Saturday, May 26, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
you lose what you don't hold
Michelle Dickson's show you lose what you don't hold opens this friday at SM&KK Studios Chicago.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Message/Precision
After picking some basil in the school garden, a bi-lingual pre-school student of mine held his fingers up to my face and asked me to listen to his fingertips. I knew from his actions leading up to the request what he meant. I had watched him picking the basil, smelling it, smelling his fingers, pushing his fingers towards his brother’s nose for him to have a smell – so I knew what he wanted as he came walking over to me with an ear-to-ear smile on his face and his fingers held high. I had even begun to lean forward to oblige him before he had his question out. When I heard his request for me to listen to his fingertips, rather than smell them, I had a moment of cognitive displacement. There was a mental fold that occurred and I think I tried to hear through my nose. It was as if I had stubbed my brain- it didn’t hurt, but the flow of understanding had stopped short. It only lasted a millisecond. All of the other cues I had observed were pointing me in the right direction, even if what I think of as the most direct cue was off by a quarter turn of the head. Once I had regained my bearings I smiled and said, “You mean smell.” He nodded, grinned his big semi toothless grin, and told me that in Italian the word is the same for both. As he hopped away I was left thinking about how circumstance and gesture defined our interaction, not language. Hearing the wrong word threw me, while actions and gestures grounded me. The authority I gave to the word surprised me. Despite the mountain of information pointing me towards the correct conclusion, the displacement of one word, one negligent sign out of hundreds of reliable ones, caused me to stumble.
I have been applying to writing jobs recently. Above is one of the writing samples I have been sending out. Just thought I'd share.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Sarah Purnell at SM&KK studios
As the manager of SM&KK studios gallery night I am proud to present the work of Sarah Purnell! If you are in Chicago this friday March 9th, please check out her work. Details in the link below.
http://www.chicagoartsdistrict.org/event_detail.asp?eventid=846
Friday, February 24, 2012
Some of the publicity I have recieved in the southwest.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Zion or Straight Canyon
11" x 7"
15" x 11"
11" x 7"
11" x 7"
11" x 7"
11" x 7"
30" x 22"
30" x 22"
30" x 22"
30" x 22"
22" x 15"
11" x 7"
11" x 7"
11" x 7"
detail
Saturday, February 11, 2012
The trouble with names.
One of my first impressions of Zion National Park is that it lacks subtlety. The mountains here grow up out of the flat ground without the transition of foothills or gentle slopes that I am accustomed to. The bare rock faces stare back at you as you enter the park – holding your gaze – daring you to look away - making it nearly impossible for you to watch the road or notice any other feature of the landscape.
The names here lack subtlety as well. “Zion,” “The Watchman,” “Mount Majestic,” “Abraham Peak,” “Isaac Peak,” “Jacob Peak,” “Weeping Rock,” “Cathedral Mountain,” and “The Pulpit,” to name just a few. What this place is supposed to evoke is not left up to the imagination. Park visitors – those who are believers in one of the religions that are intertwined with the biblical texts – come here knowing what they will find. Their awe and godly inspiration are predetermined.
As a non-believer these names have an alienating effect on me - make me wonder if I should be here. The feeling is not dissimilar to the few times I have been in a church since losing my religion at a young age. I did not expect to feel this when I was proposing and planning my stay in Zion. I thought such names would stay in my periphery and only figure in as a cheeky juxtaposition to the chaos of my landscape drawings. I am an American non-believer after all, I have to put up with references to god at every turn of my civic life, I should be used to it. But here at Zion I feel like a rat in a maze, trying to find my way out of this religiosity. The dichotomy here is hard to skirt. I have no choice but to confront it.
After a few days of trying to draw these blunt, attention-grabbing mountains, I have shifted my focus. Instead looking where all of the arrows and signs are pointing me, instead of looking at what is named, I am looking where the deer and fox are pointing me. I am using their trails, trying to see what they see. I imagine they have their own names for things here that might make a lot more sense to me than the biblically derived ones.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Arriving in Zion National Park
After a long drive through a depressed looking Navajo Reservation, I arrived at Zion National Park yesterday eve. I can’t help but be disturbed by the notion of driving from one protected natural space to another via the land we have set aside for the Navajo. The inhabitants of the reservation seemed just as set aside as the land. I’m not sure what to make of this yet. But it is sticking with me so I’ll be thinking about it while making drawings here in Zion.
In the meantime, here are some images of this beautiful place.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Today I was the Artist in Residence at Wupatki Point.
Wupatki was gorgeous! I will post pics of my drawings soon.
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