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.

The beginning of the Second Year of the MFA

Its hard to believe that my summer holidays are over already! Already I am wondering how 4 months have disappeared so quickly, but when I think back to what I have achieved it makes sense. 

I received a scholarship to attend the SNAG conference in Boston in May.

I also received a scholarship to study traditional jewellery in Florence during July. 

And I was also selected to participate in Ruudt Peter's workshop Ground Now in the Netherlands at the end of July.

No wonder time has passed so quickly.

And now it is my first week back at NSCAD for the second year of my MFA (Master in Fine Arts). Due to the interdisciplinary nature of my work I have been graciously provided with a studio space at the historic Fountain campus and one down at the Port.

The Fountain studio is full of charm and character. Tucked away in the attic of an historic building, which must be over 200 years old, I am nestled in amongst old large giant wooden beams, large thick brick walls that look out over the Halifax harbour. I delight in watching the ferry go past and thinking about the history of the building.

View from my attic window

I feel a little like Rapunzel sitting up so high and watching the world go by. It is a great place to read and think. This semester I am participating in a class which discusses the philosophy and theory of Things, and I am sure you will find me tucked away in here contemplating Heidegger's Thing theory or the fundamentals of phenomenology and metaphysics.

My attic studio looking very clean and organised

My studio at the Port campus is in ceramics and allows for the messy making of larger scaled objects, particularly in ceramics but can lend itself to other forms of sculpture as well. This campus is newly built and has wonderful floor to ceiling windows with great views of the harbour (when there isn't a cruise ship in the way) and natural light.

View from Port Studio
And yes, that is a cruise ship you can see blocking the view!

My summer adventures have led me to realise that I the direction of my thesis will be changing this year. Last year I focused on the pioneer and post colonial feminist theory. My travels provided the space to critically asses my project and with my new experiences I came to the realisation that I was would like to explore the themes of place, travel, loss and regeneration - which essentially does include pioneering (so thankfully my previous research can be incorporated). However I wish to move away from the pictorial and towards a subjective, and perhaps ephemeral or atmospheric artwork.

To give you an idea of my current thinking, check out Olafur Eliasson's phenomenological art work.

Hill End: In the Studio

The residency at Hill End provided the opportunity of four weeks to dedicate to my art practice. Leading up to the residency I thought four weeks would be ample time to work through my ideas and concepts. As it turned out, the time passed way too quickly, and I left with more ideas than when I arrived!

The purpose  built studio is at the back of the cottage and has the most wonderful natural light. It is heated by a small pot belly stove, which although smoked like billy-o was great for heating up water for my cups of green tea.

 I had the opportunity to teach myself how to make 2 part plaster casts and from these I made a collection of porcelain slip cast bottles.

The fences and gates in Hill End are fascinating (a post about these can be found here), and I spent time documenting them in my sketch book. I decided these would translate well into etchings using the non-toxic method I learnt a year or so ago. 

Without access to a potters wheel it provided me with the opportunity to explore making shapes using hand building methods.

The studio was just a delightful place to be in: great light, sizeable working space and surrounded by interesting objects.

Studio view

I just love the big old gilt mirror 

And the studio storage

Even the reflections are picturesque

The creativity was not contained in the studio and often spilled into the kitchen

and lounge room where I worked if it got really cold since it had a wonderful fire that I kept going day and night.

Im really looking forward to finishing this body of work, which will be exhibited at Barometer Gallery in Sydney later this year.

In the studio - creativity and chaos

I always find it interesting to see inside other people's studios - its a fantastic mix of creativity and chaos...

a much loved sewing machine borrowed from Mum. Its about as old as I am.

 So I thought I would invite you into my studio

I just love all the colours of these spools of thread

This is where the messy stuff happens 

An attempt to throw a very tall vessel