3/15/10

Another flower painting in progress

Colored pencils, markers, gouche, watercolor, and acrylic and collage on paper, 18" x 24"

3/14/10

Prolific Weekend

Colored pencil, sumi-e ink and graphite collage on paper, 11.5" x 14"

I was sick this weekend. I mostly stayed in and made work.

3/13/10

Happy Work

"Happy Work" is the title of an exhibition I submitted to a gallery for a juried show. A juried show is when you do a call for artists and pull from the people who submit art for the show. In this case, I would be the jury. None of my work would be in the show. Here's part of my exhibition proposal:

“Happy Work” is meant to be both an honest attempt at a descriptive exhibition title in that the exhibition examines the naïveté and absurdism of attempting to find or express the simplistic yet earnest emotion of happiness. However, the title also serves as an example of this absurdism by suggesting that this goal is impossible.

In the wake of 9/11, SAIC students have the experience of living in both a pre-9/11 and post-9/11 world, which makes them well-suited as both viewers and artists to understanding concepts such as loss of innocence and impotence in the face of disaster. This is an important time to address a less-charged post-9/11 atmosphere of innocence lost when many students have lived almost an equal amount of time in pre- and post-9/11. Work in this exhibition may not address 9/11 directly but it hopes to ask questions about feeling and communicating happiness through art. “Happy Work” can be interpreted as absurd, naïve, overly simplistic, or sarcastic. Yet, if we attempt to express or comment on personal happiness through art, why does this dichotomy of seriousness and absurdism reveal itself? I would like the viewer to ask herself how either seeking/experiencing personal happiness or making “Happy Work” reveals an underlying tension between earnest desire and absurdity.


Four new works


Colored pencil and pen collage, gouche, watercolor, and acrylic on paper, 18" x 24"

Gouche, acrylic, and watercolor on paper, 22" x 30"
Graphite, watercolor, gouche, acrylic, and collage on paper, 22" x 30"

Marker, sumi-e ink, colored pencil, and graphite on paper and tracing paper, 11.5" x 14"

I'm working right now on communicating the purest form of my concept, which is why I did the last drawing. Drawing, colored pencil, and marker is a very quick way for me to get thoughts out, and I enjoy drawing. It's also very convenient to do at home.

It's almost ten on a Saturday night and I'm working. I did have free time today but last night I worked until 10 after a long day. I have about one week of complete burnout and one week where I'm okay. Right now I'm about four days from burnout again, where I sort of collapse and do nothing for a couple of days. And I still feel like I'm not doing enough.

I'm really excited, though, because I have a few ideas that I'm working on. Also I submitted some stuff for a couple of exhibitions, one as an artist and one as a curator.