Artist Talk Thursday night at Shop Art

For those of you in the New York area, I am giving a gallery talk this Thursday night at Shop Art Gallery in Brooklyn. My work is on exhibit there in a 4-person show, "Visual Vernacular," through November 29th. The gallerist, Muriel Guepin, kindly invited me to talk about the process and inspiration behind my work.

My brief talk will be followed by Q and A, so get your questions ready! I like a challenge.

Thursday, 11/19, 7-8pm at Shop Art.

51 Bergen Street, F/G train to Bergen Street station.

Refreshments will be served.

More Dates

Piece above: 

"My gallerist told me to go out and have more sexual experiences so I can make more art. Dating with abandon is now part of my job."

More Dates

2009. embroidery on fabric. 2.5" X 3.5"

Sneak Peak

As I mentioned in my last post, this weekend is the culmination of NY's Affordable Art Fair 2009. I volunteered to sit with my gallerist, Muriel Guepin of Shop Art Gallery yesterday. I felt a bit of the magic as I watched some wonderful pieces find homes. I also met two of my own patrons, and got tons of feedback.

I don't know if you've had this experience, but it can be awkward to pose as a gallery assistant while people casually talk about your work, not knowing you're the artist. I was impressed that people spent time reading every word I had stitched, laughed out loud at a lot of my less flattering dating moments, and brought their friends to see my work. 

I tried to find ways to interject myself in conversations without being overbearing or feeling shy. It wasn't easy. In talking about my work, I generated so many new ideas. Thank you art fair visitors! 

Seeing my work sell, and getting reports from Muriel about sales, has made me both ecstatic and sad. I will go so far as to say I feel betrayed by my own artwork. I started the hand stitched portion of "Were I So Besotted" because I was heartbroken. I have continued to stitch stories about men I have been involved with, all the while hoping one would materialize who would be a loving and reasonable partner. Seeing people identify with my work enough to take it home is wonderful. But I am reminded that my search for an emotional home in another person is not resolved. Each stitch I make is a form of wounding and healing fabric, just like dating and starting over.

The image above is the start of a new piece. "He Left Me Because of My Underwear," (or something like that).  

Blank Wall Syndrome

These past few days, I've been coming home to bare, white walls. (Wow, does my apartment need to be painted!)

My gallerist, Muriel Guepin of Shop Art Gallery, is participating in the Affordable Art Fair. I am thrilled that we have been selling work, and cannot wait to see the outcome of this 4-day event. The only downside is my compulsion to immediately fill blank wall space with new work. I am waking up in the middle of the night with phrases running through my head that just may end up in my next piece. 

Thanks to everyone out there who has enjoyed seeing my work, has purchased my work, has read my blog, and has been interested in what I'm doing.

To read a review of the Art Fair, visit Nylon Magazine.

Collaboration

Conversations with friends and acquaintances informed the creation of my embroideries, providing a context and some balance so that not all anecdotes were mine or from a female perspective.

I began a more formal collaboration with a female friend my age, also living in Brooklyn at the time, in winter 2007-2008. We got together for tea and brainstorming meetings, enlisting a male friend as a "moderator," and male point of view.

Many of my journal entries in the winter of 2007-2008 developed from these group sessions. Here are some of the embroideries and journal entries inspired by our conversations.


above left: Physically and Emotionally Photoshopped. 2008. Embroidery on fabric. 5.5" X 9". For sale through Shop Art Gallery. Contact Muriel Guepin, contact@shopartstudio.com, www.shopartstudio.com

Above right is the journal entry leading to the finished piece.

Greenpoint

At left: I Don't Miss My Ex-boyfriend, But I Do Miss Greenpoint.

The piece reads:
"I don't miss my ex-boyfriend,
but I do miss Greenpoint -
Early morning walks around
the ballfield, and the smell
of fresh bread wafting
from the bakery nearby."

This piece is for sale at Shop Art Gallery, 51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY. http://www.shopartstudio.com.
Contact Muriel Guepin, contact@shopartstudio.com for inquiries.


For a couple of years in my mid-twenties, I dated a man who lived in Greenpoint. I am a morning person. He was not. While he slept in on weekends, I wandered around Greenpoint, becoming friendly with the workers at the local bakery and fruit stand. One of my favorite rituals was buying rye bread from the factory across the street, which scented the entire neighborhood, and opened its doors early in the morning on weekends to sell even a single loaf to a passerby.

It was a relief recently to realize that my grief over the end of that relationship has evaporated. What I miss and have nostalgia for is Greenpoint.

Below: original journal entry informing this piece
(see 2/20/08 blog entry, too).

I'm Telling You -- finished piece

Image at right, developed in October 2008, is preliminary journal entry for "I'm Telling You." (See 10/12/08 blog entry.)
Final image below of "I'm Telling You," was finished November 2008.



It is now being sold through Shop Art Gallery, 51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY:
http://www.shopartstudio.com
Contact Muriel Guepin - contact@shopartstudio.com