Just found out this morning that two of my most recent pieces have been accepted into a show at Nave Gallery in Somerville, MA this December.
The opening will be December 5, at a time not yet determined.
The House on Hazel Court, oil on panel, 2015
Ocean Avenue from Memory, oil on canvas, 2015
I am currently in the process of filling out a sketchbook for the second ever HallSpace Drawing Project in Dorcester, MA. The show focuses on the idea of the book as a container of ideas.
Participants' work from last year's exhibit can be viewed at hallspacedrawingproject.tumblr.com
Just got back from dropping off my pieces at Flock Gallery for their 2nd Annual Pop-Up Exhibition! Three of my pieces were chosen this year, and I'm honored to be a part of such a solid, hard-working, and community-based project.
The opening will take place Thursday, July 23rd from 5-8pm.
Flock Gallery is located at 1000 Elm St. in the first floor of the Brady Sullivan Tower.
My pieces, waiting to be hung at Flock Gallery.
The lovely ladies behind Flock Gallery are at it again! I've had three pieces juried into their second annual pop-up exhibition which will open July 23rd. They've planned days of events such as poetry open mic, community workshops, and live music to the calendar, and are looking for volunteers to help if you have the time to give.
FOLLOW: http://flockgallerynh.tumblr.com to join their flock!
The following pieces have been accepted:
I hope to find time when I'm not working to volunteer with Flock; helping to hang their Form & Figure show last summer was such a great experience, and they're doing such awesome things to nurture the Manchester arts community.
This Still House is a series of still-life photographs staged in my studio in 2014. They consist of found objects and studio materials juxtaposed with a piece, then in progress, called Elemental, Familial. This series explores compositions and objects that I am drawn to, and was it played a crucial role in my understanding of how the photographed piece would ultimately be finalised. Process is so varied, but this is part of it.
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
Scanned 35mm
The series utilizes the surrounding studio environment. Dramatic cast shadows become a physical subject and act as positive objects in the space, while the use of window panes and empty frames play with space as an idea versus space as an actual. I'm interested in the push and pull that occurs as a result of all of this.
My work has become increasingly about the Jersey Shore, and I find that hysterical considering I came to NH five years ago to get away from just that.
Ocean Ave. from memory.
The colours of my summers / the idea of water, and water as an environment whether Atlantic or river or chlorinated. A lot of this is chlorinated, actually. And of course there is wind and clouds.
The ocean in your living room
This is maybe halfway there - it's about Sandy; I was in NH when Sandy struck, and I just imagine my dog during the whole thing. But also of course the structural devastation. I have this obsession with the idea of homes versus the physicality of houses, and I explore that in so much of my work. The drawing up top is of my childhood house from memory. My parents still live there, but I'm at the point during my life where they'll sell it soon and that's guna be so weird.... Along the side of this piece I wrote the words "water finds its own level." A thing my father taught me when I was very young. I remember being in the basement of what I think must've been his father's house and he had this long, clear hose that he filled with some water and was using to level something to the wall - I remember even at that young age being super impressed with this fact and my father's ingenuity.
Not yet titled, but it's another ball hitting water
This is another ball hitting water, a motif I keep returning to. It's kind of this event that is both tumultuous and fun and it holds this essence of summer for me, just playing volleyball in the pool // it's temporal and violent but at the same time, harmless. This one is least far along out of these three, I'd say...
So, in the past few weeks I've made several positive changes. Some of these changes are as small as putting a new ribbon in my typewriter; others were as time-consuming as gutting my whole studio, cleaning it, and completely rearranging it while carefully curating what was allowed back in. I've bought a quality printer/scanner bed, as well as several pieces from New Hampshire Institute of Art's 2015 BFA graduates that now adorn the walls of my house. I have four paintings in the works right now, and two more that I've just started. I've been busy and it feels great.
Perhaps the biggest development, however, and absolutely the most involved, long term, and dramatic is that I'm beginning to set-up a personal darkroom. I've come into possession of two enlargers, as well as easels, trays, chemistry, a safe-light; you name it! I have just a few more items to acquire, plus some of the gear is in need of a good scrubbing, but I'd like to say that by July, I hope to be developing 35mm film and creating silver gelatin prints from the comfort of my laundry room. I will post photos of the set-up when it's complete, and hope to produce some prints I can be proud enough of to post up here.
The most exciting part of this all is not only the venture of having another creative medium to explore and develop and express myself through, but also in how becoming more serious about photography will inform my other work. Stoke is high on that!
I'm a process based artist for whom the final product is just as important; the process continues until the piece is finished, and not even I know when that will be.
Here are some current works in progress:
Been doing some light sketching
This is a self-portrait I carved back in 2013 but never finished, proofed, nor printed (for lack of time). I'm finally getting around to making some long-awaited adjustments and hope to pull a proof in the coming days.
Waiting for the sealant on the block to dry - will be ready for inking tomorrow!
