Visiting the Fogg

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to take an elective seminar entitled, Thinking about Landscape, with Tony Apesos. Not only did I learn a ton of information about the history of landscape painting and its key figures, concepts, and technical characteristics but I also had a great time! The first session was a lecture and Tony began by discussing the appearance of landscape painting as a genre in the 17^th Century. It is interesting to note here that in my post-residency research, I discovered decorative gardens appeared during the same time. During the seminar, we discussed several of the genre’s conceptual and technical concerns that I felt had relevance to my work. Tony spoke at length about early landscapes being based on schemas, which are symbolic representations determined by laws of nature rather than observational or plein air depictions. I came to the realization that my art-making process is similar considering I create stylized symbols based on the appearance of landforms and flora. This realization resulted in a resolve to exhibit more of awareness of schematic conventions in my work.

We visited Harvard University’s Fogg Museum during the second session of the seminar. On the way we took a short tour of Harvard’s Memorial Chapel. The chapel contains memorials for students and alumni of the university who were casualties of WWI and WWII. The WWI memorial included a statue by Malvina Hoffman that I found especially powerful.

Triangle Constellation by Carlos Amorales

Once we arrived at the museum, we were greeted by Triangle Constellation a work by Carlos Amorales which is a large-scale steel mobile of triangles set against the neo-classical architecture of the museum’s lobby. We visited several galleries and discussed a number of works, but the ones that I felt the most drawn to were Leander’s Tower on the Bosporus by Sanford Gifford and Rocky Mountains “Lander’sPeak” by Albert Bierstadt. 

Rocky Mountains "Lander's Peak" by Albert Bierstadt

I am fascinated by the idea of nature as the sublime, a sense of spirituality or the transcendent in the landscape, and surreal, emotive color. Some of the concepts Tony emphasized were that landscape is more than recording optical reality; it has the power to reveal nostalgia & memory, as well as, mystical, natural, and weather processes and that a sense of searching is something that is inherent in landscape imagery. I realized that the landscapes I find myself drawn to most are ones that are transport the viewer to another place, one that is idealized and fantastic.

Leander's Tower on the Bosporus by Sanford Robinson Bishop

Leander's Tower on the Bosporus (detail) by Sanford Robinson Bishop

From A Distance

“Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can only describe it from a certain vantage point of distance.” 

–Charles Lindbergh

Now that I've had some time and distance to ruminate over the conversations, critiques and seminars of June's residency, I have determined which areas to concentrate on over the coming months.

Questions gleaned from critique feedback that will guide my research and practice this semester…

• Where am I in the work? Find a way combine personal connection with topography/patterning.

• What is ephemeral? The meaning behind concentric circles, spirals, paisley?

• Where does labor have value in everyday life? Where does the material become secondary to labor?

• What creates pattern naturally vs. man-made processes that cause stylized patterning?

• Is the work about making/constructing or material?

• How would the viewer relate to different materials?

• How does one record an ephemeral experience?

• How can painting and sand work inform one another?

• Historically women have preserved culture and traditions through their work. How can I reference this in my own work?

• What is the role of pattern? Where are pattern and ornamentation derived from?

• Why use sand? Is it specific to me?

• What is more important in the sand work media or pattern?

• What role does map making and topography have in the work? Research these topics.

July 1, 2015 - Entropy

“The future is the obsolete but in reverse.” – Vladimir Nabokov

Although in his essay, Entropy and the New Monuments, Robert Smithson discusses artists that previously felt I did not have much in common with such as Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt and Robert Morris, I’ve uncovered elements that I believe are important to my work. Specifically, the ideas of making monuments built against the ages rather than for them, where time precedes space as a conceptual concern, and exhibit a desire for the creation of surface structures.

I see my installations as a kind of monument, not to what has been or will be, but rather to an idealized version of a place I would like to exist. They simultaneously reference symbolism and schemas of the past and present while also depicting something disorienting and unfamiliar, much like the way I imagine a glimpse of the future would look to someone of the past.

I would like for my sand work to begin to emphasize the passage of time in juxtaposition to its ephemeral nature. I started the first in a series of experiments exploring different ways I can achieve this through documenting the destruction of sand paintings.

June 30, 2015

I was eager to get back home to begin some resolving issues brought up during my critiques and working out some new ideas. I made of list of multiple routes to explore in an attempt to push my work forward and will map these out in an upcoming post. A few of those issues I wanted to start addressing as soon as possible. 

• create a sand painting that could be interpreted in several ways
• document the work through a series of descriptive detail shots
• use a square format and shallow depth of field for my photographs

Up until now, I have created Sandscapes by devising a pattern based on the shapes and colors of the land forms in a particular landscape. I wanted to see what would happen if I attempted to draw comparisons by combining elements from different sources. Circular, aerial patterns made by farm irrigation, crop circles, islands, and flower blossoms were all elements that I aimed to reference.

Methods of documentation came up a lot in my crits. One of my main concerns was that the photographs were reading strictly as documentation and not able to stand alone as images. It became clear that if I want the photographs to truly be a window for the viewer into another world, I will have to work on the way space is interpreted. Photographing a series of descriptive detail shots from different points of view, using selective focus and cropping to simulate limitless space will be my first steps to achieve this. I have also decided that using square format for my photography will connect it to my painting practice. The idea that the shape itself served as an ancient symbol for the earth (Symbols and Their Meanings, Jack Tresidder) is also interesting to me.

One

This is the work and artist statement I brought to the first residency. The majority of the work was made in 2014, although a couple of the paintings were made the year before and one was completed this year. They represent three bodies of work: Mineral Pop, Below, and Sandscapes. The Mineral Pop series fuses geological surface micro-landscapes with their imagined iconography, while the Sandscapes and Below series reinterpret aerial and ground view landscapes as patterns of color and movement. 

 Artist Statement

I create work that combines qualities of natural and artificial worlds using primarily sand and acrylic as my media. My sculptures and paintings reflect an admiration of nature and humanity’s attempt to balance its role as steward of the environment with an innate desire to objectify and control it. My creative process mirrors this relationship by constructing space, both real and imagined, through the act of pouring and sculpting media. My work is unified by the thematic exploration of landscape, process, biomorphic shapes, and use of color and texture. Process is emphasized by manipulating media. In addition to the gesture of pouring mounds of sand or sculpting paint, my work requires intense preparation procedures like dyeing sand or mixing various blends with paint medium. Using colors that can be found in nature, but in vibrant hues, I reference the use of bright, isolated colors in popular culture and advertising. Texture engages the senses, indicative of a tangible connection to the work and its content. I use biomorphic shapes and forms to give life to inanimate objects implicating a connection between nature and the life it supports.

I choose natural materials for my three dimensional work. I utilize sand and rice as metaphors for the earth and humanity’s connection to it. In the context of my work, these materials also symbolize the instinctive desire to manipulate nature. My sculptural body of work borrows from a non-Western spiritual practice, creating artwork that incorporates design and performance: traditionally sand painting rituals are performed to bless and purify those present. My pieces break away from the confines of sacred geometry and imagery to additionally serve as a metaphor for human manipulation of nature by emphasizing repetitive gesture, pattern, and process.

 

 

I have been experimenting ways of photographing my sand practice so that its documentation serves also as an extension of the work. I brought a collection of these images in addition to creating a small table top sand painting in my crit space.

Installation view of crit space

Installation view of crit space

Detail of Pennsylvania Hills

The First Steps of a Journey

I am returning home from my first residency at Lesley as a vessel, filled to the brim with ideas, so I felt it was necessary to start my blog immediately to help me stay organized and keep this momentum going. I'm so grateful for my time at Lesley and all of the wonderfully insightful and creative people I encountered. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for their generosity, advice, enlightening conversation and kindness. 

On the first steps of this journey, I'm now realizing it will be over much faster than I anticipated, so I intend to savor every single moment and document as much as possible. Establishing a set of parameters for my studio practice and research seems like a good place to start. I will leave myself some flexibility to elaborate on and adjust these rules as needed.

Initially, the rules will be 2 2 2 1...

Research

• focus on 2 artists a week and post any relevant discoveries. 
• read 2 books a month and post any information gleaned from the text that is relevant to my work.

Studio Practice

• complete at least 2 paintings a week.
• at least 1 sand painting a week with a series of photographic images documenting it.

Of course I'll leave myself a little wiggle room to elaborate on and adjust these rules as needed. In the meantime, I need to get busy.