I am proud to announce that I will be exhibiting my "Tough Love" series along side such amazing artists as Béatrice Coron and Nikki McClure in "Cutting Edge: Contemporary Paper" at Boise State University Visual Arts Center! It is such an honor to be included in this comprehensive show of contemporary paper cutters from all over. Many of the artists in this show are my heroes! Wish I could be there for the opening.
Today I am happy to announce the launch of a wonderful new outlet for women artists, and new website for YOU to buy fabulous art: www.museandthemoon.com!
*Great place to find original holiday gifts!* hint hint.
Please check it out, there are lots of amazing artists featured here (including myself). There will also be video interviews with the artists so you can see how the art is made and get to know your artists better.
I'm really excited to see the evolution of this website and all the wonderful artists that are involved. If you want to check out my artist profile on the site, click here.
Big thanks and congrats to Erin Shockey, the creator of Muse and the Moon.
My exploration of embroidery overlapped with my first introductory course in French. Part of how I have been memorizing my verb conjugations is by embroidering them. That way I practice both French and embroidery at the same time, making me a genius.
Also, one of the worst things to happen to me this year was to get food poisoning on day that I was supposed to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part I with my friends. Absolute Tragedy. And don't you dare start judging me for buying advanced tickets to the opening night showing of this film. I am a hardcore feminist and I fully understand and agree that this "Saga" is a horrible example for girls and women and that it perpetuates everything that's wrong with our puritanical, patriarchal, hipocritical society. That said, I love it for all the right reasons. These movies are probably some of the best laughs you can get. You just have to approach it the right way. With an open, sarcastic heart.
Anyway, I was really upset that I couldn't go so I turned to practicing my French embroidery for consolation. Obviously, vomit was on my mind since that was what I'd been doing all day. So, French word of the day: Vomir. To Vomit.
Do you have any other great french verbs that would look great in embroidery? Let me know and I'll conjugate them via stitch!
It turns out I've been sufficiently obsessed with Ms. Nicks to make two more attempts to capture her vibe in my art. I believe I'm done with her for now, though. As much as I love her, there are too many great pop culture icons right now to dwell in the past.
A few months back, I took a collage class at 3rd Ward and learned an awesome new photo transfer technique using spray fixative! Way less messy than using gels or other methods. So here's a little mixed media piece with our dear Stevie (photo transfer), collage, and watercolor.
And do you remember my first Stevie Nicks embroidery piece (actually, my first embroidery, period)? Here's the follow up. I'm not as crazy about it as I was about the first one. I couldn't capture her face. But I still think it's hilarious. They are both from the same photo shoot, with that same damn bird which just cracks me up. Nothing like carrying a bird all the time to channel your inner "ethereal gypsy rock goddess".
I'm still on this embroidery kick. The more I do it the more I LOVE it. I think one of the things I like best about it is that when I do portraits in just one color, they look like line drawings. Except the process of stitching is way more fun than drawing. I'm very process-oriented.
So after seeing my first Stevie Nicks embroidery, a friend of mine commissioned a portrait of Omar from the HBO series "The Wire" as a gift for her husband. And of course I was up for the challenge.
_Can you believe I've never seen a full episode? I know, I'm terrible. Everyone loves that show, and I'm positive I would love it too because I pretty much love every HBO series ever made. I just haven't gotten around to that one...maybe this is a 2012 resolution.
I had the great pleasure of participating in a collaborative art installation for Dia de los Muertos this year. This was both an art installation and a sacred space for ceremony, prayer, and honoring our ancestors and loved ones.
I worked with two INCREDIBLE Brooklyn-based Latino artists, Adrian "Viajero" Roman and Borish. Viajero and Borish constructed a huge 8'x8' box and painted the outside of it like a dual-faced sugar skull. Using imagery of the Spanish conquest and indigenous symbols, the outside of the box told the story of Latin America's experience under colonization and the pride of our indigenous roots.
Inside, they created a beautiful altar where visitors placed photographs and offerings for their ancestors and loved ones who had passed.
I made a big piece for behind the altar of my grandmother who passed away last year. She's surrounded by Calla Lilies because she used to quote this line from a Katherine Hepburn movie to me all the time: "The Calla Lillies are in bloom again. Such a beautiful flower. So suitable for any occasion." And she would imitate Hepburn's accent and everything, I can still hear it. I thought it was so funny when I was little.
I also made the largest papel picado I have ever made: 8 foot tall curtains of skeletons wearing Taino cacique head dresses and surrounded by spider webs and flowers. Here I referenced traditional Mexican Dia de los Muertos and Taino imagery, combining two cultures that inspire my work.
One of my favorite aspects of the installation was an interactive element: the inside walls of the box were painted black so visitors could write messages to their dearly departed in chalk. It was a beautiful way for people to share their memories and love with each other.
It was a somewhat somber night. Visitors whispered around the altar, read each others' messages and added their offerings to the altar. I hope we do this collaboration again, it was a night full of love and healing across the planes.
I still have to get good pictures taken of it. I added so much to this piece in the final hours. There are a lot more layers of paper involved in this piece. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. I was going for a sort of Victorian, story-book layout with a central framed image and four smaller images in the corners, all surrounded by foliage. But when you look closer it's disturbing and sexual. The piece is my commentary on how perverse Western civilization is, and indeed, any empire.
I'm proud to participate in a group show at 58 Gallery in Jersey City, opening this Friday. Lots of great young artists, can't wait to show my newest hardcore piece! I'll post pics of the finished product after the opening, so keep you're panties on.
This summer I took part in an amazing artist residency called Emerging Indigenous Voices, a project of Maui-based non-profit Kua'aina Associates. It was a truly unique undertaking, and I think the full range of results is yet to be seen. 12 indigenous artists from around the world came together to create a mural for San Francisco State University. Beyond that, we did printmaking and discussed our cultural identities and our artwork, all through the lens of hip hop and urban culture.
One of the residents, Kewana Duncan, is a documentary film maker and he made a short documentary about our mural. Please check it out below!
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