New installation statement

Summer has been a bit more relaxing -- although I have some projects in process, things have calmed down since my dad's house sold. As far as art goes, I have been focusing on putting together a new installation portfolio. Although I have been working pretty steadily on one or another installation project over the past few years, for some reason I never actually thought of my installations as a coherent body of work, which, in fact, they are. So I wrote a new artist statement referring specifically to the installations. Here is is:

"In my installations I enjoy experimenting in both conceptual and material dimensions, working with themes such as family and the remembered past, or local landscape and the environment. I create each piece by combining photographic images (either from my own or found photos), familiar domestic objects (a shower curtain or diapers, for example), and layers of found text. Imagery, word play and metaphorical suggestion work together visually and poetically, conjuring multidimensional meaning. In addition, each piece is grounded in lived experience – retrieved from memory and/or presented to engage the viewer intimately and move beyond the constraints of intellect to a revised perspective.
In constructing these pieces I usually establish formal groupings of the collected images and materials according to patterns and repetitions only marginally related to the content of the piece. Although the contents of each installation are mundane and typically domestic or local, the pieces themselves speak to larger social or environmental concerns. My goal is to bring the viewer with me as I shift emphasis away from subjective content and personal affect to a more suggestive and universal zone of perception neither purely representational nor non-representational."

New photo of Arroyo Seco shower curtain installation

Here is a view of "Arroyo Seco Watershed and Surrounding Area," my installation from the EcoArt show at Barnsdall.

Just back from Pittsburgh

I am still jet-lagged and in re-entry phase after my week-long trip to Pittsburgh. The purpose of the trip was to wrap up the sale of Dad's house that has been empty for nearly two years. (I have reported sporadically on the process of cleaning out the house and discussed some of the art projects that have come out of the experience in earlier entries.) Here are a few photos of the house now:



We ended up removing any trace of green and gold from the kitchen -- cabinets were painted, countertop replaced, and vinyl floor replaced with Mexican tile. Meanwhile, we flunked the sewer test. The whole backyard needed to be dug up so that the line could be replaced. Notice the bulldozer. I packed up the last boxes, sent off the last packets of memorabilia saved by my mother, and left to explore Western Pennsylvania for the rest of the week.

Another table picture

This time, Easter dinner.

EcoArt installation - shower curtain redux

The EcoArt show now at Barnsdall Junior Gallery is a group show with art by women interested in environmental issues. I was able to revisit "Arroyo Seco watershed and surrounding environs" -- a water/shower curtain project that I began during the "Intimate Geography" show last spring. This time I doubled the square footage of the shower curtain(s) and made some adjustments to the fabrication process in hopes that the ink won't discolor. I also spent a lot of time modifying the arrangement of the photos and documentation. The photos were taken during the torrential rains of 2005, in and around the Arroyo Seco and Los Angeles River. I added documentation from various water companies in the area and a map, plus some photos of swimming pools to provide contrast with water flowing from the mountains into and through its channel.

Here are a few closeups of the new shower curtain:








































Here is some catalog commentary that explains the purpose of the piece:

My aim was to create an installation in which the viewer is prompted to recall an intimate relation with water (the shower), and where the scale (tiny) and number of photographs (multiples) challenge assumptions about traditional picturesque landscape presentation. I also hope questions about landscape and power, the act of looking, and specific local concerns about water rights come to mind. Who “owns” local water? Who channels or uses it at what price and to what end? By manipulating the way landscape is depicted and viewed, I want to question where a viewer stands, both literally and figuratively, in relation to landscape -- and what a more enlightened role might be in relation to the natural environment itself.

HAUSGUESTS

William Rabe and Nena Amsler of HAUS gallery recently put together a wonderful show called "HAUSguests" at the Brewery Project in order to raise money to help alleviate the suffering in Darfur. Each piece of art carried the name of a person -- the art works were the conceptual guests. I contributed a small installation called "Frances Jeane Crawford Thomas," consisting of a small towel bar with three huck towels (guest towels) bearing three vintage pictures of Grandmother -- sitting in the garden, in the side yard of the house in New Brighton, and at the kitchen sink.

Although the show has come down, William and Nena have photographed each work and posted the works online so that viewers can still buy art and participate in the fundraiser for Darfur. Please visit the show through the "HAUSguests online gallery" link at right and consider making a contribution.

Roses are Red. . . .

The past two months have been very hectic in the life department, but I have still been able to put up two small installations in two recent group shows. The first piece was for a Valentine show about food at the Acorn Gallery that was organized on the fly -- I put together an installation called "Sweet" that involved word and image play on the old "roses are red, violets are blue" rhyme. Here is what it looked like:



The first bag said "red", the second bag said "blue" and the third bag said "sweet."

Favorite Christmas pictures

Lacy on Christmas morning.


Using the china and crystal from Pittsburgh for Christmas dinner.


Michael in a festive mood.

"Material Girls" opening reception

Michael and I drove out for the opening of "Material Girls" in what turned into rain last Thursday evening. The show is very interesting -- several quite dramatic pieces, including two enormous embroidered white aprons hung from the ceiling, and a lot of good work. The museum employees installed "Porte bonheur," and it was a treat not to have to show up with a drill, contingency plans, etc. to get the thing on the wall! Here are a few photos of the rest of the show. I'm going to have to take more photos of my piece when we go back out to Riverside -- I didn't get any that look right. There will be a catalog of the show by the beginning of February and the show will remain up through March 10.

Material Girls to open the Riverside Art Museum

I just received cards for "Material Girls" -- the exhibition I have been invited to be part of at the Riverside Art Museum. There will be work in the show from 15 women artists working non-traditionally with fabric. The Museum itself is in a Julia Morgan building in the historic district of Riverside. I am to deliver the work during the week after Christmas (next week!). The reception will take place on Thursday, January 4 from 6-9 pm. The show runs until March 10. I can't wait to see the other artists' work -- a good show and an interesting venue. I am also very excited that my piece with Granddaddy's photos has been so well received. I wonder what he would think if he could know that his pictures were being shown in a museum in California? He really loved traveling to California every winter -- I have another series of beautiful slides he took while traveling. (Another project??) I wonder if he ever visited Riverside?

More holiday sales! Post-Postcard 2006

December just turned very busy -- I am now participating in three holiday sales! Tomorrow night I will have two of my new paintings on panel at Yong Sin's studio in San Pedro (see post below). Friday through Sunday I will be participating in "Post-Postcard 2006" with Outpost for Contemporary Art. This sale is small-format work or multiples that will be displayed in shelves full of long, narrow cardboard boxes. It is called "an annual open-invitational show of small-format work that challenges artists to stretch the parameters of media and conceptual strategies by doing what they do best -- subvert and manipulate the theme to their own ends." So I have created packets labeled "A bit of Los Angeles" -- small glassine envelopes labeled with a fragment of various vintage maps and guidebooks of Los Angeles, each containing a quarter-teaspoon of Los Angeles dirt.



Post-Postcard will be open from 7-9 pm (Members' Preview) on Friday, December 8, 7-10 pm on Saturday, December 9, and 12-5 pm on Sunday, December 10. Location is Outpost for Contemporary Art's new Highland Park facility at 6375 N. Figueroa in Highland Park. More info at www.outpost-art.org.

I will also have another of my new, small paintings on panel in the Cash and Carry show at the Acorn Gallery -- work sold straight off the wall, everything under $100. Works will be replaced as they are sold. Reception December 9, 7-10 pm, show goes on through January 5. There will also be a special one-day holiday sale with Avenue 50 Gallery on December 17 from 12-6 pm. The Acorn is at 135 N. Avenue 50 in Highland Park.

Material Girls and EcoArt shows coming up --

One of the nicest results of participating in "Hung Out to Dry" at OneLeaf Gallery in Pomona was having "Porte Bonheur" chosen for a show called "Material Girls" opening on January 4 at the Riverside Art Museum. It is gratifying to experience the positive response that has developed around this piece. From what I have been told, "Material Girls" will be a women's fabric show but the art will be on the experimental side.


The Southern California Women's Caucus for Arts EcoArt group show at Barnsdall is also opening in April, and I am looking forward to expanding my shower curtain installation, "Arroyo Seco Watershed and Environs," for that show. This time I will use two plastic shower curtain panels to give a fuller effect and allow for more images to be displayed.

Art sale at Yong Sin's studio in San Pedro

Coming up this week --

Thursday, December 7, 2006, 6-10 PM

Special One Day Art Sale (for 1st Thursday in San Pedro)

with Edith Abeyta, Chris Elliott, Carol Es, Christopher Grinnell, Betsy Lohrer Hall, Kimiko Miyoshi, Lynne Mori, Florence Rothbart, Harold Rothbart, Howard Sacks, Yong Sin, Deborah Thomas, and Matthew Thomas

at Yong Sin's studio: 414 W. 7th Street, San Pedro, CA (Cook's Kitchen Center building)

I am looking forward to visiting San Pedro and meeting some new artists. Please come if you are in the area!

Thanksgiving in the Bay area

Two days after the Tour Michael, Olivia and I left town to spend Thanksgiving with Michael's sister Theresa, his brother Brian and family, and our friends Alex and Bezi. Here is a picture of Theresa's lovely dining room.

Oh, yes -- the other guests were Lacy, Boris and Max -- all on their very best behavior.

Work on display during the AAC Discovery Tour

A few of my smaller paintings and mixed media pieces on the mantel; paintings on steel (one on the easel) and a painting on spun polyester on the wall.

Thanks to Susan and Patrick Gleason for opening their home.

Discovery Tour coming up!

The Arroyo Arts Collective annual Discovery Tour is next weekend! There will be nearly 100 artists (including me) showing work on the Tour, and the price this year is quite reasonable -- $10 in advance, $15 the day of the Tour, or $5 if you bike, take public transportation, or are a senior citizen. I think it is one of the best local art tours around -- really diverse people involved, really interesting houses and neighborhood idiosyncracies to explore. Highland Park is one of the oldest art neighborhoods in LA.

So -- I started working on some new paintings. It feels good to be working with paint again, and I hope to have some new, small pieces to show on the Tour. This year I will be at a new place, the home of Susan and Patrick Gleason, at 516 N. Avenue 53 in Highland Park. It is located in a cluster of Craftsman homes hosting Tour artists, and it should be a lot of fun. Alexis Abrams, who makes wearable art, will be showing in the same location. Tonight is the preview party at Avenue 50/Acorn Galleries. (7 to 10 p.m.) You can buy tickets on the AAC website (see my links section), at the preview party, or just stop by to say hi at the Gleasons' if you don't have time to do the whole Tour.

Beth's work enters another dimension

Beth sent along these pictures after Estate of Mind. As she describes it, she and her daughter forwarded some mail to her parents at the full moon. (This was not one of the pieces in the show, though part of the same series.) Thanks, Beth.

"hung out to dry" in Pomona

Michael and I just spent yesterday installing "Porte bonheur" at a gallery in Pomona -- it was selected for a women's show called "hung out to dry" opening Saturday at OneLeaf, an experimental gallery run by Jena McRoberts. (Invitation image above.) The show will open on Saturday, November 11 during the Pomona Art Colony art walk (6 - 10 p.m.) and run through December 2. Installed on another brick wall -- this one raw, which actually is a nice background for the diapers. We bought a masonry drill bit ahead of time and were glad we did!

Here is the gallery information:

OneLeaf Fine Arts
153 West Second Street
Pomona, CA 91766
323-496-1736

www.oneleaf.us
jena@oneleaf.us

Gallery hours Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or by appointment (worth it to call ahead)

Future Studio and Chicken Boy

Amy Inouye and Stuart Rapeport host Future Studio in their live-work loft. Stuart is an artist who paints, draws, and makes interesting dog sculptures from reclaimed wood. Among other things, Amy is a talented graphic designer, a lover of pugs and Chicken Boy ("too weird to die"), and a collector of just about anything from funky lamps to Dodger Stadium seats. She also operates a gift shop on the premises (see photo) that stocks items ranging from Chicken Boy memorabilia to snow globes to rubber duckies in the image of James Brown. If you want to find out more about Amy's projects you can navigate directly to her Chicken Boy website from the links section of this blog.

A few of my favorite baby pictures from the project

Here are a few of the pictures of me that my grandfather took. I had not seen these in several decades.




This is the caption that we posted on the wall next to the installation:

"Porte bonheur means 'good luck charm' in French. In cleaning out my parents’ house I was lucky to find a collection of slides taken of me by my grandfather, Joseph Thomas, a gifted amateur photographer. I was my parents’ first and only child and my grandparents’ first grandchild. As these photos attest, during my early childhood I was fortunate enough to have been very much adored. Granddaddy and I got along famously and I remember enjoying it as a little girl when he brought out the camera or the slide projector to take pictures or show slides on Sunday evening. Granddaddy later gave me his slide projector and his prized Exacta SLR, used to shoot these slides. I still have the projector and the camera and I am lucky to have rediscovered the slides. I am even luckier to have had such a nice grandfather."