Working, Working, Working

I am trying to be very disciplined and focused. It took a while to harness my nervous energy and now I just flow from one thing to the next.  I have completed a couple more collages. I work on them while the glue is drying on the assemblage pieces. Today I hope to actually fill some of the assemblages with stuff. I truly appreciate the time and space that A.I.R. Studio and my family has given me. It is a gift and one that I plan to make the most of it. Now that the Labor Day holiday is over, I have begun open studio hours. It should be interesting to see if anyone stops by. If not, you will find me working.

I do plan to venture out. Today I am making a trip to an art supply store named Ephemera Paducah. Does sound right up my alley! I will also make a trip to the Quilt Museum before quilt week starts. Until next time, go do something that makes you happy!

Thoughts on Assemblage

Remnants of Everyday Life

I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box. 
                                             -Albert Einstein

Well my run of getting into gallery exhibitions has come to an end. While it is disappointing, I am continuing to push myself to enter. I have to say that I really thought my piece "Remnants  of Everyday Life" fit the prospectus perfectly for "Common Objects." I am looking forward to attending the opening. 

I do not know why it has taken me so long to embrace making assemblages. As a child I was fascinated by Joseph Cornell's (1903-1972) boxes that were on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. And even as an adult, I always stop by and visit them.

Cornell  is one of the earliest assemblage artists with his work placed in shadow boxes. He had no formal art training and he did not attend college. It wasn't until the 1940s that he started making any significant money from his artwork. He had a fear of strangers and never married. He had a passionate, but platonic, relationship with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama while she was living in New York in the mid-1960s.  Kusama is an interesting person and artist on her own. She is still making art at 87! If you don't know her work, check it out. I love how her clothes match her artwork.

Exploring Pinterest, I discovered the assemblage work of Hannelore Baron (1926-1987) . Unlike Cornell's boxes which invite us into a personal and idiosyncratic universe, Hannelore's boxes are damaged, sealed and forbidding. We are unsure of the exact contents. She escaped from Nazi Germany and ended up in New York. She is also a self-taught artist who was highly successful. I was thrilled when I discovered her. 

Cornell influenced Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008). Rauschenberg created his "combines" series (1954-1964) "using found objects in random juxtaposition in order to unleash the unconscious mind by free association." I do not worry about people's unconscious mind when viewing my work, but this quote has made me think.


I can still remember being in some heated debates over The Bed, one of Rauschenberg's first "combines," by quiltmakers who did not like how he used a quilt. I thought it interesting and elevated quilts. I was more annoyed that the quilt is often referred to as a "blanket." From MOMA's Learning site, "Legend has it that these are Rauschenberg's own pillow and blanket, which he used when he could not afford to buy a new canvas. Hung on the wall like a traditional painting, his bed, still made, becomes a sort of intimate self-portrait consistent with Rauschenberg's assertion that 'painting relates to both art and life... [and] I try to act in that gap between the two.'"

To be clear, I do not think my work holds a candle to the artists I have shared with you today. And it wasn't until I began putting my assemblages together that I realized how much the fascination of certain artists from my youth are now providing me with not only inspiration but courage. 

I have had conversation after conversation with friends about how our children have no interest in our "stuff."  My assemblages are filled with family "stuff" that was passed down to me or I dug out of the trash. I wonder why these items were kept while others with thrown or given away. Remnants is full of these items.  Robert's (my father's legal guardian) last pair of glasses. My grandfather's shaving brush. Why did my dad save my first pair of roller skates then wait more than 40 years to give them back to me? What happened to the child's spoon? Who ate with the fork? When "Mirage" hung during ARC Gallery's Home exhibition, I was happiest when I saw people lean into and spend time looking at it instead of just glancing and walking by. I want to draw people in. I want people to think about the items they keep. What do you have stored away? What memory does it hold?

ARC Gallery

I joke that I am trying to get all my vices in one room and it's true! I have collected and made so many things and it is time to start using them before it is too late. Assemblage has always fascinated me and this came together while I was working on a class proposal for ClaySpace Ceramic Arts Center in Lisle. It actually came together rather quickly. It is made from an old cheese box that I added some chair pieces. The chair was in my yard and fell apart. Now I wish I had kept more pieces from it! The nest is an actual robin's nest that I dipped in slip (runny clay) and was wood fired. Because of where it was in the kiln, it got over fired and fused to the kiln shelf. I added other found objects like a mouse skull, bones, rocks, a piece of glass, whole nutmeg and a shell piece. I really like the way it came out. It's called "Mirage: Not Always as it Seems."

Then the call from ARC Gallery (2156 N. Damen Ave., Chicago) came into my inbox for an exhibition called "Home." I decided to enter my piece and pinch me! I got in. I still cannot believe it. The judges were too people from the School of the Art Institute. The exhibition runs from November 23 - December 17. The opening reception is December 2 from 6 pm - 9 pm. I cannot wait. ARC Gallery has been around since 1973. It grew out of the women's movement and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever have a piece of my artwork hanging in it. Once again, I am glad I ventured outside of my comfort zone and I cannot wait to create my assemblage pieces.