Video – satisfying the image-maker and storyteller in me; watching/being watched

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I used to be one of those people who gave art videos a 30 second watch and then walked away. So last semester, my first at SMFA/Tufts, I decided to stretch myself. I took a video class to learn the techniques of shooting and editing video…and to try to understand conceptual video art. 

In my first videos I simulated surveillance, in particular watching and being watched. In retrospect it was a natural instinct…I was suddenly “in control” of what images I was recording and displaying. (Background: my father is an ex-reporter; I’ve been on the fringes of PR/outreach in prior jobs; I’ve witnessed how easily the truth can become muddled and how difficult it can be to report what is “real” without bias.) My subject matter was also greatly influenced by a chance meeting and subsequent clearance to a surveillance center. Meanwhile, in the studio, I was simultaneously exploring “real” in a sculptural installation.

So what is real in surveillance and the watching/watched dynamic? What is real is the complex situation we as a society are able to practice – at once a complicit participation in surveillance and, on the other hand, a consistent disregard for uncomfortable circumstances. What exactly are we looking for and why don’t we see what is right in front of us?

I’ll continue my exploration of video. It satisfies the two sides in me: the geeky, quasi- journalist and the picture maker who loves a sexy image. 

Note: Unfortunately, I don’t have clearance to show these videos yet. Here are a few stills from a three channel installation to pique your curiosity...

 

A few hours in Chicago

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Earlier this week I made a quick trip to Chicago to deliver a painting. While heavy snow built up on the ground, I shed layers of tension created during my first semester at SMFA and observed a bit about myself and my practice.


10 AM - breakfast with Olga, an “art buddy” from high school, and her son. We were the fun-loving, grounded, creative girls who crossed the boundaries of cliques but maybe didn’t know how hard it would be to be an artist in the real world. I was reminded that life is too short not to be honest, with ourselves, and with those we love. (And that a cocktail of OJ + cream + lemon makes mom nauseous and Nikko giggle.)

12 – a drive down Magnificent Miles to revist Seward Johnson’s “Forever Marilyn”. Like a car wreck, I can’t help looking at her every time I go to Chicago. My judgement: it’s still a terrible piece of public art and tourists will do anything for a photo. (But I still don’t understand why people want to pose under the vagina of a 26’ statue?!)

26' tall

12:30 – From XXL to XXS…a visit to the Thorne Miniature Rooms at Art Institute of Chicago. Take away: what you don’t see can be more intriguing than what you do see. (I’m hoping to incorporate the illusion of light from other room(s) in my next room/installation.) 

Scale: 1" to 1'
2 – Reflexology with Eric the Healing Samurai. We catch up like old friends and I think I’m not “getting” anything but a foot rub. Hours later I realize I have clarity in my thoughts and more compassion in my heart. Chakras opened? Reminder from our conversation: go for what you want; no is rarely the final answer.


4 PM – Restretching and installation of “I’m Not that Bold” at the home of new friends Katherine, Nick and their adorable two-year-old Chloe. I’m honored to have this particular painting, a transition piece for me, with them. My goal: to make my paintings look as spontaneous and carefree as a two year old's. (Chloe’s drawing is on the coffee table along with our mutual muse: Winnie the Poo! “If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”)

"I Like Your Nail Polish/ I'm Not that Bold", 2011. Oil on canvas. 58"x58"

What if Degas observed yoga studios?

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Yesterday I spent some time at the MFA Boston’s “Degas and the Nude” exhibition. Confession: for all the concept-based work I’m doing about simulation, observation and surveillance, I’m still a sucker for a well-rendered nude.
In the dim light of the exhibition I observed beautiful line, vibrant color, bawdry images (lesbian sex...consider the era!), smoky scenes of voluptuous flesh made with the simple swipe of a rag through ink, and one heck of a complex relationship with women. 
But what resonated most deeply with me was the beauty in the awkward poses of Degas' bathers and dancers. Suddenly the big-assed woman getting out of the bath, balancing precariously on one foot had as much grace and purpose as his earlier Spartan figures. And I recognized a similar desire, as an artist, to show the moment of “coming into” or “getting out” of that I explored in my hair drawing/yoga series from 2003-2007.  Now I’m not comparing my work to Degas’…never would I dare...but I read in his work a shared yearning to express the dynamism of the human figure in the complex context of our modern world.  (His being, of course, much different than mine.)  
So I ask you this: what if Degas had access not only to the brothel, but also to a yoga studio? 
Two Degas bronzes ("Dancer Holding her Right Foor in Her Right Hand" and "Dancer Looking at the Sole of her Right Foot") at MFA's "Degas and the Nude"
"Remapping #1", 2007. Human hair on paper.

Open Studios

Thanks to all who stopped by Fort Point Open Studios this past weekend and shared impressions and thoughts about my work. It's so helpful to get feedback as I wrestle with new directions in my work. 

"In a town where conversations with strangers are often flatlined" (a borrowed descriptor from a new friend), I found great fodder and inspriation.

Here's to continuing the conversation throughout the year...

 

OccupyBoston


On Saturday I stopped by OccupyBoston at Dewey Square on the Greenway to shoot some video for class. I was expecting (hoping) to get some tense cop/activist footage but alas, the cops were actually helping the protesters. A cop to the protesters, "Now if I were you, I'd stop and pivot here, around the sign post." (Did he actually say sashay?)
While it's nowhere near the size of Occupy Wall Street, I was still impressed and inspired by the sense of interconnectedness I saw among participants. People really seemed to care. They care about what's going on nationally, and they care about the local environment. There's a food tent, a medic, and people there to help. "I have the answers", read one cardboard sign. 
Good luck my friends. I'll be back for more interviews -- and your answers -- and if the editing software gods shine down on me, I'll post some videos soon on my website.

Transparent White, are you the answer?

So I think Winsor Newton Transparent White may have changed my life…or at least my oil paintings. According to www.winsornewton.com it provides the “palest white glaze”. I have four days to find out if it can also provide the color and light that comes so easily with watercolors but escapes me in oil painting. This painting and three others will be finished, cropped, stretched, and perhaps even framed in time for Fort Point Open Studios this weekend. Come see! Friday 4-7 pm and Saturday and Sunday 11 am – 6 pm at 12 Farnsworth (next to Flour Bakery).

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A 3D painting for the pioneers of 3D rendering

Tonight, my Fort Point neighbors at Neoscape are celebrating 15 years of creating breathtaking renderings, animations, interactive and design for the real estate and architecture fields. Neoscape President Rob MacLeod, and one of the pioneers in Experiential Design and Visualization, asked me to hang a few works for their celebration. He chose, “Undone”, my first experiment in cutting canvas to create a three dimensional object, for its obvious connection to Neoscape’s 3D work.

While Neoscape’s work is just plain cool and slick and mine is purposefully messy, there’s a similarity in the works…both are storytelling and an invitation to the viewer to imagine things that aren’t yet there.

Happy birthday Neoscape! 

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