Suspended Objects at Uncommon Common Art

My work Suspended Objects was selected for Uncommom Common Art, an annual site responsive event that has been running for the past 10 years. Uncommon Common Art (UCA) brings visual art out of institutions and into rural communities of Kings County, Nova Scotia between June 1 to October 31, highlighting the exceptional location of the Minas Basin Valley. 

Uncommon Common Art was initiated by Terry Drahos, originally from Chicago who is actively promoting art in the Nova Scotian community by encouraging artists to exhibit and install work in the public arena.

This year the event is curated by Angela Henderson, interdisciplinary Canadian artist and educator. The theme for 2017 was:

"Drawing on the rich geological, historical, and the possible futures of Kings County, Uncommon Common Art 2017 seeks public art installations that frame this landscape through concepts of the terrestrial and the subterranean.

The vast tidal range of the Minas Basin situates the exhibition on the threshold of the shore where the landscape, in a constant state of flux, is continuously reshaped. Amidst subterranean layers of human habitation and a broad historical context, a range of locations await the artists’ response. Within the interconnected threads of these communities, Uncommon Common Art 2017 raises questions of how site-specific public art can respond/reveal a multiplicity of perspectives within the spaces we inhabit. Can art in public space unearth histories that are hidden or contested? What are the immediate and long term effects on public space where art is situated? Does the artwork continue to resonate once it is removed?"

20 art works have been selected and are installed throughout the Kings County region and a guidebook has been produced that  leads residents and visitors to explore the art installations in our communities, nature trails, and country lanes. For added fun, geocaches have been included hidden near some of the art sites. 

Suspended Objects (Stop 15) is located in Minors Marsh in the town of Kentville. A continuation of the exploration of my thesis exhibition, the objects when suspended from the bridge the objects become weightless and distorted; dancing within time and space upon the reflection in the water below. In the reflection we have no terms of reference and our understanding of these objects becomes distorted. This idea refers to memory, and how things fade over time and something a seemingly solid as a stone will change over time. 

The river below is effected by the Bay of Fundy tides, which has some of the highest tides in the world and can reach a peak of around 16 meters high. Some of the suspended objects are made from unfired clay, whilst others are fired and more permanent. I am interested to see how the installation will weather for the duration of the event, which runs until the end of October 2017. 

Beech St Children's Centre response to MFA exhibition Erratic

Beech St Children's Centre's creative response to my MFA exhibition Erratic

I received a lovely message from Justin West who works at the Beech St Children's centre

" Beech Street Children's Centre visit your exhibit At the Anna Leonowens gallery They were inspired to create their own work in response to your work This is done with string, modelling clay, and instead of nails we found old marker caps Our children responded to your materials They also laid down underneath your work and walked around it a few times - getting all angles of it They walked away and wanted to thank you for sharing your work with us and the public - this was the first time these children went to a gallery and we will be back for sure"

Erratic - the opening night

Erratic is a philosophical investigation about stone and its relationship to the development of the human mind. The term is used to describe stones that have been moved by geological forces or to describe unpredictable behaviour. This concept is explored using found objects combined with clay that are subjected to a series of traumatic yet transformative events, which often result in unpredictable outcomes. The metamorphic process that distorts the object is a metaphor for the human condition reminding us that change is inevitable, and the dissolution of order creates a fluid, malleable situation where one’s sense of identity dissolves, bringing about disorientation and the possibility of new perspectives.

After 2.5 years of dedicated hard work my MFA Thesis Exhibit opened on Monday 31 October at the Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifax. 

The hanging objects (made from clay and found objects) were suspended from the ceiling with a meter between each object. I was hoping that this method of display would encourage the audience to engage with each object, as each one piece of work was unique, with traces of fingerprints that gripped the clay along with the found object that became another grip of the clay object. 

To my delight everyone walked through the installation, and as a result the hanging objects would sway slightly, moved by the displaced air. 

The exhibition is receiving positive feedback, including the above sketch by www.richardrudnicki.com of the MFA crew sitting amongst the installation whilst I talked about the work.

Erratic - The installation of the exhibition

I was incredibly fortunate to have access to the gallery ahead of the usual Sunday installation due to Reading week. The gallery was closed during this time which allowed for time to paint the wood scaffolding that was then attached to the ceiling. Because of the age of the building I needed to build a support for my clay objects. The ceilings are incredibly high (theres a 12ft ladder in the background). 

The next step was to then attach the ropes that hung from the ceiling. This was done at the same time as the scaffolding to prevent our legs from getting tired.

Each of the clay objects weighs approximately 5 kg, with 45 in the installation. The clay objects contain found rusty metal, some of which were old tools and some were so rusty it was hard to tell what their original use was.  

Susie counting my 'grips for a stone'

Despite working within the parameters of creating 222 grips for a stone, I haven't counted how many I have made so far. As I work on the project, the number starts to become irrelevant. Suzie counted 66, 45 of these were used in the exhibition, and the remaining 21 were taken back to my studio. 

Im guessing there must be close to 200 by now. Ill let you know when I do finally count them!

CFAT Scholarship: Video Editing

This week we learnt the basics to video editing using the Adobe Premier Pro software.

I combined imagery taken whilst travelling through Iceland and my animated rotating rock. This is the result.

Artist: Susie Brandt + Studio Visit

The super summer visiting artist series at NSCAD continues with Susie Brandt participating in the artist in residence program and also exhibiting at the Anna Leonowen's Gallery.

Susie Brandt

Susie is a textile artist and her exhibition is a work in progress consisting of piles of donated worn clothing and textiles that will be processed using scissors and her hand-crank sewing machine into rope. The exhibition is an interactive experience where the audience is invited to participate in the making of the rope, but cutting up post consumer textile waste and twisting it into rope. 

image from www.kristinewoods.com
who participated in one of Susie's projects
at Haystack Mountain School of Craft

About her process, Brandt states, “ropemaking is a basic gesture in textile production. The phenomenon of twisted and plied fibers resulting in a strong flexible line dates to 1700 BC. Because lines of rope can be used for hoisting, fastening, and climbing, rope had transformative effects on pre-industrial communities. Considered Post-industrially, rope offers an entry point into textile issues around locality, labor and waste/re-use.”

I have been very fortunate to meet Susie and she visited my studio to chat about my work and provide feedback. I find it is always helpful to get receive external advice as this provides opportunities to talk about my work which helps to tease out areas that I overlook.

One topic that Susie brought up was the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi which is the world view based on acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence, specifically impermanence, suffering and emptiness or absence of self-nature. Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.

I was first introduced to the idea of Wabi Sabi by my ceramics teacher (and amazing artist) Ian Jones who taught me to love the imperfections in my ceramics as I was learning. This was incredibly insightful since I have a tendency to be a perfectionist and was attempting to make 'perfect' ceramic pieces.

Having Susie reflect that my pieces also capture the delicate balance of grace and ugliness made me realise just how influential Ian's teachings were. Below are some very recent pieces that I have been working on which reflect the wabi sabi aesthetic.

Balance

 

Artist: Anna Hepler + Studio Visit

Also last week I was incredibly lucky to spend some studio time with Anna Hepler, who is also exhibiting her work at the Anna Leonowen's Gallery and an Artist in Residence at the Ceramic Studio. Anna is a sculptor and print maker who creates large forms using a variety of media. When it comes to using different materials she believes it is very important to keep an element of unfamiliarity in her work, to keep her work more 'honest' or 'vulnerable'.

Double Hung
Anna Hepler

Anna's work is incredibly inspiring and there is a great interview which talks about her creative processes.

Whilst the work in the Anna Leonowen's Gallery are explorations in ceramics, she is continuing to explore the 'slumped' form, like in the image above.

List of Works

I have found the visiting artist studio visits incredibly insightful and helpful to give critical comment and feedback about my work as an external 'eye' provides clarity and a new way of looking at things.

We have been experiencing thick summer sea fogs recently - this is a view from my studio window.
It generally looks like this...

I think I may need to upscale these wire sculptures if I want to create more of a dramatic impact! 

Artist: Meryl McMaster + Studio Visit

This week I had the pleasure of a studio visit from Meryl McMaster, who is currently exhibiting her work at the Anna Leonowen's Gallery as part of the NSCAD visiting artist series. Meryl is a photographer who uses the medium for self discovery, exploring how we construct our sense of self through lineage, history and culture.

Second Self

In her series 'Second Self' which is exhibited in the gallery, the artworks reconsider identity through portraiture incorporating drawing and sculpture. The process of making this work is fascinating and goes through a number of steps to reach the finished piece. First, she asks each participant to draw a self portrait of themselves, using a line drawing where the pen is not allowed to be lifted up off the paper. She then recreates these images using wire, which act like a mask when worn by the real person.  

She is inspired by Alexander Calder, who explored the use of wire in his work through sculpture, mobiles and jewellery. I too, love working with wire, and that is perhaps one of the many reasons why I am so attracted to her work. 

I have been exploring wrapping objects with wire as part of my exploration for 222 Grips for a Stone series. 

copper wire, found coal
Jogging Fossil Beach

copper wire, found stone
Bay of Fundy

copper wire, found wood
urban Halifax

As part of an ongoing exploration, I am interested to see what happens to each of these objects when exposed to heat.

I received some great feedback from Meryl when she visited me in my studio and I look forward to applying it to my work.

Jeweller: Jan Smith + Studio Visits

I had the pleasure of a studio visit with Jan Smith, who is a brilliant jeweller and printmaker visiting NSCAD as part of the University's Artist in Residence summer series.

Enamel Brooch and drawing by
Jan Smith 

Jan combines mark-making in metal with enamelling techniques with fascinating results ending as wearable jewellery pieces. She is based in British Columbia where she also teaches.

Because of her interdisciplinary approach, I found her feedback to my studio work incredibly helpful.  

One of the key things she suggested was to tidy away all the 'conversations' I was currently exploring (I have about 10 different directions my work could go in) and focus on just one of the conversations. This is harder to do than it sounds, and I have 'hidden' half my work behind sheets so that I cannot see it and be distracted by it. There are now about four 'conversations' which will eventually need to be paired down into one. 

This is a photo of my studio before her visit. It looks quite tidy - but within this are too many ideas for me to focus on over the next 6 months.  There is probably a lifetime of exploration within this space, which is why I am thinking of doing a Phd next - but more about that later. 

Studio space before Jan's feedback

So I took Jan's advice and did a BIG tidy up. Ill post an 'after' picture soon.

Shibori - the art of binding fabric

Most of us are familiar with the beautiful effects of the ancient Japanese art of shibori. Fabric is dipped in rich indigo blue with white organic patterns created as a result of the binding and resist methods applied to the cloth.

The Simply Irresistible Dye class have been experimenting with the indigo dye vat throughout the duration of the course. With an array delightful designs to share with the class we all 'ooh and ahh' as we discuss how we achieved the desired affect.

Fabric folded and a resist is formed using wooden sticks

It struck me that the binding of the fabric is also an art form, often under appreciated and overlooked as the shibori fabric (the end result) which is what we strive to achieve.  

The wooden blocks used to create a resist have also been dyed by the indigo and become beautiful artefacts in the process, retaining the memory of where the bands were placed to hold the wood in place.

The lines show where elastic bands were used
to hold the wood in place on the fabric. 

These binding techniques could be applied to my fascination and exploration of 222 grips for a stone.

222 Grips for a stone - the imprint of touch

grip

ɡrip/

1. 
   

222 Grips for a Stone - unfired cone 6 stoneware clay 

noun

1. 1. 

   a firm hold; a tight grasp or clasp.

   "his arm was held in a vicelike grip"

   synonyms:

   grasp, hold "a tight grip"
2. 2. 

   a part or attachment by which something is held in the hand.

   "handlebar grips"

1. 
   

   
   

71 Eunoma

71 Eunoma
30 x 30 x 30
Wood, wire, fire

Things are gearing up as the countdown for my Thesis show begins in earnest ... I have 40 days to go before my exhibition opening and 13 days til my draft Thesis statement is due to be handed in.

Today one of my pieces was photographed for the NSCAD Graduate Exhibition Catalogue, which is designed by NSCAD students Grace Laemmer and photographed by Erica Flake.  A big thank you to them both for their magic x

222 Grips for a Stone - the trauma of an object

For many the familiar presence of things is a comfort. Things are valued not only because of their rarity of cost or their historical aura, but because they seem to partake in our lives; they are domesticated, part of our routine and so of us. Their long association with us seems to make them custodians of our memories. Yet this does not mean that things reveal themselves, only our investments in them.   

Peter Schwenger.

Not only does our human existence articulate that of an object through the language of our perceptions, but the object calls out that language from us, and with it our own sense of embodied experience.

This would imply that we as humans project upon objects the experiences of human emotions and qualities, yet at the same time things reveal to us to ourselves in profound and unexpected ways.

My explorations rely on the historical, social and political associations we place upon objects when I create my assemblages. I challenge our associations by placing objects under extreme duress, often subjecting them to immense forces which transforms the nature of the object and consequently our understanding of it.

I am not interested simply in the destruction of materials, but more about their resurrection and transformation.

These everyday objects comfort us through their familiarity, yet there is a tension between the two versions of the object: that of its known past as a familiar functional object (by association) to its current state which bears the scars of the trauma it has been subjected.

The progression of images shows the working process I am currently employing in the studio. Ceramic 'stones' are found, and then 'gripped' or contained by the steel wire woven into basket forms. 

Combining broken glass, and a shino glaze, the object is then fired to Cone 6 in a reduction atmosphere kiln. The results culminate in a glaze that has surface cracks, the wire becomes brittle and sinks into the glaze in places. The broken glass pieces mix with the glaze and run off the object before solidifying again. 

222 Grips for a Stone - Handles

Continuing my exploration into 222 Grips for a Stone, I thought it would be fun to literally take the idea of putting 'grips on stone'.

Working with found lumps of clay, I attached handles generally used in kitchens to create references to domestic landscapes attached to the stone. 

I liked the idea that this one references a chest of drawers.

222 Grips for a Stone
#52

Previously, the metal I had put in the kiln and fired to cone 08 was steel, and the result was that it oxidised and blackened. However with aluminium handles, the metal completely burns away, leaving a residue similar to shaving cream. 

222 Grips for a Stone
#53

Also, because I am using large blocks of clay, occasionally they explode in the kiln, leaving behind an interesting assortment of rubble (as in the image above).

222 Grips for a Stone
#55

I really enjoyed the imagery of attaching handles along the 'ridge' of a block of clay, and it immediately brought to mind the nursery rhyme Mis Marry Mack. 

Miss Mary Mack Mack MackAll dressed in black, black, blackWith silver buttons, buttons, buttonsAll down her back, back, back.
She asked her mother, mother, motherFor 50 cents, cents, centsTo see the elephants, elephants, elephantsJump over the fence, fence, fence.
They jumped so high, high, highThey reached the sky, sky, skyAnd they didn't come back, back, back'Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!

222 Grips for a Stone
#56

Unfortunately, these two pieces were destroyed in the firing, and I now know to attach aluminium handles afterwards.

I find it interesting that my work continues to reference  post colonialism, domesticity and feminism, even whilst I am exploring the new theme of '222 grips for a stone' and limiting my materials to found objects.

222 Grips for a Stone - Macrame (48-51)

#50 of 222 Grips for a Stone

#51 of 222 Grips for a Stone

I have been thinking about the definition of 'grip'. The term can have many meanings and associations.

grip ¹

n.

1.

a. A tight hold; a firm grasp: a drowning swimmer now safely in the grip of a lifeguard.

b. The pressure or strength of such a grasp: a wrestler with an unmatched grip.

c. A manner of grasping and holding: The crate afforded no comfortable grip.

2.

a. Intellectual hold; understanding: a good grip on French history.

b. Ability to function properly or well; competence: getting a grip on the new technique.

c. Mental or emotional composure: lost his grip after he was fired.

3.

a. A mechanical device that grasps and holds.

b. A part, such as a handle, that is designed to be grasped and held.

4.       A suitcase or valise.

5.        a. A stagehand who helps in shifting scenery.

b. A member of a film production crew who adjusts sets, lighting, and props and sometimes assists the cameraoperator.

#48 of 222 Grips for a Stone

#49 of 222 Grips for a Stone

the temporal dimension of liminality

Its crazy to think that the end of the third semester is nearly upon me. Deadlines are fast approaching for papers, as well as my third semester stdio review to discuss the progress of my work.

2nd year MFA students are also expected to have their exhibition title, press image and statement ready for our thesis shows mid next year. 

It has taken me all semester to work out what I am trying to say. The concepts have been teased out through my studio work which has been working intuitively with found materials within the theme 222 Grips for a Stone.

Along side this I have been reading a book a week and writing a response for independent studies. Through my reading and writing I have slowly filtering my key areas of interest which has finally been distilled into one word: Liminal. 

Press Statement

Liminality is the moment in time when things transition from one state to the next. The dissolution of order creates a fluid, malleable situation where one's sense of identity dissolves, bringing about disorientation, but also the possibility of new perspectives. Often the liminal experience is subliminal,  existing or operating below the threshold of consciousness. 

My MFA thesis exhibition explores the social context of liminality relating to place, travel, loss and regeneration through physical and metaphysical objects.