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Sharon Etgar Thread Drawings

I'm so looking forward to see this show of Sharon Etgar's work at Davis & Langdale in New York.

The Tel Aviv artist makes what looks like very spontaneous drawings with thread on ledger pages.

As she explains, “(they are) for me… like a diary of feelings and moods translated to colors. Like dancing with the hands.... moments when shape or color create an expression of my feelings, memories or thoughts, are better than most of things... I know that these threads in their colors and drawings are for me exactly like words… my thoughts and secrets will stay there… the back sides of many of them are very important to me. Sometimes more than the front, more than the conscious side..... The conversation between the two sides is how I feel inside.”

Each work here shows the front and the back. To me, they look a bit like landscapes (maps of her mind?) and I can't help  thinking of how meditative it must be to make them. I absolutely love them..

Etgar also makes beautiful collages and drawings which you can see on her website there.

The thread drawings will be exhibited from March 26 til April 20. 

Glimpses of my studio

Huge thanks to Justine from Designskool  for taking the time to visit me in my South End studio last week, and then writing a beautiful post.  Her natural talent for photography is making the space look fabulous - not that it isn't, but it always feels a bit more cluttered :). Here are a few pictures from her blog but be sure to visit it here for more gorgeous shots, as well as her other always beautiful posts.

"Process Goes Public" and the beginning of a new body of work

From December through January, I was invited to participate in an exhibition at the Mills Gallery with 8 other artists from my studio building. The show was a bit unusual as it meant to show the creative process of each artist instead of finished work. I was reluctant to participate at first; I thought that one can be in a rather vulnerable place when creating and to put yourself on the public square at that time could be a bit scary and inhibiting. On the other hand, Debra Olin, who curated the show, convinced me that I would enjoy an empty space, away from my leather work and I welcomed the opportunity to dedicate time to work on something new. Had I not committed to the show, I would have started designing a spring collection of bags, so it felt like a treat to move into a brand new space, empty of anything but what I chose to bring down to work on. 

Here are some pics of what happened during that month..

 

I started from these soft sculptures I made a couple of years back, thinking it would be cool to make some big ones that would transform the space. For some reason, I felt compelled to weave so I made yarn out of used t-shirts.

 

It quickly became obvious that it would take time to finish even one.. luckily, some of the BCA interns were keen to help out. Here, Helen started building the second piece while I kept weaving on the first one.

As time went, I was weaving tighter and tighter (when do you stop???), and it took a life of its own. 

The second one is much wider and might not be totally finished yet, but I like all the empty space, maybe in reaction to the first one that is woven so tight:

I

 

Et voila.. I like the shadows they projected on the wall - a life of their own too. 

I'm now looking forward to make a few more, see where they go.. Stay tuned!

 

Wolfgang Laib pollen installation at Moma

I got to see that beautiful installation of "Pollen from Hazelnut" by Wolfgang Laib at Moma last week. The piece is quite powerful in both its simplicity and boldness. Even more compelling is Laib's meditative process of slowly collecting pollen, storing it in small jars and then sifting it out, as slowly as he collected it, in a very ritualistic fashion :

Read the nice article on ArtInfo here or you can  find more info on the Moma website there.
At the MOMA until March 11, 2013.

A new year, and a great video of Ann Hamilton Event of Thread installation

It's been so long since I've last posted here, but it is one of my resolutions for this year to start blogging again, at least a couple times a month. I've been pinning a lot, but there is something numbing about the mass of images you find on Pinterest and I feel that I need to take the time to isolate what truly inspires me, and that is what this blog was supposed to be about. So here I am again.. And now that I've put it out there, there is no going back :)
You might have already seen this video of Ann Hamilton's installation at the Armory in NY last month, but it's so beautiful it's still worth posting.

You can read Hamilton's beautifully done statement here.

The adventures of a little yellow fish

Pierre Huyghe, tank document from HAS on Vimeo.

Mini Ceramics Workshop with Ingrid Bathe

I just come back from a mini ceramic workshop with Ingrid Bathe in Edgecomb, Maine. It was my first time working with clay, and I loved it! I worked mainly with porcelain which is what Ingrid uses most, I loved how thin you could get it and the feel of it. Not sure what will survive the firing though, I hear I went a bit thin on most pieces :). If they survive, I'm going have a lot of bowls because I kept trying to do taller shapes, like tumblers or glasses, but the height was the most difficult to get and each time I'd end up with another bowl or a pot..

Of course what I really need is cups but oh well...

Ingrid was a fantastic teacher, and a very sweet person. She made us these delicious lunch every day, which we got to share with the chickens of the house:

If you are not familiar with Ingrid's work, you can see it on her website here. I love the simplicity of her pieces, mostly white and pinched.

A huge thank you to Lari Washburn for making this possible. I can't wait to see a post on her blog about her new ceramic work, it looked amazing. Be sure to check it out..

The Hazel Brown Collection - Sweetest Video Ever

Kathie from  RIPEGOODS kindly introduced me to this amazing video (stitching addicts beware, this is  overload for your senses):

 See the Hazel Brown Collection here.

 It is so inspiring to me to see that one could design a collection of clothes and do something that creative and beautiful at the same time. While I have been enjoying making the leather bags, I do miss making art and wish I could balance the two like she does. Certainly a goal at the top of my list..

Happy Friday everyone.

Constantin Brancusi's photos at Silverstein Gallery in NY

Beautiful photographs by Brancusi (1876-1957) of his work in his studio are on show at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in Chelsea. I think of him as a modern icon and it's a bit surprising to see that he was born in 1876! But I guess "modern" is old now...

I've always liked a lot of his sculptures but seeing them in his studio makes them look even better.

So beautiful.. I never realized he had studied shortly with Rodin, and was introduced to photography by Steichen and Man Ray. You can read more about him here.

 And he was pretty good looking too, wasn't he?

The show is on til 6/23.

All photos courtesy of the Bruce Silverstein Gallery website.

The Art of Making: Flamenco Guitar

I woke up to this beautiful clip this morning:

Via deepgreensea.net.

New Sheila Hicks Exhibition at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. - Apr 20 - May 25, 2012

Another trip to New York seems to be de rigueur for this newly opened exhibition of Sheila Hicks at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in Chelsea, on view through May 25, 2012. It seems there will be some of her newer pieces that were not included in her retrospective last year, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what she's been up to.

You can read more about the show here and let me know if you get to see it before I do!

Soaps from Olive and Oud

I was delighted to receive these soaps from Olive & Oud yesterday - another reminder to buy handmade.. They are wonderfully scented and look beautiful! Laura Natusch, the shop owner and maker, is an ex-painter who decided to become a soap maker strolling through a farmer's market in Brattleboro, VT. She fell in love with scents, and has become an expert at mixing various essences to make these deliciously scented soaps. You can read about her fascinating process and interests here. I really enjoyed reading about her inspiration (which includes Vietnamese food - no wonder I had to buy  her soaps!)  and how she gets to a final product.

Laura has been following this blog for a while, and knowing my love for old fabrics, included the lovely piece of old kimono silk fabric you see in the background. I can't help feeling so very lucky to be surrounded / followed by generous, creative and talented people like her. Really.

Visit her store here to see the subtle scents she has concocted.

Joseph Albers "Peintures sur Papier" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris

Josef Albers en Amérique - du 8 février au 30... by centrepompidou

I so wish I could hop in a plane to see this show at the Pompidou in Paris.. "Joseph Albers, peintures sur papier" is on display through April 30, 2012, and includes a lot of the studies and sketches Albers did before making his oil paintings. I've always liked his work (as well as Anni's) but I think I like these even better because they're so much loser.

Found via the very inspiring Improvised Life blog.

Los Talleres - Day 13 (already??) - New Work in Progress

 

I found these natural fiber scrubbing pads the other day at the market and had to get a few.. love their soft white color, and they just seemed to be piles of threads rolled up together and flattened in shape.

They seem to call for some stitching and they've started to morph into a shape of their own:  

It does seem that I'm more and more drawn to work in 3D. The netting has been recurring too - I started collecting nets a couple of years back and now seem to want to make some type of my own, over things or between things.. I think of the weavings on the small branches as netting too.I think I"m going to try to experiment with different kind of stitches too.

Hard to believe I'm almost at half time here..


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