Official nice image from my Birch Tree Forest installation.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
"Birch Tree Forest" Installation
As promised (though late, sorry about that, gradschool apps got in the way).
Official nice image from my Birch Tree Forest installation.
Official nice image from my Birch Tree Forest installation.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Madder and Bedstraw
I have new plants!
This one is Lady's Bedstraw (a relative of French Madder). It gives clear yellow from its tops and oranges and salmons from its roots!
These are my madder! They give lovely reds and rusty oranges.
Of course, it takes 3 years for all these plants' roots to mature... So, I'll let you know in 2015 how the colors come out.
This one is Lady's Bedstraw (a relative of French Madder). It gives clear yellow from its tops and oranges and salmons from its roots!
These are my madder! They give lovely reds and rusty oranges.
Of course, it takes 3 years for all these plants' roots to mature... So, I'll let you know in 2015 how the colors come out.
Saturday, August 04, 2012
"Birch Tree Forest" Installation
My newest art installation, "Birch Tree Forest" opened at the artLab space @ Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph, MI on July 27th. It will be up through Sept. 3rd!
For this installation, I wanted to take the feeling of being in a birch forest and bring it into the gallery-- the look, the sounds, the way light filters down to you... This idea began over a year ago, while I was in Michigan working with Meadow Brook Theatre. I had this clever notion to make paper birch trees out of paper. It worked to a point, but the "trees" didn't really stand up on their own. They felt they needed to be a part of something larger. I came back to the idea during my residency with ISLAND (Institute for Sustainable Learning, Art, & Natural Design) in 2011, when I was actually in a place that had birch forests. It wasn't just the beauty of the trees that kept coming back again and again to capture my interest, but the stillness of the forest, the bird sounds, summer cicadas, wind rustling through the branches, and the crunch of leaves under my feet. This over-all "feeling" of a forest lodged its self somewhere in the back of my mind, lurking in wait for that perfect opportunity to be realized.
Finished wall, a job well done.
Now onto the trees....
Starting to look like a forest...
And, artist talk... go.
I would just like to point out that that older man in the red shirt has a leaf on his shoulder from where we were earlier throwing them in the air like children.
I'll have photos from the opening and final installation for you asap!
For this installation, I wanted to take the feeling of being in a birch forest and bring it into the gallery-- the look, the sounds, the way light filters down to you... This idea began over a year ago, while I was in Michigan working with Meadow Brook Theatre. I had this clever notion to make paper birch trees out of paper. It worked to a point, but the "trees" didn't really stand up on their own. They felt they needed to be a part of something larger. I came back to the idea during my residency with ISLAND (Institute for Sustainable Learning, Art, & Natural Design) in 2011, when I was actually in a place that had birch forests. It wasn't just the beauty of the trees that kept coming back again and again to capture my interest, but the stillness of the forest, the bird sounds, summer cicadas, wind rustling through the branches, and the crunch of leaves under my feet. This over-all "feeling" of a forest lodged its self somewhere in the back of my mind, lurking in wait for that perfect opportunity to be realized.
Finished wall, a job well done.
Now onto the trees....
Starting to look like a forest...
And, artist talk... go.
I would just like to point out that that older man in the red shirt has a leaf on his shoulder from where we were earlier throwing them in the air like children.
I'll have photos from the opening and final installation for you asap!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Threads: Chinchero, a video
My dear friend and fellow artist/fulbright scholar Maria Lino, was in Cusco in January, and while she was here, she did some video for her fulbright project at the CTTC! She's got the first edit up on Vimeo, and it's lovely. Definitely take the time to check it out.
Threads: Chinchero
Threads: Chinchero
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Paper Count
Bought 8 sheets while my parents were here, then another 5 on Tuesday. So now I'm officially at 117 sheets of paper for my installation... Still in a bit of disbelief that this is JUST for the floor leaves, but so it goes.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
new article
Fulbright Newsletter No.8
Wrote an article for this month's Fulbright Newsletter. It's the last article in the issue.
Wrote an article for this month's Fulbright Newsletter. It's the last article in the issue.
Monday, April 30, 2012
An Ecuadorian Experience
Returned safely from Quito, Ecuador! First off, let me say that conferences are strangely strenuous, especially when you're in an unusually large group of people for socialization & really don't get any down time in a day that lasts from 7am-9pm. That said, so much fun, and so many great people!
Purpose of Conference: Gather all the Andean fulbrighters together to talk about our projects with like minds, see the similarities, differences between our countries, our experiences, have time to network, and potentially get feedback. We were put into groups of "like" topics. I was in Arts, Education, and Archeology. In our group was one archeologist studying Inca sacred sites in Peru, 2 girls from Ecuador studying education and class issues in the education systems (between indigenous populations and the hispanic schools), one musician from Columbia studying Afro-Columbian precussion, one anthropologist studying tea rituals & storytelling in the jungle in Ecuador, an artist doing an art history project on the history of women artists in Paraguay, and me. Very interesting discussions about language barriers in Quechua vs Spanish commuinities, indigenous rights and discrimination, how to stay objective in an immersion situation, and many other things (so many similarities).
There was also a "sight seeing" portion of the trip, where the Fulbright Coordinators wanted us to see the city and near by historical things. We went to the Colonial district of Quito, where we toured a few buildings (our tours lead by reenactors), took an Afro-Ecuadorian dance class, and saw a performance of traditional Ecuadorian dances.
Quito Cathedral
We went to the Equator and the monument to the Equator (the monument was built before GPS and when GPS was invented, was discovered to be in the wrong place). The Equator is a line on the ground. Woo.
Jeff (the glacier guy) doing a handstand on the equator
Monument that was not in the right place...
We went to an artisan market where most of what was there was just like what's here in Peru, except for these filigreed pieces of silver jewelry. We went to the hot springs.... We were supposed to go to the Cloud Forest in the Jungle to do volunteer work and go hiking and then a landslide happened blocking the road, so instead Hot Springs!!
Part of the experience of getting to know the country was eating lots of different types of Ecuadorian foods-- with which they took every chance they had to stuff us. Had an adventure to go with this part of the trip, as I warned them I'm allergic to Shellfish and for dinner one night were 3 dishes with shellfish. Managed to eat a bite or two of octapus before I realized what it was (I'd asked what it was and I heard "papas" and not "papas y pulpo," pulpo meaning octopus). So I ended up with an allergic reaction to dinner, had to go hunting for meds, not the best way to end the evening.
Last day was just for us to go running around before our flights. Went to the Telifereqo, a ski-lift like contraption that took us to the top of the highest mountain in Quito, where we could hike at 4100m and get a good view of the city.
What was left of our group Saturday Morning....
Then off to the Art Museum of Guayasmin. Guayasmin is the most famous artist to come out of Ecuador. During his life, he traveled around South America and the world and painted about the suffering and the hardships of the people. The paintings themselves were on a grandiose scale and were absolutely visceral in your experience. You felt the pain and hardship of the people he painted.
Purpose of Conference: Gather all the Andean fulbrighters together to talk about our projects with like minds, see the similarities, differences between our countries, our experiences, have time to network, and potentially get feedback. We were put into groups of "like" topics. I was in Arts, Education, and Archeology. In our group was one archeologist studying Inca sacred sites in Peru, 2 girls from Ecuador studying education and class issues in the education systems (between indigenous populations and the hispanic schools), one musician from Columbia studying Afro-Columbian precussion, one anthropologist studying tea rituals & storytelling in the jungle in Ecuador, an artist doing an art history project on the history of women artists in Paraguay, and me. Very interesting discussions about language barriers in Quechua vs Spanish commuinities, indigenous rights and discrimination, how to stay objective in an immersion situation, and many other things (so many similarities).
There was also a "sight seeing" portion of the trip, where the Fulbright Coordinators wanted us to see the city and near by historical things. We went to the Colonial district of Quito, where we toured a few buildings (our tours lead by reenactors), took an Afro-Ecuadorian dance class, and saw a performance of traditional Ecuadorian dances.
Quito Cathedral
We went to the Equator and the monument to the Equator (the monument was built before GPS and when GPS was invented, was discovered to be in the wrong place). The Equator is a line on the ground. Woo.
Jeff (the glacier guy) doing a handstand on the equator
Monument that was not in the right place...
We went to an artisan market where most of what was there was just like what's here in Peru, except for these filigreed pieces of silver jewelry. We went to the hot springs.... We were supposed to go to the Cloud Forest in the Jungle to do volunteer work and go hiking and then a landslide happened blocking the road, so instead Hot Springs!!
Part of the experience of getting to know the country was eating lots of different types of Ecuadorian foods-- with which they took every chance they had to stuff us. Had an adventure to go with this part of the trip, as I warned them I'm allergic to Shellfish and for dinner one night were 3 dishes with shellfish. Managed to eat a bite or two of octapus before I realized what it was (I'd asked what it was and I heard "papas" and not "papas y pulpo," pulpo meaning octopus). So I ended up with an allergic reaction to dinner, had to go hunting for meds, not the best way to end the evening.
Last day was just for us to go running around before our flights. Went to the Telifereqo, a ski-lift like contraption that took us to the top of the highest mountain in Quito, where we could hike at 4100m and get a good view of the city.
What was left of our group Saturday Morning....
Then off to the Art Museum of Guayasmin. Guayasmin is the most famous artist to come out of Ecuador. During his life, he traveled around South America and the world and painted about the suffering and the hardships of the people. The paintings themselves were on a grandiose scale and were absolutely visceral in your experience. You felt the pain and hardship of the people he painted.
A Second Workshop in Sallac
I really do love working with this community. They're so organized and helpful! It ended up being Santa Thomas and Sallac this time, and if it had just been Sallac we've been done by 3, so wow.
Without further ado, pictures!!
Without further ado, pictures!!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Quito, Ecuador
Off to Ecuador for a week for the South American Fulbright Conference. This means ~50 Fulbright Grantees in a room together (which means we'll revert back to being normal 20-something as opposed to adult-acting grantees). Should be fun times.
Photos when I return!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Article for the "In Our Words Blog"
So I wrote a piece for the In Our Words Blog (a queer blog about queer things) about Queer Invisibility in Peru. Go check it out here!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Return to Ica (Part 2)
Last day in Ica/Huacachina, we took the bright and early tour to Paracas, to the Isla Balletas to look at the birds!
Cool boats for fishing sardines/anchovies!
The dunes along the coast have a lot of iron in them, hence the red color...
There were 2 types of Cormorant, Humboldt Penguins, Pelicans, Blue Footed Boobies, and Sea Lions (not a bird but still found on the islands) Took a boat around the islands, took tonnes of pictures, was a little frightened by the sounds emanating from the sea lion beach (they make awful strange noises). Had some delicious fish for lunch (ahh the pleasures of being near the ocean!) before heading back to Huacachina.
Penguins!!
Sea Lions!
And then back on the beach after the tour... Pelicans!
17.5 hour bus ride back that evening. That was it's own adventure... Something I ate on the bus didn't agree with me. Hadn't gone away by the next morning, so I went to a Travel Clinic, only to discover I had an amoeba & salmonella. Proceeded to spend the next 2 nights in a Travel Clinic with an IV in my arm. le sigh. I'm happy to report I'm feeling MUCH better now.
AND! Go check out my flickr for more images that didn't find space in my blog!
Cool boats for fishing sardines/anchovies!
The dunes along the coast have a lot of iron in them, hence the red color...
There were 2 types of Cormorant, Humboldt Penguins, Pelicans, Blue Footed Boobies, and Sea Lions (not a bird but still found on the islands) Took a boat around the islands, took tonnes of pictures, was a little frightened by the sounds emanating from the sea lion beach (they make awful strange noises). Had some delicious fish for lunch (ahh the pleasures of being near the ocean!) before heading back to Huacachina.
Penguins!!
Sea Lions!
And then back on the beach after the tour... Pelicans!
17.5 hour bus ride back that evening. That was it's own adventure... Something I ate on the bus didn't agree with me. Hadn't gone away by the next morning, so I went to a Travel Clinic, only to discover I had an amoeba & salmonella. Proceeded to spend the next 2 nights in a Travel Clinic with an IV in my arm. le sigh. I'm happy to report I'm feeling MUCH better now.
AND! Go check out my flickr for more images that didn't find space in my blog!
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