CONVERSATION WITH THE ARTIST
What are you working on?
I just started these new 5 or 6 small panels combining ideas from CLIMB ( the Janice Charach show) with the more figurative turn the work has recently taken… fingers crossed as to the outcome. Mercy is brand new and is the last piece in the series I created for Janice Charach. It is smaller that the other panels and had to be set aside because I ran out of time.
I also just finished Storm Line, Dream and Wheels. These are some of my “orphans”. Pieces that I started, couldn’t resolve, but couldn’t quite give up on. I regretfully stash them in the rack and go on to something else. When I complete a large body of work, I usually take a look at the “orphans”, to see if any of them are speaking to me yet. If so, I pull them out and get to work. Working on these older pieces gives me a transition from the fury of work proceeding a show and the letdown that always follows that kind of an adrenaline high.
Has the format of your practice been impacted in the last few weeks? Are you using different mediums or sizes?
My format is now somewhat smaller. Briggs Gallery custom makes my large stretchers. I am out and they are not working. Since I had the smaller stretcher panels and a couple of commercial canvases left over from other projects, I am working with them. As you see from the studio shots, I am a pack rat when it comes to paper, so I am well stocked for the next month.
Does the social distancing aspect of this period help you focus or has it changed the trajectory of your work?
I feel like most creatives can all relate to introverted practices used in our daily lives- however, this crisis gives "working from home" a whole new meaning. The joy of working from home before used to be a "treat" or "reward" for working hard in times of stress, now it's feeling like a punishment. The impact of social distancing has put me in a very apparent place of reflection and isolation. I am thankful to be quarantined with my partner's family, but still struggling to find my will to create work without my creative peers by my side.
Are there any apps or online tools that you find helpful in this time?
I live alone and my studio is my former garage, so I’m used to being alone for large chunks of the day. That said, knowing that I need to keep my distance from others and the pain that so many are facing has made me much more conscious of my aloneness and need for social interaction with friends and the society as a whole. I miss teaching and am considering putting some of my lecture material on line. Regarding subject matter, I sense that this pandemic is reinforcing my turn to figuration and more explicit narrative that began with my late husband’s illness and death in late 2018.
How are you remaining connected to friends and family?
My technological grid is a bloody mess that I am trying to take some of this downtime to resolve - an attempt has been pretty ineffectual to date. I am about to start investigating Zoom.
What do you do to separate your practice from the rest of the day? Have you set boundaries or is it permeable?
My practice has always permeable as to timing, but I basically work about 5 - 8 hours every day and continue to do so.
What have you been using for inspiration from home? Do you have any recommendations?
I tend to take the previous canvas as the starting point for the next, developing the content and meaning of the overarching idea as I work through the series. When I finally have arrived at what I believe to be the real subject of the series (metaphorically, philosophically etc…), the series is usually done or very close to it. My technical process is a slow one, so a series my extend over a year or more.
