Re-presenting

My new work presented in my last post finds its beginnings in past explorations. In 2008 I completed a body of work titled Remnants. A remnant can be so many things: vestige, residue, trace, leftover, debris, mélange, scrap, refuse, detritus, relic remains, fragment. It all depends on your personal take. Here's mine from a recent proposal for an exhibition of Remnants:


In abandoned or soon to be refurbished homes, in trunks and old boxes, in debris hidden in grass rests layers of history waiting to be uncovered and interpreted. While the place and time might be specific, the information gathered reveals universal truths. The examination of what remains provides a sense of the past and direction for the future. These pieces of history help to define identity and understand place.


Using various art techniques, I explore the themes inherent in remnants left behind. I’ve placed my family history within the process but extend the exploration to old houses, some abandoned and some in the process of renovation. While one of the houses has a personal connection, the rest I adopted as I came across them in my summer wanderings. The houses continue to come to my attention and I continue to document them for future works.

The peeling walls are metaphors for the lives lived within the houses and are similar in many ways to my early years. The beauty of the wallpaper patterns is in direct opposition to the basic work filled lives led by many of the women in these homes. Seeing beauty perhaps made their environment more aesthetically pleasant. Many of these woman created work by hand that adorned their home made furniture and children. It was the inside life of women while many of the objects I painted to pair with the wallpapers represented the outside life of men at that time: building, fishing etc. There was a strict division of labour and definite male and female roles.

These works are about my memories as much as they are about the objects that I have chosen to revere in the work.

As Estes notes in Women Who Run with the Wolves many of our memories are rooted in the body itself and need the merest touch to resurface.

"The body remembers, the bones remember, the joints remember, even the little finger remembers. Memory is lodged in pictures and feelings in the cells themselves. Like a sponge filled with water, anywhere the flesh is pressed, wrung, even touched lightly, a memory may flow out in a stream."

I became interested in the concept of sensual memory while writing my first artist statement. As I struggled to understand why I needed to work the way I do, I realized that my strong tactile style had a direct connection to the crafts I created in my formative years in rural Newfoundland. My hands have to create layers of meaning through the manipulation of materials. Paint isn’t enough; I need direct contact with materials, tearing and cutting fragments, applying layers, building up, patterning, hiding and revealing. I am building a network of connections in the content and the creative process just as my ancestors did as they created objects of useful beauty, without waste, from materials at hand.

My process itself is based on remnants created by tearing and rearranging image transfers. My new work has moved beyond some of the ideas explored in Remnants. Teresa said in her response to my last post ... "The first though that popped into my head was "haunting memories" in that it seems like memory born from a dream-like state". Haunting memory is definitely part of it, but the memories are born through the process of creating and layering. They are stored memories released through touch.

New work

Untitled so far (16 x 16 in.) mixed media on canvas

It's time for the great unveiling of my new landscape series. I will write more about my intent and thoughts in the next post. Right now I'm just throwing the piece out there for any response you might like to give. Enlarge it to get a close up view of what's going on. There's still some final shadows to do on the fishing box and boat but all else is complete.

September thoughts

I would like to report that I'm madly painting on a daily basis but that is not the case. My mind is unsettled and flits from one thing to the next. I can make sweeping the floors a marathon event as I stop and tidy books, move something and answer the phone and then put away dishes before I remember I'm sweeping the floor. Now don't think I'm filling my days with housework, nothing could be farther from the truth. I just can't settle. For three days I planned to photograph my new work to put in this very post. That remains undone. My studio looks like this...


It is full of boxes from my last show, the encaustic workshop I taught, and the return of supplies from my summer house. My husband has sneaked in a box he's making and my son thinks its a parking spot for his bike. I have to define my space it seems. Working three days a week further removes me from my art. It's a month since I painted. I have two new art books that I'm not reading which is very unusual .


Even blogging holds no interest right now.

How do I account for these unfocused actions? September is always a month of new beginnings for me , a time to reconsider the coming year. Yes, my year goes from September because of my many years in the classroom. I need to make the transition from the months at my summer studio into my real studio. I need to get my head around my new series. It's coming to me slowly as each new piece looks a little different in style. I need a block of work time. Hopefully it's coming soon. Perhaps a trip over the stairs to the studio would be a good start!

Surviving Igor

The last several days have been difficult ones in Newfoundland as we endured the rage of Hurricane Igor. Many communities are cut off because road systems and bridges are washed away. the damage to houses and property is immense in certain areas. In St. John's we made out well and didn't even lose our electricity. Our only complaint was loss of internet. My daughter has been with electricity for three days.

My summer house in Duntara is inaccessible and will remain so until construction crews can start working on the beach road or the bridge. The electricity has been out there since Tuesday. Residents are resourceful with generators and wood stoves. There isn't any gas left and food in freezers will have to be thrown out. A fishing shed at the head of the harbour washed out to see. The beach road is impassible. We head out next week once the roads are open.

The Prime Minister is headed our way to check out the damage today.

More on image transfer

Image transfers usually make their way into my work (even when it doesn't look like they are there). Because I make so many I've had to find ways to perfect my technique. I've begun a new series called Re-presenting until I come up with something better and the image transfers are happening fast and furiously. I thought I would create a review post with some additional hints and pictures to add to my previous posts on the subject (see my sidebar).
I use an old shower curtain to lay out my colour photocopies that I want to create into image transfers. My all time favourite acrylic medium for this is Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish. Apply four coats in alternating directions with drying in between, and leave overnight to dry completely. You can force drying with a hair dryer if you need one or two fast, but I don't do that as a rule.

When the papers are completely dry, soak in a bath of warm water for 15 minutes. I sometimes add Bounce or a similar product to the water to help release the paper. This is an old wallpaper removal trick.

I work on my kitchen countertop. Dampen the area with a spray bottle and place the image face down. Start to remove the paper from the centre outward with your fingertips with a delicate touch until you find out exactly how much pressure you can apply.

You will need to keep spraying the paper to keep it damp. When most of the layers are removed it's time to begin the finishing touches. I have two favourite tools I use.

The plastic scrubbie works very well and holds up for months. You can just run water over it to clean when you are finished.

I also like the combined sponge and green scrubbie. The positive for this tool is the sponge which can be used to remove all clinging bits at the very end of the process. The disadvantage is that the scrubbie side clogs up with paper over time and you can't easily remove it.

I give each finished transfer a final brush with a wet paper towel before I lay it to dry.


Let dry before use and then tear them up and re-organize to your hearts content. You can use gloss medium or matt medium to apply the transfers to your work.
I would be happy to answer any questions on the technique.

Next post ... new work. It's time to go public.

Stitched Identities by Jane Zweibel

Baang and Burne Contemporary will hold their inaugural show, Stitched Identities, on Sunday September 26, 2010, 2-6:00 p.m. showcasing the recent paintings of New York artist Jane Zweibel. Her Stitched Identities are soft sculptures or "stuffed paintings" that allude to childhood stuffed animals and dolls while suggesting cartoon figures, spiritual icons, and effigies.

Her work attempts to "push and blur the boundaries and traditions of sculpture and painting". A major theme is Zweidel's work is an ongoing exploration of issues of identity, in particular female identity.

I love to get inside an artist's head to see how the work they are currently producing came to be. Here is a peek into this artist's thoughts and inspirations.

How did you get started making art? Have you always been a painter or have you worked in different mediums?

I have made art for as long as I can remember. I never made a choice to be an artist – it was what I always did and wanted to do. I have always been a painter first. But I have also consistently made drawing and collages. In college and graduate school I learned printmaking and began investigating sculpture as a medium. That foray into the language of sculpture has informed my work today. For six years I have been creating what I call “stuffed paintings”: sewn and cotton stuffed canvas forms with paintings on the facades. I see them primarily as three-dimensional paintings. I love the idea of merging painting and sculpture, and fusing them into a new, hybrid medium and mode for self-expression.

Self-Portrait Praying #1
2008
Oil on sewn and stuffed canvas
40 x 24 x 12"

Working alone in the studio can be a lonesome endeavor. How do you keep yourself motivated and on track?
I have maintained studios in a variety of contexts. I have worked in rented studios in buildings with other artists’ studios. This kind of studio situation has afforded me the space to focus upon my work, as well as the possibility of interacting with other artists. This has always worked as an excellent balance for me. Even more ideal has been artist residencies, where I have been granted the time and space to develop a body of work, and to develop creative relationships with other artists. I have fine-tuned the ability to work independently in a dedicated way. Working towards a specific goal, such as a show, definitely fuels my motivation. But if there is no upcoming exhibition or other opportunity, I just keep working, and the sheer excitement of seeing new work unfold is where the motivation and inspiration lies. Of course, there have been many times when I have experienced a lack of motivation. During those periods I sit tight, and so far my “mojo” has never failed to return. Travel and multiple cups of coffee help!

Self-Portrait Praying # 6
2008
Oil on sewn and stuffed canvas
40 x 16 x 12"

What's the best & worst piece of career advice you've ever received?

Perhaps the best career advice I have received is that no matter what, it is the creative work that takes place in the studio, developing over time, that is the most important and driving force of an artist’s life. Without the work, there is no career. The career components --- shows, grants, reviews, etc. -- are essential to being and developing as a professional artist, but none of that can happen without a strong commitment to one’s artistic vision, the realization of that vision, and conviction in what you are accomplishing in your work. Stick with what is true to you – that has always worked for me – and career triumphs, interspersed with disappointments and rejections, have been my rewards. In terms of the worst piece of career advice offered to me, I can’t think of anything specific. However, I have had some disturbing and discouraging experiences in terms of reactions to my work. If I had allowed these incidents to take hold of me, they would have adversely affected my career as an artist.

Do you believe artistic creativity is an innate human quality?

I do believe that artistic creativity is an innate human quality. I think that all people are born with the potential for creative self-expression. However, unfortunately, because of the poor level of art education in most public schools, and the lack of support for art education in general by the government (at least in the United States), most people’s innate creative potential is neglected and un-nurtured. This is a profound shame. On the other hand, I don’t think that everyone is “born” with natural talent for art. But certainly, everyone has within them the capacity to express him or herself artistically and creatively. It is indeed a human quality.

Can you describe your most recent exhilarating visual experience?

Describe the last time you stood before a work of art and were genuinely moved by it. Recently, I saw an exhibition of Kiki Smith’s new work at Pace Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. I have always admired her work. But I was unprepared for the powerful experience of seeing this show. I was tremendously moved by it, so much so that I felt that it would have a deep impact upon my own work. The overall theme of the show was the life and death cycle of a particular woman, and women in general. The women could be perceived of as both personal self-portraits, and “everywoman’ portraits. The dying women could be perceived as references to Kiki Smith’s sister, who had died of AIDS. The larger than life portraits and self-portraits were extremely eloquent, evocative, moving and haunting for me.

Over the years you’ve worked with many different galleries internationally, but Baang & Burne Contemporary functions in a really different way from the traditional white cube gallery structure. Why did the idea of B&B appeal to you? How did this project come about? What made you think it might be a good fit for your work?

In addition to typical white cube galleries, I have also shown in a variety of alternative spaces and venues.I believe firmly that there are so many ways and places to exhibit art that exist off the beaten path. I love innovation, and that includes the arena of gallery models. These new and exciting venues increase the possibilities for artists to have their work seen. When I was presented with the opportunity to show my work with Baang & Burne Contemporary I gladly accepted. I think that offering the art world, and others, the opportunity to view my work in an intimate context, and to have the chance to meet and talk with me, and vice versa, is a creative and wonderful alternative to the conventional gallery opening and exhibition. It promises to be more relaxed, friendly, and conducive to conversation and getting to know the artist and artwork in a more up close and personal way. I immediately felt it would be a good fit for my work, in that it breaks the mold in exhibition models, and my own ideas resonate with the vision of Baang & Burne’s creators/directors. I admire what they are setting out to accomplish, I like the work of the other artists represented, and they believe in my work. The latter is something you don’t always clearly get from gallerists-at-large.

There's more than one way

Getting your work to the public is always on the minds of artists. Fellow blogger and artist Kesha Bruce and artist Charlie Grosso have decided to try something new with the creation of Baang and Burne Contemporary. Don't bother looking up the physical address- there isn't one! Wondering where the name came from? The gallery takes its name from a cold-war era espionage term used to describe covert demolition and sabotage operations, altering the spelling slightly in a tongue in cheek reference to Big-name art galleries that donne the names of their well-known directors.

The plan is to produce 4-6 exhibition events a year in cities in the US and Europe on a minimal budget. The goal of each event is to introduce the artists to possible new collectors in a new geographic region, or to a new group in their own backyard to increase future sales by engaging new audiences through relationship and community building.

Instead of using the traditional “pop-up” gallery that takes over a commercial space or store front for a limited time, Baang and Burne will create a series of private “one night only” events with a much smaller guest list of individuals. Most of the events will actually take place in a private home and will be by invitation only. Anyone has the chance to be invited simply by getting onto our invite list.

Baang and Burne's first event will take place in New York City on September 26th, 2010. More on this event on Sept. 16