the object and the negotiation

Art-making is a constant negotiation. Between the world, its movements, this city, a job, family, personal roadblocks. As a child, I looked at the artist as free from restraints, free to create, to make, to live outside of the every day negotiations that seemed to plague the non-creative. I see this as a faulted view now. No one is unrestrained. The artist almost has a more difficult relationship with these factors, as she is constantly clawing out time in the day to create, paving a route that walks between the fantastic creative spirit and the world. I wonder, if given all the time in the world, what kind of art would she create? I believe that it is this relationship with the social order, the daily grind, the negotiations made with time and interest management that make the desire stronger. The work is at times a response or a release from social restraints. It comes from a place that is here and now. The negotiation is as much a part of the art as the object.

Big Girl Job: Ink Drawings in studio

One should be able to seek inspiration from life's daily situations. So I have begun using my time spent in the office as subject matter for a new series of ink drawings, which will hopefully develop into a larger project. Much like the scenes of the suburbs, the American Dream, its loneliness and desires, can be seen in these seemingly mundane objects. The office chair, the computer, the window viewing out onto a bustling New York City street: they are symbols of progress, of success, of having what I've heard it referred to as a "big girl job". The objects, spaces, and technologies utilized to attain this concept of success are utilitarian and serve the purpose of connecting our bodies to our task. They can also seem distant, forgotten, and stark. A few recent explorations below:

Summer Inspiration

"if there is nothing in common between you and other people, try being close to things, they will not desert you; there are the nights still and the winds that go through the trees and across many lands among things and with the animals everything is still full of happening, in which you may participate.."

-- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Dreams of Love: Brooklyn Studio move-in

Officially moved my art storage out of my bedroom and into a new studio space in Brooklyn! On a 90 degree NYC Saturday, my lovely friends helped move boxes, easel, table, etc down a 4th floor walk up and into an old creeky freight elevator off Grand Street. An exhausting few hours, but totally worth it! Didn't have the heart to actually set the space up properly yet, but I am excited to begin working on new projects and share the space with the talented Josh Bricker. Some photos of the day below:

view from our floor

inspirational quotes abound.

i think we should call this the magic throne

the space.

...and it wouldn't be a proper end to moving, without playing in the busted fire hydrant down the street :). I love Brooklyn!

What ever it takes...

I have heard many artists say to not take on a full time job in order to pursue art post graduate school. Call me old fashioned, but I firmly believe that artists need to find a way to financially support their practice (we can't rely on government funding alone), and a full time job is a good option for some. There is no magic trust fund or sugar daddy in my life, as I'm sure there isn't in yours, and if you want to make it in New York City, well, then it better be "by any means necessary" to support this endeavor. It should be that important, and artists shouldn't be above any methods of supporting themselves (within reason).

I personally feel that a full time job gives me security, and allows me to afford a studio space. Now, the great balance will be in finding the time to physically make the work, and to maintain a healthy level of networking within the arts community. And for some artists, this can be done! For myself, art is not separate from life, and whatever situation I am in work-wise or in life, I believe that art has a place within it. Isn't this the great challenge of the artist, to be a part of the world and also ask questions of it, and create from their own experiences? It is the ability to traverse between both the physical world and the metaphysical which makes us visual philosophers.

Here is a link to the MADE HERE Project featuring a video of artists discussing their day jobs, and what it takes to make their practice a reality. I find myself eye rolling at the last guy in the piece, because if it were just that simple, everyone would be an artist.

Installation Days: Parsons MFA Thesis Exhibition

Here are some photos from installation days 1 & 2 of the Parsons MFA Thesis exhibition, opening tomorrow, Thursday May 13th 6-8pm at The Kitchen in New York City:

Participating Artists: Nana Asante, Josh Bricker,Daniel Carlson, Yen-Ting Chung, Casey James Diskin, Morgan Ersery, Danielle Goldsmith, Mona Kamal, John Lee, Loretta Lomanto, Bojan Mitrevski, Tom Pnini, Rayna Savrosa, Nicholas Shifrin, Alexandria Smith, Tomoe Tsutsumi, John Wanzel, Mary Younkin, andMichelle Yu.

Video: Wandering the Space Within 2010

Here's a special preview of my newest video,

collaborating with Oakland musician Flynn Gleason.

Footage taken with a Flip cam, various locations in New York, Jersey, Brooklyn, and California. 2010.