Plagues of Egypt

Serpent Skin 2006 Brendan Hurley New York Museum of Natural History

I am working on my CSI challenge today and have changed my theme of overwhelming fear to

the prevailing fears of our society. I guess I liken these to the plagues of Egypt.

I have been listening to a great friend lately who feels very upset by the situations caused by irresponsible decisions by corporations and governments. Global warming, housing shortages, drugs and disease. Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed by information about terrifying predictions. She compared what is happening to more biblical times and prediction.

She is a Jew. I am an atheist/ agnostic/ Unitarian. The stories and fears, however, are often prempted by fanatical forecasting. They don't allow us to consider solutions as carefully

I have decided my work will be about these fears. Nothing bigger and to be completed by tomorrow!

Plagues include rivers turning to blood, pestilence, boils, frogs, locust, nasty beasts etc...By tomorrow!

After Glow

I am not sure if this is after glow or fever.

Celine and Scott organized the show beautifully. Not bad at all for a first try! Not bad for a one hundredth try!

Many different kinds of people attended the Wonderland opening. There were only a few textile people there because of the Maiwa Wrap party. The majority of attendees came from other parts of the art world and community. That was quite exciting for me.

There were a group of people who attended who have been working with the Dalai Lama.
I don't think I have ever had robed Tibetan Buddist monks attend one of my shows before.
The most fascinating conversation I have ever had was with a man from Tibet named Chi Ching.
He wanted to know why I named the work "Wonderland" after Disney. He hadn't heard of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Trying to explain something that absurd to someone who thinks about deep meaning everyday was a challenge. The film maker Janice Wong gave me a hand. Translating absurdity between cultures is very revealing.

Chi Ching was beyond cool. He had responses to the explanations that really made me have to stretch. He immediately understood that the English are a strange. He also got the opium connections. He certainly understood absurdity and changed perceptions.

I got plenty of encouragement and inspiring comments regarding the work. One very lovely comment came from James, photographer artist from Seattle, who photographs art all the time. He described himself as rather jaded and hard to amaze. He said he was amazed by my work.

People liked playing with the looking glasses and feeling the sample books. They actually spent time reading the artist and curatorial statements. They took the cards and invited me to play.
They told me about the work they did.

What more should I ask?

I am inviting textile people to attend next Saturday between 2-4. at the Numen Gallery 1058 Mainland Street Vancouver.

Now I have to get back to work on the CSI challenge pieces so I can mail them off before deadline in two days! Hope I make it.

Wonderland

Numen Gallery Invitation postcard 2007

Numen Gallery is lovely. So are the owners Celine and Scott.They have put really careful consideration into everything.

We set up the "Wonderland" exhibition last night and edited out some of the work that may have looked great in the studio but didn't work as well in the gallery. Some of the work looked fabulous in the gallery but was so so in the studio. A good reminder to see the work in place before deciding what to show.

The white, heavily crusted globes are even more effective in these new surroundings.My favourite, however, is a tiny dark orb looking like a little toad nestled with it's companions. A few of the globes are now lit from within allowing a soft. blue light to glow through the holes. The gut balls have taken on a very sensual presence and really work with the felt balls and snake skin pupae.

You will have to come and see "Wonderland" on Saturday October 27 @2-4pm. Numen Gallery 120-1058 Mainland.

Disaster Averted

All of the large globes started to collapse and crumble in on themselves today.
Panic was too mild a description for what happened.

Logic center replaced hysteria and I proceeded to do some major problem solving.
Things collapse for the following reasons...they have been worked before completely drying, the glues are too flexible, the weight of the embellishments are too heavy, or the internal structure has been weakened with the burning process.

I was busy designing internal supports and decided to give up all together. I resorted to wailing and whining. I collapsed in a heap. I contacted the gallery and said they couldn't be shown.

I went down to the studio and proceeded to continue burning and forming. Voila! The largest ball has been resurrected and will be shown. It is stronger than ever. The most complex ball can
be saved and an internal support made from insulation foams will work tomorrow. The simplest ball might not ever be saved. I will start it from scratch again and deliver it late.

Every pore on my body is covered in emulsions and paint. I smell like a demented campfire girl
and my partner is getting crabbier because he hasn't been cuddled in awhile.

Sometimes art making is so much fun it makes social work an option again!

I love it when a gallery has a decent contract and go about things in a professional manner.

I just hate, however, pricing my work. It is fairly unique and there is obsessive detail in most pieces. Sometimes the pieces I like least have sold for the most money. Sometimes people whine about paying for something that has taken unbelievable hours to create. Usually something I love and treasure.

I have enough work I like not to feel worried about the show at Numen Gallery. The other artists who will be showing there this year are people I consider to be some of the best in Vancouver. Alice Phillips is a wonderful felter and Jeina Morosoff is my favourite glass artist ever! Celine has taken time to consider carefully who she will show and certainly has a similar aesthetic to my own.

Meanwhile... back to the ranch to finish wrapping gut around twisted vines to create little globes for inside the cases and jars. One of them is made with laminated rose petals and stuffed with silk worm cocoons. I am very happy with how they look.

Very excited about my opening on Saturday.

Choking Hazard Dolls

Choking Hazard Doll Kirsten Chursinoff 2007

Choking Hazard Doll Kirsten Chursinoff 2007

It is hard to imagine the beautiful and talented embroiderer, Kirsten Chursinoff, had a dark and dangerous room in her brain containing anything as demented as "the choking hazard dolls".

I have had intimate contact with these dolls. They were in my studio at the last Eastside Culture Crawl. I shiver in horror at them after my laughter stops. They are hideous and tempting all at the same time.

Her dolls are aptly named...Lobotomy, Edward Scissor Bear, Squished. They have everything from friendly bleeding wounds to extra long "pubes". Some of them vomit, some have stitches from failed surgeries. All are completely extreme.

When Chursinoff was asked how she decided to make them she replied,"Well I had a few parts hanging around." All in a sweet and dulcet voice to go with her angel face. Not bad for a preacher's daughter.

Check out her show at button button in Vancouver until Hallowe'en and her site at
http://www.chursinoff.com/kirsten/choking.html

Gut

Gut Counterpart from the Louvre's Roman Exhibition

The miles of gut were delivered this morning. Sheep and hog. It is beautiful and will make the best little sculptures. There is enough of it for me to weave or knit but I'm not sure I can stomach it without a wet suit of something. Now isn't the time to get squeemish.

There were also some collagen casing delivered for me to try. I have unraveled a string of it and it looks perfect for stitching. I'll do some experiments on it this afternoon to see how it works with image transfers etc.

I will be washing and clipping for the whole morning. First, I need to run out and get a new package of gloves, some groceries and some fresh air.

Yesterday's work is the most successful yet. It is a very deeply carved globe with holes large enough for a baby finger. The working and reworking made the whole emulsion very dense and hard. It is starting to feel like bone. The inside was foiled first and it has a slight shimmer through the holes like abalone or something. I might stick a thin paint brush in and see it I can hit it with some soft green interference. There was the possibility of blasting it with an ivory to bone acrylic last night but the sun brings out the beautiful details this morning.

I feel so much better today. The kitchen fairy (me) swamped the dishes, cleaned the living room and swept the floor. I reminded my feminist self that Tim went out and earned the money for my emulsions and gut and built the light boxes. So this isn't giving in... it is a labour exchange.