Apothecary

" 'Apothecary' is an early piece that initiated my desire to open the door to the idea of releasing unnecessary fear. These are fears, often instinctual, of things that in reality are most often harmless. Fear in humans many times generates a mindless "smash and burn" response. I recognize that this is part of the vestigial, instinctual ape hard wiring in every human brain. I'd like to see that knee-jerk response more often replaced with healthy curiosity, interest and knowledge.

The specific fear explored in 'Apothecary' is the fear of insects and spiders. In this piece the idea of these small creatures are developed in clay and wire, all very safe to look at, explore and think about without concern that they will move in any way. This gives the human brain time to stop mindlessly reacting... to pause... and hopefully, begin engaging with higher functions of curiosity and intellect.

There is a second storytelling layer in this piece, something that the child in me delights in making a part of much of my work.

Apothecary represents a wall in an ancient, decaying lab. The rough stone can now be seen peeking out from behind what is left of the decorative plaster. Built into this wall are niches, each containing a specimen of life. This lab, in fact, exists on an alien planet. The human scientist who used to work in this lab is long dead now by thousands of years - the lab abandoned as the planet entered a stage depleted of the rich flora and fauna that once existed there.

The collected specimens have dried and faded, loosing the vibrant colors they once had, until they looked much the same as the decaying wall behind them. All but one. A species commonly known as The Seed Bearer. The Seed Bearer has the unique ability to carry samples of every type of DNA from its world.

This particular species, much like the tardigrade, could go into a dormant phase during times of stress. When conditions become favorable again, this vital creature in its alien world awakens, and begins to cast forth the spores of life it carries inside it.

The world begins again, another turn on the spiral is completed."

Sylvan Song 

"Sylvan  means 'of the forest'. This piece contains 74 unique clay beetles. On a  personal level, I was thinking about my Mom, who was the reason I didn't develop a fear of insect life. They were a normal part of the  world and she never treated them as a "bad" thing. 

On the canvas I have  created an imagined “Bug Ball”. Best experienced if the viewer knows the  music by the band Heart which is also called ‘Sylvan Song’ (from their  1977 ‘Little Queen’ album). While hearing the notes (either in the mind  or on a handheld device), visualize the fantasy beetles spinning and  twirling with each other in a secret evening dance. 

'Vinegar Light' was created for the January 2018 production of the Southern Exposure New Music Series.  By invitation only, artists are challenged to create brand new work in response to the evening's scheduled program.  Vinegar Light was directly inspired by  Chinese Temple from Síppal, Dobbal, Nádihegedűvel by György Ligeti (on poems by Sándor Weöres).  

A note about Southern Exposure:  

Award winning Southern Exposure is an event held at the University of South Carolina School of Music. Consisting of four concert events per year, experimental musicians from around the globe are invited to perform and a local visual artist is curated by Sara Winsted to create new work inspired by the scheduled selection of music. The January 2018 event featured musicians Duo Cortona (Rachal Calloway, mezzo-soprano and Ari Streisfeld, violin). This piece was a part of that event and the information below relates to the particular composition used to create it. 

Artist's Statement:  

"This may be my personal favorite of the work I completed in time for Southern Exposure. Simple in concept, I used the words from the poem to create stream of consciousness images in my mind. I immediately saw warm amber colors with bronze and blue-green highlights. Dabs of

black and white. Images of Chinese and Egyptian architecture. Scarabs. Old cities and ancient languages. Libraries and knowledge. Inlaid turquoise. Night insects. Memories lost and found again many times. Uncarded wool and heavy yarn. Fine silk and rough woven cloth. Bricks made of yellow mud and straw. Tintinnabulation. Serenity and gravitas. Questions and answers. Prophets and pilgrims traveling the same roads. Journeys and destinations."

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Third movement: Kinai Templom (Chinese Temple)

Poem by Sándor Weöres.

(Hungarian)

Szent fonn Negy majd

kert lenn fem mely

bö tag cseng: csond

lomb: ej Szep, leng,

tart jo, Jö, mint

zold kek Hir, hult

szarny, arny, Rang, hang.

(translation)

Saint high Four hence

field down bronze deep

broad far ring: Still

leaves: fair Night, swings

full comes, Good, like

green blue News, cool

wings shade. Rank, sound.