Artists Who Write

I'd like to think that Artists Who Write, Salon II, was as moving for audience members and performers as Salon I. Thank you Swati Khurana and Montana Ray for sharing your never-before seen or heard works. Thank you Jenny Douglas for trusting my curatorial vision and for the warmth and generosity that makes The Brooklyn Cottage a community home.

We just might do this again sometime, when The Cottage resumes programming in September. Until then, enjoy the summer. I leave you with some of my favorite photographs from 6/17...

Artists Who Write, Part II

Last Wednesday's inaugural Artists Who Write Salon was a success, with unexpected revelations and debuts of new writing from Yazmany Arboleda, Kent Shell and Seldon Yuan. I can only hope they each get a book deal.

We resume this Wednesday, 6/17, from 7-9pm, with Swati Khurana, Montana Ray and Iviva Olenick. We're going to turn up the dial just a bit louder.

Reserve your ticket here.

#ArtistsWhoWrite @TheBrooklynCottage

Thrilled to be teaming up again with Jenny Douglas of The Brooklyn Cottage for a new literary reading series mining multiplicity. Artists Who Write features sculptors, installation artists, dancers, designers, performance artists, painters, crafts people, book artists, for whom writing is an integral part of their creative practice and a pursuit on its own.

Seldon Yuan, Plant Poem. 


Join us this Wednesday, 6/10 from 7–9pm for Artists Who Write Salon I, featuring Yazmany Arboleda, Kent Shell and Seldon Yuan – heavy hitters in the visual and literary art worlds and in design.
Tickets are going fast. Get yours here now!

Join us also Wednesday, 6/17 from 7–9pm for Artists Who Write Salon II featuring
Swati Khurana, Montana Ray and Iviva Olenick 
Tickets available here.

Thank you, Jenny, for your warmth and radiant generosity, which pulled the inner curator out of me. And thank you roster of artists I've admired for years. Assembling us in a collaborative series of evenings is a dream come true.

Join us!

Latest tiny gun pillow

Latest "tiny gun pillow" based on Montana Ray's poem, "(back to the future)." Thanks, Montana! 

The salmon color is from beet dye. After boiling beets, I used the remaining water to dye my fabrics. The variegated thread was store purchased. Some of the thread's color is very close to the fabric color. I like the "come and go" look of the text, and the concealing and revealing the poem.

Starting off 2014 with a non-literal but literary Bang

(freedom is a trip)

a concrete (i.e. visual) poem by Montana Ray 

My re-interpretation in embroidery and fabric manipulation with stuffing...A "soft" gun. Flat, before stuffing and embroidering, the separate fabric pieces I cut resembled Montana's original - I traced her poem to get the right shape. Somehow in the translation, the shape morphed. For one, I added extra fabric at the extreme right because I ran out of space for the top 3 lines of the poem. 

As you can tell, the piece is small
- 3.5" h x 7" w x 1" d

Poets near, far and beloved come together at Weaving Hand

This past Thursday, 12/19, marked the culminating celebration for my @EmbroideryPoems project, and my residency at Weaving Hand studio in Brooklyn. Many thanks to Dad, Tavi Gonzalez and Montana Ray for performing; Cynthia Alberto for hosting me as a resident artist, and the Brooklyn Arts Council for financial and spiritual support. This was fun - let's do it again soon!

Tavi Gonzalez @WeavingHand

Monte Olenick aka #dadknowsbest

Woven Poetry Bridge @WeavingHand

Woven Poetry Bridge

Join Cynthia Alberto and me on Thursday, December 19 for a celebration of contemporary and traditional crafts - weaving, embroidery, music, poetry. 

Weaving Hand
47 Hall Street, Brooklyn, NY
6:30-9pm

Woven Poetry Bridge

I'm really looking forward to some upcoming shows, including the culmination of my Weaving Hand Artist Residency on Thursday, December 19th. The evening will feature woven and embroidered handwork, artwork from my Brooklyn Arts Council-supported @EmbroideryPoems project, and readings by some of my favorite poets, Montana Ray, Octavio Gonzalez, and Tico Cortez. Stay tuned for more details!

In the meantime, below is the woven lace I created, which I will transform into a woven poetry bridge!

Poetry reading June 6 - join me!

Thursday, June 6, 6-9pm 
@61 Local, 61 Bergen Street near Smith Street
F/G to Bergen Street

As poets read and musicians play, embroiderers will stitch snippets of lyrics and verse to create new, "found" poems.

Join us!