May 2024
Solo Show at NY Public Library
My first solo show was in May 2024 at the St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library. Creating the work took a full year and was deeply engaging; mounting it was challenging (no nails allowed!); working with the librarians, staff, and neighborhood patrons was a surprising joy; and the entire experience was a prideful high. It was a full body/mind/heart experience.
The images are below, the 'stories' can be read in the PDF right here, and the early shots of the art in progress are below. Bonus: I was invited back for June 2025.
ARTWORK ON VIEW
Asemic, 36" x 26"
Broken Home, 32" x 26"
Densely Populated, 38" x 26"
Gardening, 40" x 26"
No More Mothers, 30" x 24"
One Less Again, 38" x 26"
Pic Up Pics, 32" x 30"
Splintered Sound, 40" x 30"
Solo Show WIP
In the summer of 2023, I bought a box of unmarked, vintage reel-to-reel recording tape at a flea market and it spoke to me. At the same time, I seem to have settled into a very comfortable place of beige, canvas, drop cloths, and the handleable size that mimics my arm span. Each piece is a little different but each one links to the one before. They form a family that sometimes speaks to one another and behaves nicely at holiday dinners.
Asemic, 36” x 28”, Recording ape, drop cloth.
Asemic was a new word to me. I was experimenting with this reel-to-reel recording tape, curling it and flattening it, and following through on how it looked like handwriting. A friend saw it and said, “Asemic!”. I actually had to look the word up. It’s very fun to learn a totally new word at this age.
Broken Home, 36” x 30”, Recording tape, silk, canvas.
Sometimes, something that seems tightly woven, true, firm, and strong can collapse and fall apart when you least expect it.
No More Mothers, 36” x 30”, Wire, paper, silk.
There’s a certain group of women who live to a ripe old age, into their late 80’s and mid 90’s. They’re pragmatic survivors, generally feisty, and take their role as the family matriarch seriously. I had one and a lot of my friends did, too. But eventually they pass and then there are no more mothers.
One Less Again, 30” x 28”, Recording tape, silk, canvas, amber shellac.
I seem to keep making art that has four sections or quadrants, with one of them different than the other three. The different one is my missing sibling.
Splintered Sound, 30" x 24", Recording tape, amber shellac, drop cloth.
You can use a razor to cut the recording tape, splice and/or strip it into ribbons. But does that really change the story?
Pic Up Pics, 28”x 28”, Recording tape, silk, walnut ink, polished cotton.
There’s recording tape and there’s motion picture film and there’s both. Some hold a story, some flake away, some have … sprockets. Sometime media leads my art and the story follows.
Detail: Pic Up Pics, about 30”x 22”.
This is how it begins. Holding, touching, folding, snipping, saving, and re-arranging. Again and again, until an idea comes forth and beauty has to be held.
Beginning of Pillow Backs, Yellowed backs of throw pillows.