phase 3 redux - develop thoughtful algorithms

Continued working on the Sophia
- now she has a neck, but no left foot.

the outline of the dress is chalk directly on the wall, and the black bands are
ribbon and tape. I especially like the cameo which is a tiny print, cut out and
suspended on gold embroidery thread.

I also made this this week for an upcoming show
It's a 12 x 12 collage of "Il Matta" (the fool),
which is actually my card in the tarot deck, as opposed La Papessa,
the card that relates most closely to the installation piece, Sophia at the top

It's a sculpture in low relief, the button and one of the bells are real so 

that if people walk by too quickly or too close, it jingles 

(which I find hysterical). 

The buildings are from these blocks that I carved for Mini #47 in 2012.
It's sort of funny because these pre-date my discovery of the Nuremberg Chronicles.
that I've literally had under my pillow for the last 3 weeks (love, love, love).
On the one hand, I probably like the book because it reminds me of  artwork;
on the other hand, seeing the book motivates new artwork,
so it both reminds and inspires at the same time (weird).   

phase 3 redux - develop thoughtful algorithms

I painted the wall red and bound all the little angels and demons together. Thinking of preparing the wall as an algorithm and having learned from painting Spes's blue wall, this time I got matte paint, patched all the holes, and primed, before painting (funny how that leads to a better result ;)).

In a further attempt to build it the smart way instead of the not as smart way, I made the red rectangle the size of a standard hollow core door (36 x 84"), so that if I ever need to install this somewhere and can't paint the wall, I can mount it to a painted door instead (and since hollow-core doors are readily available, I wouldn't need to ship them, I can prepare them on site).

I used some of the new book-making techniques I've been learning to affix the side prints to one another. In my quest to eliminate the need for glue, I used brads. They accordion down into a 10 x 7.5 inch book (very portable - two thumbs up). Also, because only the top one it attached to the wall, I don't have to worry too much about hanging them straight, since gravity does most of the work.

The hardest part may have been holding myself back from adding more patterning in the small collages. On an individual basis, they could have taken more patterning inside the scrollwork patterns (and one of the joys of collage, I tested it, then changed my mind.) I had to keep reminding myself that the end goal was how they would look together as part of a larger piece where they're already pattern within pattern within pattern, and that more would not be as pleasing a visual relief (sigh).

Still working on the central figure and planning out a canopy to go over the central portion (so the whole thing is in a house that is a bigger version of the one in the side collages.) Only problem there - I've reached the ceiling (mad scientist laughter - whahahaha).

phase 3 redux - develop thoughtful algorithms

All 14 together!

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:30Klosterneuburg.JPG

Finished all 14 angels and demons! I'm planning to display them vertically, but arranged this way for the photograph, they remind me a little of the Klosterneuburg Altar (which I studied but have never seen in person ...yet ;)).

Klosterneuburg altar by Nicholas
of Verdun, ca. 1180

Of course, true to form, once I finished all 14, I decided that they needed just a little something more...another layer of internal framing? So I carved 2 new blocks of ornament for the corners and printed them in gold ink on gray paper...


 Now, seeing the photo, I think that the paper is about 3/4 too wide (oy.)

\with my index finger both for scale and to help the camera focus - 
I added highlights in the eyes using the tip of a needle dipped in ink - fun times

I bound the two books I've been working on 

as a student in a pop-up book class at the 

Columbia County Art School!

 (Now what to fill them with...)

But it wasn't all angels and demons this week. Over the weekend, I went to Zea Mays Printmaking studio in Florence, MA for a workshop with Nancy Diessner on photopolymer printmaking!  

Thinking about algorithms - bookmaking and printmaking are both algorithm (a repeated series of steps with several options structured as "if-thens".) 

Throw back to mini #27 - from the Power in Precision Project
When I made this, I used digital prints for the 
cityscape and figure, but wasn't satisfied with the image 
quality of those areas...2 years later, I think I may have 
finally solved that issue, haha. 
Coincidentally, I made this the week the tiny press came
into my life :)

Photopolymer printing is a process I've been wanting to learn more about as a way of translating some of my digital photographs into a more manual process. 

I'm going to have to think some more about this, because on the one hand, it's complex and requires specialized materials and equipment (so there are lots of stages along the way where I could make costly mistakes - eep). On the other hand, it produced the results I was looking for... (so, to be honest, I've already decided that it's for me and am thinking through the logistics of how to make it work ;).)

photopolymer prints based on my photographs :)

I think my love of Chuck Close
is coming  through in this photopolymer print

I'll have time to think about it because it will take me some time to work through what I have - I pulled as many prints as I could (dozens in a single day - I can be efficient when I want to be ;)). Not all of them can be finished pieces, but, thinking of my work like beloved pets, the piece that aren't "show quality," will find happy homes as the starting points for collages.

Like the creepy instance of finding the Greek
coin that matched my work in the Met a few
weeks ago,
there were aedicules that match almost exactly
the angel and demon's houses everywhere in the
 building including in the stained glass.

In para-art news, I went to "Troy Night Out," in nearby Troy, NY. I was an artist resident at the Contemporary Artist Center in Troy in Summer 2012 and I like the area and enjoy visiting. Little did I know - there's a Tiffany church, St. Paul's in downtown Troy! Almost the entire interior is Tiffany (windows, lights, stencils, architectural ornament!) Seeing it, I had one of those "I'm so excited I might faint" moments.

this is a picture from wikipedia,
mine didn't do it justice:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul's_Episcopal_Church_(Troy,_New_York)

phase 3 redux - develop thoughtful algorithms

The algorithm I worked on this week: the most efficient project is a completed one, haha. Joking (sort of), but seriously, I kept trying to figure out how to make the inverse of last weeks block of a kneeling figure. I know there are probably lots of ways to do it, but I just couldn't decide on one. I ended up redrawing the figure (mirror imaged) onto a new block. Maybe there really is no such thing as an "efficient" gothic-style, multi-block, collaged, polyptych (hahaha).

I finished 3 more of these to reach the total of 7

Front - my favorite one so far

Back - I mounted them to black cardstock
and in my quest to eliminate the glue -
the columns have tabs which side through slits
and then the top is connected by a brad.
The hanging loop will go around the brad

I also cut an inverse of the previous block and a new wing. printed, drew on, cut and assembled the 7
figures that will flank a central image on the opposite side.

I also worked more on the giant tarot card, reusing the body and feet from Spes.

the black is acid-free tape - It's like playing with a giant paper doll

still working on the hands and objects, but it's coming along

still no neck...

And there was gardening :)!

Earlier in this week - snow :(

Before (though after removing a dead shrub)

After -  brick bed, mulch and plants - herb garden!

Phase 3 redux - develop thoughtful algorithms

Quarter not included - Thank you  George Washington for providing a sense of scale ;)
nerd alert: I'm especially proud of the drapery - my own hybrid style of muldenfaltenstil and hairpin  

New art lovelies...

following the algorithm, this week's check list:

- plan blocks (tracery, figure, wing)

- carve blocks (without accidentally stabbing self if possible)printed 

- individualize with white ink and color pencil and black ink and color pencil

- cut out

- assemble

- photograph

- upload/digitally format

two thumbs up! 

(May come back with more text later, but for now - a walk, day job work, show application (fingers crossed), and (hopefully!) some nap time? :))

Phase 3 redux - develop thoughtful algorithms 2

arting...

Still stuck on this representation of Philosophy from
Boethius Consolation of Philosophy
http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts
/record.asp?MSID=8419&CollID=8&NStart=4338

Its starting to seep into other things I see,
like this bust at the Met last week

If you can't beat them...

I incorporated the crown print I just finished to make a fusion of "Sophia"
and the tarot card "Papessa/ high priestess"
(which plays a role in an audio book I just finished
 "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern - recommend :)) 

approximately life-sized + 10% with my fingers for scale

it will have a flame (spiritual knowledge)
and a book (worldly knowledge),
getting the elements to interact through light and shadow
is a challenge

I made a special trip to the store for this paper.
Even though it's too small for the whole sleeve,
it's the exact right color...

drapery of the sleeves

This was my work station  -
the level of mess is directly proportional to the amount of fun I had :)
(It was awesome! There is still room in the class for any local
readers who want to join in the fun.)

class 1 - paste paper - look what I made :)
swirly stripes, visual yum!

In other art news, I'm taking a course on book making with artist and Rauschenberg Fellow Beth Thielen at the Art School of Columbia County.  The class focuses on several things I've been wanting to learn more about - paper making, binding, and
boxes.

I've been thinking that a book is a type of algorithm - it provides a familiar blueprint for viewing. I'm enjoying making relief prints, but want to take another step to provide a "built-in context" for them...

phase 3 - develop thoughtful algorithims

The idea of trying to make a giant installation is a little overwhelming right now, so I'm trying to break it down into smaller pieces and treat the process as an algorithm. (Step 1: clean up and put away/remove anything unnecessary from the studio. Step 2: make a sketch. Step 3: evaluate whether additional research/skills/materials may be needed (gather). Step 4. start with a part for which there is has a high probability of success.)

Voila! My latest block, 12 x 18." I was being hard on myself for posting a little later than usual because this took a few hours longer than I thought...but then I thought, wait - much more surprising than it taking longer than expected is that I managed to carve it in a week at all, haha ;)

The owl is part of a larger plan for a tree with all different birds perching in it inspired by an illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicle (excerpts published by Dover  are available in paperback on Amazon.) I love this so much that I want to make a life size version as a wall-mounted collage (Mmmmmmm)

The owl is on the lower left, eating another bird - I'll be skipping the avian cannibalism in my version ;)

Oy.

 In other art-related news, I went to my favorite place, the Met for some research and discovered something uncanny. I've been thinking about medallic engraving, since studying with the American Numismatic Association in Colorado last summer (with great thanks going out to the Gilroy and Lillian P. Roberts Foundation!) 

I'm looking forward to returning this summer for the second part of the fellowship and want to practice on a small scale at home before then. Because it's been on my mind lately, in the museum I was drawn to a case of Ancient Greek coins donated by the American Numismatic Society. I don't remember ever looking at this case before, but inside was this:

Compare to one of my mini reliefs from 2012:

Weird no? I tried to rationalize it - the ANA hosts a books sale, and the only book I purchased was one with lots of pictures on Ancient Greek coins. I thought - well, maybe I saw a similar coin in the book...but then I checked the date on the print - October 2012 - 6 months before I applied for the fellowship to study coin engraving. What makes it stranger is that it wasn't the only coin in the case to relate to a tiny print - there was also a pegasus, a winged figure, an owl... It was pretty uncanny, like I've been copying the coins in the case for years without realizing it??

Every time I go to the Met, I see more wings