

Below is a selection of photos--generously taken and provided by the Dorsky Gallery--of the opening reception for SCRIPTopia. The show looks great and it was a wonderful experience to work with everyone at the Dorsky, the curators, Jamie Bennett and Anat Shiftan, as well as the three other artists, Martin Anderson, Patti Nelson, and Patrick Paine.

The exhibition will up until August 22nd so there is still plenty of time to see the work in person!

Happy looking and process photos to come soon!

Coming Soon

I know it has been a while since I have posted any news or updates but I really have been working steadily on a few projects in the studio. (It's just, you know I am all shy about showing photos while things are still in progress. Okay, you are right, I will try to work on remedying that.)

Two of these pieces will be included in the group exhibition, SCRIPTopia, opening on Sunday, July 20th, at the Dorsky Gallery in Long Island City, NY. 

Here is a little more information about the exhibition:

“SCRIPTopia”, an exhibition organized by The State University of New York at New Paltz’s Art Department (www.newpaltz.edu/fpa), and curated by New Paltz professors Anat Shiftan and Jamie Bennett will open at Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs (www.dorsky.org) in Long Island City, N.Y. with a reception on Sunday, July 20th from 3-5 p.m., and a gallery talk at 4 p.m. The exhibition will remain on view through August 22nd. “SCRIPTopia” showcases the work of four New Paltz alumni artists, each of whose work address the intersection of contemporary craft and contemporary art.  The artists of “SCRIPTopia” explore both the inherent desire to, and the ways in which we manipulate our world.

I am making the trip from Thailand to be there for the opening (and for visiting). So all of you NYC and northeast friends please come! No excuses like it's on a Sunday and it's in Queens and the G train is so slow, etc., etc. Of course, if you can't make it I will forgive you but check back here for photos.
Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces!

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And... here are a two photos to give you an idea of what I will be showing (and hauling with me overseas):

More process images to come and, of course, exhibition and opening photos.

See you soon!

At Your Service Review

I meant to post this a few weeks ago but you know me, always a little late to the game. Click here to go to the article on the Seattle Times website. 

Either way, take a read!

Still At Your Service

In early February Niki Johnson (my curatorial collaborator), and I both flew to Seattle and settled into a busy week. After months of working together via email and Skype (with Niki in Milwaukee and me first in New York and then in Thailand), it was a welcome change to spend time together in real life--instead of virtual internet space. Despite a few hiccups, which included an unfortunate couple of days being really sick (I blame all that airplane air), and a few broken plates, all went well and we are extremely proud of the exhibition. Plus, we also met some super great people and connected with friends we hadn't seen in awhile. So, um, yes, I would say that we had a pretty great time.

* * * * * 

We had scheduled two days to install the exhibition and spent the rest of our week in the Northwest promoting and giving presentations about the show. We first made our way south to Portland, Oregon to give a presentation about AYS at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. While there we met with Dylan Beck, who heads the ceramics program, and his lovely crew of ceramics students. Then I headed solo to The University of Oregon at Eugene where I met with the BFA Metals students and presented on my work in the evening. The day was wonderfully inspiring and I am grateful that I was able to spend some time with both Lyndsay Rice, who is currently running the Metals Department, and Anya Kivarkis, who heads the program at U of O, but is on sabbatical.

... And then we drove back up to Bellevue for a docent tour Friday afternoon, and a curator talk on Saturday. One of the artists in the exhibition, Giselle Hicks, was able to make it out to Bellevue to join us on Saturday and present on her work. It was so great to get to know Giselle and to finally put a face and personality to her artwork.

* * * * *

When Niki and I first showed At Your Service back in 2012, we knew from the beginning that we wanted the exhibition to grow. There was just too much wonderful work out there that we kept seeing and that we wanted to include. So when the Bellevue Art Museum responded with interest in At Your Service we were thrilled. The larger space and longer timeframe made it possible for us to reach out to a wider group of artists. We were able to maintain the original group of six but also include the work of four additional artists.

The final line up includes Ariel Brice, Gesine Hackenberg, Molly Hatch, Giselle Hicks, Garth Johnson, Sue Johnson, Emily Loehle, Caroline Slotte and of course myself and Niki.

At Your Service will be on view at the Bellevue Art Museum through September 21st.

Take a look at the updated At Your Service website to see images of the work in the show and to read about the artists.

Here are some snapshots of the final layout at BAM. Unfortunately all I had was the camera on my phone, which was not too happy with the lighting conditions. We are planning to have the exhibition professionally documented before it comes down so I will be sure to post new images.

And now we are in the process of coordinating with the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft to bring AYS there in 2015. We are really happy to see the exhibition continue to travel and excited to watch it further evolve a new space.

And here we are nearly four months later...

... Where after being sucked into a black hole time warp, I have returned to earth. Okay, that's not really what happened. 

Apparently moving to the other side of the world is full of a lot of settling in. I arrived in Chiang Rai this past November and Anthony and I got right into getting our new home in order. We have had a steady stream of friends and family to host which has been a wonderful way to see the country and begin to feel grounded. There is nothing scarier yet more eye opening than leaving everything you know to live somewhere foreign. But I am loving it.

As timing would have it, about two and half months after arriving, I had to make plans to return to the states. But just for a visit. And for a really wonderful one at that. Earlier this month I was in the Northwest where Niki Johnson and I installed the most recent iteration of At Your Service at the Bellevue Art Museum, just outside of Seattle. 

So, I am going to make this a double post to break up the last four months. First, a really brief look into some of the amazing things that are feeding me excitement and inspiration. And then a little about my new studio set up and new piece. 

    

I have been eating up, no devouring, the colors, sights, weather, wonderful people and landscape of my new home. Patterns everywhere, shiny mosaics and ornament like you would not believe.  Though I have been taking a break from the old blog and studio/art making, I have been taking a lot of photos and really just enjoying being immersed in it all.

• • • • •

But work must prevail. I wanted, and had been planning, to make a new piece for At Your Service. Light and Shadow, Part One, was included in the original exhibition but needed a real makeover in the installation method. It was clunky and complicated and needed streamlining. I also wanted to expand on this series, which I plan to continue working on in the future.

It also seemed a good opportunity to jump headfirst and settle into my new studio here in Chiang Rai. Making artwork has always been what truly roots me to a place. Making Light and Shadow, Part Two was no exception. Getting my hands dirty (and my arms sore from sawing and sanding) is what makes me feel like I am at home. Navigating a new city to find materials is not only exciting but it is orienting. And working in my studio all day long for two weeks was absolutely the best. 

Just getting started here and going for it.
Testing out cutting the plastic plates and pouring resin to flatten out the backs (for hanging).

All the pieces cut and laid out.
I wanted to make sure that everything lined up and that I was not missing any parts.  

The back of each piece piece had a piece of resin which created a flat pad.
I planned to epoxy a piece of steel the resin to these pads so that all the pieces would be magnetic.
This way there would be a bit more room for error during installation

Then I gold leafed all the pieces and sprayed them with about five coats of acrylic gloss.

And then I finalized the template that I would use to line up where the magnets would go on the wall. I packed it all up in tissue paper and padding so that I could bring it on the plane with me. With no wall to do test hang on (and yeah, not really enough time either), I just had to trust that my system would work during install (okay, okay, I did do some small individual tests). Though I felt pretty darn confident that it would all work just fine, there was that little bit of anxiety that would't go away until it was actually up in the gallery.

My strange package that I hauled from one side of the world to the other
--much to the airline's chagrin I should add.

• • • • •

So stay tuned for the next post: At Your Service, Round Two! There will be photos of the exhibition install and the final layout and all kinds of riveting stories. But... here is a sneak preview of the completed piece as it looks in the exhibition.