An angled view of a new piece, “Mangalat” Kathleen Kirk’s post, “Persistence and Patience”, is a thoughtful description of how she ended up, after several career explorations, being a poet. In her graceful telling, she describes her many forays into other creative fields—music, art, theater, teaching—but none of them evoked the necessary persistence and patience […]
Art Making
- Art Making
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Direct Encounters
“Ekka,” a newly completed painting (33 x 47″). An art collector had this to say when she stopped by my studio recently: “Lately I have wanted to just quietly commune with a work of art. I am not interested in deciphering references or spending time getting the inside jokes. I just want to find a […]
- Aesthetics
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Useful Space for Thought
Detail from one of my recent painting series, “Angaris” I recently found two statements about painting by Australian artist Helen Johnson that were very resonant for me. While Johnson’s work has identifiable content, her approach and attitudes are aligned with my work as a non representationalist. First, her description of painting from a roundtable about […]
- Aesthetics
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Hazy Border to the Wonder-World
Blade, 6 x 7″, egg tempera on calfskin parchment by Altoon Sultan Wonder, to preserve itself, withdraws. It withdraws from the mind, from the willing mind, which would make of mystery a category. I remember being told a story about an old culture that believed the center of the forest was holy and could not […]
A Truing of Vision
The round object above is a Moroccan hand made drum. It had one slight tear near the edge when I brought it into my studio several years ago. With time two fissures began to make their way slowly across the taut animal hide, following no pattern I would have expected. This self manifested morphing drum […]
Standing with Stafford
Cook’s Beach, New Zealand Every artist has her own way of working. For me there are a few fundamentals that anchor my art making: Daily practice is one, and a willingness to surrender to the process is another. Following that thread will take you where it will, often down surprising and unexpected side roads. Interfering […]
- Aesthetics
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Refuge in the Not
Motoi Yamamoto (Photo: My Modern Met) Roberta Smith‘s response to the recent art auctions, Art Is Hard to See Through the Clutter of Dollar Signs, included a quote that has taken on a life of its own and is showing up everywhere online. After describing the spectacle of all time high prices and hedge fund […]
- Art Making
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Grit-Rich
In my studio: Hand molds in a peat bowl by friend and artist Rachel Parry. Parry made both of these objects from substances she found on her land in Allihies, Beara, Ireland. Like most of my readers, I track creativity research like a part time job I’ll have for the rest of my life. With […]
- Aesthetics
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Hands in that Stuff
Work table in my studio (Photo: Martine Bisagni) John Yau has written a review of Ken Price*’s show at the Metropolitan on Hyperallergic, Ken Price’s Time. Yau made the point that he was not surprised that Price was on display at the Met rather than at any of the three major contemporary art institutions in […]
- Aesthetics
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The Experience, Not Pointing to it
The Graces, David Salle, 1991 (Photo: Christie’s) Journalists are their own category of beings. While I respect the ones who do their art and craft with skill, I’d rather wrestle with a big game hunter. In the words of Adam Kirsch, “Goodness, which we praise so highly in life, is infertile terrain for a writer, […]