Devastation and Recovery

On May 28th, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer as he lay handcuffed on the ground. This horrendous event happened just two miles from my home, and one mile from my studio. The protests and violence that followed shattered my understanding of our police force, and the injustice in my Minneapolis community.

The next few days and I stayed away from the crowds and my studio, just three blocks from the smoldering shell of the third precinct police station. Early Thursday morning, a fire jumped from across the street and ignited the roof of the Ivy Building for the Arts. Our community of artists and healing arts professionals watched in shock as thousands of gallons of water were dumped into the building by the fire department. Videos showed 6” of water flowing down the hallways on the second floor.

I felt strangely distanced from the possibility that all my work would be lost. It didn’t seem to matter when I considered the destruction of human life, and my own blindness to the recurring patterns of violence and inequality that my black and brown neighbors lived with daily.

 Friday, I anxiously ventured to the studio to see what the damage was.

Hallway to my studio

I was lucky. The floor of my studio was flooded with mucky water, but most everything was up on wheels and there was no water damage to my finished work or work in process. I quickly packed up anything valuable, and anything I would need to continue working for a few weeks.

The view when I opened my door.

Others in the building suffered complete destruction of all their work and supplies.

 The future of the building is unknown.

We are all soaked in ambiguity.

Some tenants are packing up and leaving. I’m not sure yet what I will do.

Many thanks to all the friends that offered help after the fire. I may call on you when I have a plan!

 And... the work continues. I’ve moved my creative production to our cabin in Wisconsin, where I have a studio in the garage.

Grandma’s trusty Singer to the rescue!

My exhibition at Artistry is on for August, and I’ve been stitching, printing, and painting like mad to finish all the work by the delivery date of August 8.

 Out of this devastation, there will be positive change. I’m focusing on how I can be a better listener and learner, and then leverage what I have to make this world better. For Everyone.

January Road Trip to Lenore Tawney retrospective at Kohler Art Center

In January, our group of seven artists loaded up 2 cars with lots of food and handwork, and our thirst for adventure, and headed to eastern Wisconsin. Our first stop was the Milwaukee Art Museum. WOW! I’ve been to a lot of museums, and this one is one of my favorites! (along with Reina Sofia in Madrid, and the Folk Art Museum in Stockholm). Most folks recognize by now the “ship” from its kinetic roof, yet inside is what really counts, and it’s fantastic!

The individual galleries are spacious enough to showcase large-scale objects from well-known international artists. Of course, it being Wisconsin, everyone right down to the gallery guards was extremely friendly! a few of my favorites:

Come Out #5, Glenn Ligon

Dandelion, Harry Bertoia

As evening descended, we walked out to the dock and watched the wings open.

We then drove 45 minutes north to our Airbnb in Oostburg, WI. What happens when you combine seven artists with food and beverages in an enormous house on the lake? Lots of laughter!

The next morning, in a snowstorm, we shuttled to the Kohler Art Center to experience the Lenore Tawney exhibition. But not without stopping in the famous restrooms!

The men’s restroom at Kohler Art Center

Here’s a few views of this marvelous look into her life and work:

A re-creation of her New York studio.

The arrangement of her work and the shadows emphasized her interest in light.

In addition, there were two parallel exhibitions, one featuring artists continuing her legacy titled Even Thread [has] a Speech, and one showing Tawney’s personal correspondence and some personal artifacts. Both served to underline her contribution to art and artists beyond fiber. I was particularly interested in Judith Leeman’s installation combining the sensual nature of words written by hand on the wall, with the urgency of current events as conveyed by personal devices and social media.

Judith Leeman, Installation view, 2020. This piece gathers language from texts that intersect with texture, texts, and textile.

As we ‘stay-at-home’, these trips remind me of how critical it is to venture out into the world and experience others. Then, to come home and reflect and mine those experiences for creative material. This is a time for reflection and creative production. The time for travel WILL come again!

Recalling Rome: Maria Lai at MAXXI

In December 2019, I returned to Rome to see some things I had missed on an earlier visit. I love Rome!  We walked and walked through deluges of rain, we toured the Coliseum under a full moon with a spectacular light show, and of course, filled ourselves with pasta and truffles to last through the year!

 One day filled me to my creative brim: a visit to the new MAXXI to see “Holding the Sun by the Hand.” I was excited to see that Maria Lai had made cloth books, with stitching and painting, as well as wall pieces from the 1950s up to 2000. Along with Louise Bourgeois stitched books, these soft volumes speak of identity and exploration.  The exhibition included works from a broad range of her diverse practice, from large map-like canvases, to intimate cloth books with illegible text. All of the objects connected with her belief that thread represents the idea of TRANSMISSION and COMMUNICATION.

“the meaning of the work is entrusted to the action of the thread which holds the forms together, persists, builds bridges, creates connections, and attempts to tie different parts of the work together.”

The exhibition was “conceived on the basis of a principle of building up and layering ideas and inspirations...questioning temporal sequences...”

This concept of an artist’s work as a collage of objects and practices jived with my own research on identity. Mom’s recollections are who she is at the moment we have the conversation, and variations in the events are part of the fluidity of memory.

“...an objet d’art... was to be considered as a simple testament, a trace”, as a result of a social relationship experience.

Maria Lai’s books with infinite meaning because the text is illegible, inspired by visual poetry.

Reference:
Maria Lai, holding the sun by the hand. MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, 2019.