maybe drawing and writing are similar in more ways than simply being on paper? i think so. definitely so.
there's an intimacy in both practices. a very deep degree of Search and Explore. paper, being a common and humble material, fosters an amazing level of privacy. and that privacy, as an experience, encourages a ton of bravery. paper is easy to hide. easy to lock away. and i think the diaristic attribute of that is something so valuable and courageous that, as i go through all this work, i bounce back and forth between opposing shudders of elation and embarrassment. ha! but embarrassment in a good way- a necessary exposure. work that does not pull it's punch and risks humiliation in order to go all the way. and that makes me feel great.
it helps me to see the all the work together. how, in spite of extreme shifts in stylistic approaches, all the work is rooted in the same concepts. whether it be oil on canvas or shoe prints on paper, it all comes up from the same well. it all grows in The Blackland and i think each piece lends itself to every other piece in a very nourishing, substantiating way. a very very VERY interesting conversation ensures when all this work is allowed to rub elbows with one another, for sure.
here's some "diary pages". the more i look at this sector of my practice, the more i like it and the more i want to lean deeper in to it. none of this work is titled yet and i'm not sure what i'll do with it. maybe nothing. maybe everything.
the 2nd one down has been following me around for 2 years now and, originally, i thought of it as some sort of sign for myself. i had it hanging in my studio and it would fall off the wall and i walked all over it a few times because i didn't think of it as art. but i guess getting a few pale shoe prints on it added something to the piece, gave it a new layer of meaning along with the dirt. :) i like it.
the 3rd piece was originally an art poster i got in the mail promoting an exhibition that i quickly redacted.
and the first piece was finished just yesterday. a mono-print of silver blowing leaves that i wrote all over. is it a drawing or a poem or a diary page? having those kinds of questions come up is exactly why i like it and why i like ART in general.
6 comments:
I could see these all as pages in a book.... a possibility with your documentary work!
susan! totally! i've been playing with the idea of putting together a book of only drawings for a few months now and, the more i think about it, the more i love the idea. i've started a 'manifesto' of sorts about the importance of drawing so we'll see where it goes. but i'm so excited by Books in general that the idea of making one gives me such a sweeping happiness and pleasure. thank you!!!!! :D
Everything you touch turns into art because that's the river you live in. Don't let these out of your sight. They give me great hope and courage. Every single one a surprise like Christmas. Every single piece of art you post here is a holiday for me. Your art makes me want to dance, Angela. I am humbled here.
love,
REbecca
thank you, rebecca. your non-stop encouragement has fortified me in such tremendous, much needed ways. i adore you. and what you've written here is how i feel about your work. your words and line and song. the music you find in such unexpected or feared locales radiates such a sharp beauty. thank you! you are such a wonder and i am lucky to call you Friend. :)
Today a friend suggested asking (of whomever we ask such things) to let my soul's essence speak to me. It seems that this might describe your current relationship with the process and the work. The willingness to be surprised by what emerges and to accept it as true when we see it...flavor it with a few footprints...is there anything quite as wonderful as creating something which says just what you want it to?
it's a rough and embarrasing business sometimes, isn't it? but totally woth while. i agree with you and your lovely friend, marylinn. i will begin to ask for the strength to do this too. and maybe even to become free enough, less fixated on what art "should" be, so that maybe a few other things can be decorated with footprints, the passage of my living, the stomp stomp shuffle of a day.
nothing is as wonderful as making something that catches a fragment of honesty. nothing. it is a happiness that is not often bested. :)
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