Art Show Photos

Remembering

Photo by Chuck Hanson

In Search of Catharsis

Photos by Jonathan HoldenRip, Stitch, Mend

Photos by Jonathan Holden

The Last of Summer’s Rain

Written August 7, 2010

My mind cannot help but wander
As I gaze across the barren desert
There in the distance
Blooming on the eternal horizon
A single cloud

Upon embrace
I realize how I have missed you
A silent piece of my world
There all along
Between the shifting shadows
And curtains of chiffon

In the heat of a summer’s day
I felt the swift rush
Of an evening storm
Through the tips of your fingers
My heart longed to be held captive
By your pouring rain

In that moment I felt electricity
Lightening grazing the earth
Illuminating the sky
And making my veins pulse with life
Still echoing in the canyons of my mind
As the sun peeks over the bluffs

Autumn Fire

My latest in progress project

Autumn sun and winter moon

The trees ablaze

The air alive
As I burn fabric on the back porch

I am working on 4 wooden frames, hinged together like an accordion book. The frames were once covered in old, off-white paint and sticky gunk. I cleaned, sanded, cleaned again, adjusted screws, and re-painted the wood. From these frames hang sheer, layered, polyester fabric ranging from black and gray to white. This fabric burns beautifully! The light gray fabric was somewhat difficult to find. I bought the remaining 3 1/2 yards from Denver fabric online. When my order finally arrived in the mail, I felt like I had the last pieces of gray sheer in world!

The burning stage of this process (hence the mask) has started. I am trying not to get carried away by torching the whole thing so I have been taking this project a little slower. After the holes finished, areas will be stitched and mended. We shall see where this piece of string ends!

Indigo!

I am currently having a love affair with indigo dye! A few friends and I dyed with indigo for the first time today. I prepped the dye vat yesterday with a few simple ingredients and instructions from Dharma Trading. Using the pre-reduced indigo crystals was far less complicated then making a dye bath from natural indigo. There is chemical magical in this process. The fabric is a yellow-green color for the first few seconds out of the dye bath;however, as the dye oxidizes, the blue begins to appear! Deep shades of blue are achieved by dipping the fabric into the dye multiple times. Photos are below. Hopefully more to come from this process!

At last...

Finished piece in the San Juan Gallery in Pueblo!

Skirt on temporary mannequin
Wire mannequin in progress

I think it is done she said to her self
In the muggy air of the hallway as
Sunlight at 5 p.m. poured through the arched window.
Enjoy the feeling
This afternoon
This moment of now
On the last day of empty quiet before the first day
Of my last semester
The stand for the hoop skirt is now finished
Like everything else, the integration of the two became
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is by far one of the most challenging things I have had to stitch. It was difficult to pin the material to the wire to keep it from puckering. Working with invisible thread made the challenge all the more delightful. As I was working, I found that the rusted silk was becoming a skin. Though rust can cause atrocious corrosion to metal, is has done nothing to the galvanized wire. Likewise, time has not done a whole lot of damage to certain structure and expectations found in a variety of places.

Art Show

I do suppose multiple projects will keep me out of life of crime...or at least keep life interesting. Details below about my upcoming show!

A Space In Between
An exploration of the interstice or space in between “here” and “there” through literal and conceptual deconstruction

August 31- September 23
San Juan Gallery at Pueblo Community College

Opening Reception
September 2, 2010
From 5 pm—7 pm

900 West Orman Avenue
Pueblo, Colorado 81004

Gallery Hours:
Monday– Friday 8 am– 3pm

Stop by if you can make it! Nothing beats seeing art (any art) in person. Now...to bed so I can awaken, go to a meeting, and then have energy to burn more umbrellas and stitch tulle to an armature with wire!

Printmaking

Taking a summer studio class in a month was intense. I spent at least five hours in the printmaking studio, five days a week. It was challenging to use new techniques and express ideas in effective ways in such a concentrated amount of time! But from such challenges comes growth!

I enjoyed monotypes ("mono" meaning one) much more than relief printmaking. I find something wonderful in not being able to reproduce an image using a medium that is typically used for duplication. Monotypes is a hybrid of drawing,painting, and typical printmaking. It lends itself well to spontaneity and mixed media techniques (monoprints: adding to a monotype print after it is on paper), which makes me happy! Here are a few of my favorites.

One Evening in Early July

At last, a moment to catch my breath, inhale deeply, and exhale slowly. Summer has been fast and busy between work, side project, and now a printmaking class (monotypes, which I am enjoying...it is intense to cram a semester of studio in one month though!). Hopefully, new pictures will follow soon. Meanwhile a scrap of poetry:

An Evening in Early July

I walked out that evening
Into the wind struck sky
Thoughts fade
Caught in the majesty
Of a stormy landscape
Light danced across the air
And music resounded
Though the corridors of nature
Clouds like wings, faces,
And pieces unknown
Jut fearlessly upward
Thrusting their soul into the atmosphere
I am lost
Lost in a fleeting second
As the light fades fast
Into the rush of trees
Night and glowing light
Shadows cascade across the open window
As a cross breeze fills my heart
It is like rediscovering ink and brush
To be in a moment
That a bottle cannot hold
And photos can only echo

These are the days...

These are the days you have to laugh and remind yourself of why you love being an artist.
Why... I wondered.
You would think by now I would have learned that "conventional"
saves time and money in the end.
Doing work on standard sized paper
Saves you a lot of headache when it comes time to frame
If I could just resist pastel...
...I'd need glass less often
If I could just work on canvas...
...I would not have to spend time looking for straight pieces of 1 x 2 wood
with which to cradle and mount the masonite
If I could just pick one main medium to work with
...I'd have less of an issue picking a concentration area for art school
But "If-I-could-just...__________" I may not be the kind of artist I am today
Sometimes what needs to be conveyed
Does not fit in the dimension of "conventional"
A lot of my work is "awkward" in terms of space and hanging
Sometimes art is not convenient
And it is most definitely not always simple
I don't have magic powers
A piece must become
There is a process
"Masterpieces" often being as "Mess-terpieces"
Ideas and techniques must be refined
I have days that I think
I have run out of ideas
And I have run out energy
Just like everyone else
Those are the times I must dig deeper
Reflect and think and pray

Painted Warp: An Exercise in Spontaneity

The colorful yarn in the above photo is "painted warp" rinsing in a bucket of water. I was thrilled with the vibrant colors that occurred! I measured off my yarn and tied it into a neat bundle. I laid it out on the table, on a drop cloth, and "painted" it with MX fiber reactive dye. It sat over night covered in the plastic drop cloth and I came back the next morning to wash out the remaining dye. What a fantabulous way to start my Thursday morning! It is going on the loom tomorrow!

Process and My First Weaving

Process is such a big part of my work:
I plan
Play
And mess stuff up
I undo
Redo
Rethink
I rework
Put it away
And revisit
And I do eventually finish

In spite of such factors sometimes process drives me batty
School and such deadlines require this process to condense
I enjoy such challenges
Sometimes I work myself into a corner artistically to see if I can get out
But sometimes I fear
That the process will not work itself out in the end
I fear I have been too spontaneous
And craftsmanship has faltered
After all, there is a fine line between random and sloppy

This was the case with my first weaving
It is five inches wide and ten feet long
I thought I could weave this no more
I thought I was losing my mind
After all that work
I feared that I would not like the end result
I mean there was a plan... well a half plan...
Weaving is technical enough that one needs
At least a half plan

So I began
Shortly after what I felt was a quarter of the way through
I was getting bored with the pattern
Lynn suggested I play with the blue line
So I did and broke it into three segments
None of this was in the "plan"
(Which is why it is a half plan)

I hoped the proportions were correct
I hoped things blended correctly
I hoped I did not run out of fuzzy red yarn...

After all, this whole piece was a response
To the last four inches I had woven
Finally, it was ready to come off of the loom
I was happy with the length
But felt something was missing
I looked at it
Something was not quite right
It was not "there"
It’s an internal thing that is usually quite accurate
Though I have yet to figure out where "There" exists

This was to be mounted on 1/4 inch molding with Velcro
That Saturday I had to buy ten feet of Velcro
This came to thirteen dollars and some odd cents
(and that was with a coupon)
I found that funny
I also had to buy a saw
I found it funnier that I was not carded for it
Considering I have been carded for fabric spray paint at Joann's

I hand stitched velcro to the back of my weaving
That took two and a half hours
With each stitch I felt this dreadful uncertainty
What if this still does not look right?

Finally, the piece was mounted to the wood

Fear was very close to me Something is still not right…
Don't panic

I wondered...
What if...

I walked to the left side of the piece

Loosened the Velcro and reattached it
This time with and undulating wave in the material
I stepped back
I smiled to myself in the solitude of the studio

“Click”

That was is...the weaving must not hang flat but rather in relief
As this fell into place words flooded my mind
Timeline
Life
Past, present, and future
The zip
Story
And just like that a title phrase came to mind
The Uncertain Present Moment

I'm not sure if I am quite ready to give up my umbrellas yet. The photos are from last Fall.

Then there are the nets...what?! Yes...I am learning to make nets. I wasn't sure why when the though crossed my mind until I ran across an old journal entry:

Once upon a time
Everything hinged on this emaciated web of lies
Created by assumption, presupposition, and expectation
I left it all behind and that chapter closed
I attempted to sever ties
But memories and emotions remain
I cannot seem to purge them
I hold a bucket of water
Should I leave well enough alone
Or should I destroy the web
And rewrite history?

Web...net...trapped?
What about a net on an umbrella?
Wait...doesn't water hit umbrellas?
Hmmm...
The fabrication of shelter
which is really not shelter at all
but perhaps the idea or illusion of shelter
much like a parasol versus and actual umbrella

"What does it mean to weave?"one may ask
Daily work of the ancients?
Women's work?
A skill of trade?
A kind of craft?
Poetry daft?
Calculate, think, scribble, count, tie
Up, down, and back around
Count, tie
Repeat
Undo neatly
Tie more, loop more
Crank, wind, and comb
Tight, striaght, and evenly spaced
Thread those heddles
Tie the treadle
Sley the reed
Excuse me?
Fabrication is not a simple task
"What does it mean to weave?," one asks

Sometimes you have to revisit the beginning
The answer is often in a previous piece of work

There are sixty ideas
Sweet and liquid
Swimming in a warming pot
But they must be condensed
Into a small handful
Of solid pieces of hard candy
Such is the beginning of a new semester

Thoughts on "In Search of Catharsis"

Wanderings:

DON'T!
Quit all that assuming!
Is this rice because the bag says it is?
Oh, where did she go?

I forget the meaning of drawing…lines in space? Marks?

Empty and full
There and not there
This is a struggle between structure and this kind of freedom
The jacket is the structure
The fabric wants out
But do you need both?
I guess to an extent you need both
The jacket is a jacket and no more without the fabric
And the fabric is just fabric without the jacket
The whole piece exists on the tension of these two elements
Tension exists in between in the interstice
I’m me v.s. How you are when you don’t feel like you
A knot? The segment in the jacket…
The part stuck in the jacket longing to puddle on the floor maybe

It’s not permanent yet
It needs a different hanger
But nevertheless, it’s right here
That’s where I want it.

Knot or curtain…knot or curtain…curtain I decided
Looking into that window
Everyone at one time only saw autumns gold
But that’s not really the whole story now, is it?
Things, tags, and labels tacked on over what I muttered
But inside runs a different tale
All I wanted was to vanish
To escape as chiffon and pour onto the floor
But look closer
I didn’t leave unscathed
Love will help us over come
Somehow, that’s what came of this
Deny the form…
I didn’t want anyone or any “body” there
Another body in the crowd
They tagged and labeled her this, that, and the other
So she had to find a way out

Final Thoughts:

DON’t- quit all that assuming!
Is this rice because the bag says it is?
Oh, where did she go?

I forget the meaning of drawing…lines in space? Marks?

Empty and full
There and not there
This is a struggle between structure and this kind of freedom
The jacket is the structure
The fabric wants out
But do you need both?
I guess to an extent you need both
The jacket is a jacket and no more without the fabric
And the fabric is just fabric without the jacket
The whole piece exists on the tension of these two elements
Tension exists in between in the interstice
I’m me vs. How you are when you don’t feel like you
A knot? The segment in the jacket…
The part stuck in the jacket longing to puddle on the floor maybe

It’s not permanent yet
It needs a different hanger
But nevertheless, it’s right here
That’s where I want it.

Knot or curtain…knot or curtain…curtain I decided
Looking into that window
Everyone at one time only saw autumns gold
But that’s not really the whole story now, is it?
Things, tags, and labels tacked on over what I muttered
But inside runs a different tale
All I wanted was to vanish
To escape as chiffon and pour onto the floor
But look closer
I didn’t leave unscathed
Love will help us over come
Somehow, that’s what came of this
Deny the form…
I didn’t want anyone or any “body” there
Another body in the crowd
They tagged and labeled her this, that, and the other
So she had to find a way out

Final Thoughts
At last…
It whispered to me that morning,
“I am complete.”
Early morning and sounds of footsteps echo overhead
The only class in the building
Alone otherwise in this hall
I sat in a chair
Across from a jacket now suspended in space
Contemplating what had just happened
I tried so hard to label
The inside of that jacket
The very thing I sought to escape
Still found me in the end
My search for catharsis
And even in this piece
There has been no release in its entirety
I was reminded,
“Nothing. It needs nothing. Let it be blank.”
There was a force a work
This urge to label
Even now, it is so difficult to escape
Silence still-
Save for the dance class
Light pouring through the old building
Isighed…too much in my head
I was missing things again…
Nevertheless is has been finished
And now the rest of the world
Can make what they want of it
I have had my say