Jun 11, 2013

I recently started on a new series of small sculptures—incidental objects. They’re re-creations of object arrangements I notice in my various daily environments. It feels good—and necessary—to be making something very different from my last body of work (conditional presences). Doing a 180 for now.

May 14, 2013
Speaking Between, the 2013 MFA thesis show, is now up through May 26th at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center in Portland. The gallery has weekend hours, Fri/Sat/Sun, Noon-5. Stop by and see the show if you get a moment—I’ll be gallery sitting May 25th if you’d like to chat! The exhibition catalogue is online here.

Speaking Between, the 2013 MFA thesis show, is now up through May 26th at Disjecta Contemporary Art Center in Portland. The gallery has weekend hours, Fri/Sat/Sun, Noon-5. Stop by and see the show if you get a moment—I’ll be gallery sitting May 25th if you’d like to chat!

The exhibition catalogue is online here.

May 12, 2013
News! I’ll be participating in two artist residencies in Iceland this summer/fall. In August, I will be an artist-in-residence at SIM Residency in Reykjavik. I’m staying a few miles outside the city center in Korpulfsstadir (so beautiful!) In September and October, I head north to Skagastrond for the Nes Artist Residency. For the first month, I will be part of their Summer We Go Public program—I’ll be making outdoor installations that interact with the architecture and landscape of the village.  I’ve wanted to visit Iceland for awhile, and I’m very excited to be doing it with the primary purpose of making work. Seems like a fitting first step after completing grad school this spring…

News! I’ll be participating in two artist residencies in Iceland this summer/fall.

In August, I will be an artist-in-residence at SIM Residency in Reykjavik. I’m staying a few miles outside the city center in Korpulfsstadir (so beautiful!)

In September and October, I head north to Skagastrond for the Nes Artist Residency. For the first month, I will be part of their Summer We Go Public program—I’ll be making outdoor installations that interact with the architecture and landscape of the village. 

I’ve wanted to visit Iceland for awhile, and I’m very excited to be doing it with the primary purpose of making work. Seems like a fitting first step after completing grad school this spring…

May 1, 2013
gathering, fringe ii glass microbeads, coal slag, light98” x 37” LIGHT OUT opened at The White Box in Portland April 30th. The exhibition is a collection of new and recent work by UO grads. Closing Reception: Saturday, May 4th from 6-9 This show arose out of a critique and exhibition exchange between UO and PSU. If you’re interested in reading more about the process, check out the A&AA blog.

gathering, fringe ii 
glass microbeads, coal slag, light
98” x 37”

LIGHT OUT opened at The White Box in Portland April 30th. The exhibition is a collection of new and recent work by UO grads.
Closing Reception: Saturday, May 4th from 6-9

This show arose out of a critique and exhibition exchange between UO and PSU. If you’re interested in reading more about the process, check out the A&AA blog.

Jan 24, 2013
rainbows I started working with glass microbeads and coal slag recently. This is one iteration—something similar could make it into the thesis show. The little rainbow arc moves across the beads as you shift position.

rainbows

I started working with glass microbeads and coal slag recently. This is one iteration—something similar could make it into the thesis show. The little rainbow arc moves across the beads as you shift position.

Nov 11, 2012
black lava sea salt I’ve been experimenting with a couple different types of salt lately—black lava sea salt (salt flakes mixed with charcoal) and celtic gray sea salt. I’m a fan of the black salt since it still crystallizes so delicately and has a really fascinating color separation. It also behaves very differently on the metal surface pictured vs the tiled floor in my studio. In the studio, the black remained as a muted overall undertone instead of areas of pointed color. I did some work with piano wire today, too, but I’m not sold on it. It’s difficult to work with and just doesn’t behave in a way that I’m interested in. The sound is pretty incredible, though—such a high, tinny vibration that still has remnants of tone. Maybe there’s still something there… I’m not sure yet what it is.

black lava sea salt

I’ve been experimenting with a couple different types of salt lately—black lava sea salt (salt flakes mixed with charcoal) and celtic gray sea salt. I’m a fan of the black salt since it still crystallizes so delicately and has a really fascinating color separation. It also behaves very differently on the metal surface pictured vs the tiled floor in my studio. In the studio, the black remained as a muted overall undertone instead of areas of pointed color.

I did some work with piano wire today, too, but I’m not sold on it. It’s difficult to work with and just doesn’t behave in a way that I’m interested in. The sound is pretty incredible, though—such a high, tinny vibration that still has remnants of tone. Maybe there’s still something there… I’m not sure yet what it is.

Nov 4, 2012
silica pond, iceland What an incredible landscape. Every time I see images of this country, I want to go spend months exploring all the vastly different geological formations.

silica pond, iceland

What an incredible landscape. Every time I see images of this country, I want to go spend months exploring all the vastly different geological formations.

Jun 2, 2012

chteniia o bogochelovechestve

And my dark glance brightened,
And the unseen world became visible,
And since that time my ear hears
What others cannot catch,
And I come down from the mountain heights,
Fully penetrated by her rays,
And on the agitated dale
I gaze with new eyes
And I hear the incessant talk
Rings everywhere,
As the stone heart of the mountains
Beats with love in the dark depths;
And slow clouds curl
With love in the sky-blue firmament,
And under the bark of trees
The living juice in the leaves
Rises up with a prophetic heart
That all is born from the Word,
Pouring out the rays of love,
Thirsts to return to him again,
And every stream of life,
Submissive to the law of love,
Rushes irrepressibly to God’s loins
With all the strength of being.
And sound and light are everywhere,
And there is nothing in nature
That would not breathe with love.

Solovyov’s words, not speaking directly about his beliefs around the Divine Sophia, but showing references to that thought. The bit about “God’s loins” is odd, I admit… and it was tempting to edit out the parts of the work that made more direct reference to religion, but I decided to leave it whole. What I do like about Solovyov’s poetry is the overall impression I’m left with that there is a great unity and “oneness” about how every thing operates and exists in the world.

vladimir solovyov, ss 3: 118-119

Apr 9, 2012

ecstasy of influence

“Inspiration could be called inhaling the memory of an act never experienced.”

-Jonathan Lethem, The Ecstasy of Influence

I’ve been thinking more about the phenomenon of collective consciousness and the accumulation of knowledge over generations. In an earlier entry, I included a quote from Socrates, “[…] all enquiry and all learning is but recollection.” I believe it’s possible to acquire knowledge and access a history through physical interaction with an object or one’s surroundings. But I also feel that this experience often occurs within our subconscious where it is not directly accessible as “knowledge I have acquired today.” This is a mental space that is interesting to me as I think about the potential for my work to influence the way that people see the world around them - how seeing my installations/drawings/etc. could subtly change their future visual experiences. …And how this new way of seeing may be adopted by the larger community, becoming part of that collective knowledge/consciousness.

Apr 8, 2012
akiki ikeuchi Sigh. While I love finding work that resonates with me visually and conceptually, sometimes a discovery is formally similar enough to what I am currently working on that it makes me stop and analyze where my work diverts - and it’s important to me that it does. In this case, my installations are more focused on perception and momentarily capturing pockets of light than they are about natural phenomena, Ikeuchi’s inspiration. They are also more minimalist in their design and not as reliant on architectural formulas. I have a couple new pieces along this vein that I’m working on and will be exhibiting over the next few weeks. I’m excited for the directions they’re each exploring - check my website for developments.

akiki ikeuchi

Sigh. While I love finding work that resonates with me visually and conceptually, sometimes a discovery is formally similar enough to what I am currently working on that it makes me stop and analyze where my work diverts - and it’s important to me that it does. In this case, my installations are more focused on perception and momentarily capturing pockets of light than they are about natural phenomena, Ikeuchi’s inspiration. They are also more minimalist in their design and not as reliant on architectural formulas. I have a couple new pieces along this vein that I’m working on and will be exhibiting over the next few weeks. I’m excited for the directions they’re each exploring - check my website for developments.

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