Narcissa and the Consumerists

 

Rather than let another week go by waiting for an ample opportunity to make a proper post, I’m just going to throw this out there into the blogosphere, dash off a quick sentence or two and run back to my Cave of Intense Stuff-Doing.

(Aside: Why is winter always so busy? Doesn’t art know that I am half-bear, and I just really want to sleep?Not complaining though… Busy means alive.)

This is the latest project from my Eccentric Illustration class. This unit was about historical propaganda, persuasion techniques, and influence. I got a little rant-tastic about my anti-consumerist ideals during class discussions, but I won’t do that here, now. You’re welcome. It is sufficient to say this: We are more than our appearance. We miss so much of the stuff that really matters– because we’re so busy looking in the mirror.

As always, thanks so much for popping in. Tell me your thoughts. I want to hear them. 

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Transformation

The first project for my Eccentric Illustration class at AAU: depict “transformation” using a style you’ve never done before. So linocut seemed like a good medium for exploring the transformation of the American landscape and the decimation of our indigenous tribal culture… y‘know, because Columbus Day is right around the corner and it seemed like a good time to bring that up.

I got a little reckless with my cutting, and what has been cut can never be uncut… so I had to do some problem solving with my trusty collage techniques. I’m rather pleased with the outcome, and I learned a great deal about my process.

For me, art is about transforming a breakdown into a breakthrough. Every piece I make goes through an “ugly phase” when I want to either start over, abandon it, or even destroy it. But if I watch that struggle and even embrace it without being attached to the outcome, and just keep pushing– I’ll come out the other side with something true and beautiful. Life is like that too.

isupov and jean and klein, oh my!

The Mint Museum in Charlotte has a sculpture by one of my favorite contemporaries, Sergei Isupov, who is awesome. I love his style, his imagination, his subject matter, his fine detail and exquisite rendering ability. He is by far my favorite ceramicist and one of the most interesting contemporary artists still alive.

this image courtesy of

During my wanderings about the vast and labyrinthine internets of late, I have discovered James Jean, an artist originally from Taiwan, now apparently living in California. I googled “seamstress” and came across the painting behind that link, which I love to the point of wishing I had done it. I am currently working on a piece which may or may not turn out to be about the plight of sweatshop seamstresses in Asia and Indonesia who, for 13 cents a day, produce the designer garments which retail clerks, making $8/hr, sell to trust fund darlings for $100+ a pop. I am on chapter 10 of No Logo by Naomi Klein.