Ceramics

SO, I also have been working on some ceramic sculptures. Still loving the figure but something is telling me to also obscure it or hide it..not sure why, but I am continuing to do so. I love the idea of fabric folds as well as the folds in paper, something so simple about it but still mysterious here are some photos of some recent works:

I like these guys, I just need to get better photos and take the time to show them all...it is so time consuming to keep up a blog, at least for me it is...besides making the work, then you have to document it. There is a lot to do as an artist. It certainly is time consuming but please check in to see more work. I hope you enjoyed the few photos.

Here we are MId November..wow , how time flies. Didn't realize that I haven't posted in 4 months.
So I have been working on Screenprints this semester and I am getting to love it. There is a lot of planning and setting up before the actual work but the end result is worth it. I have a few photos of the work I have been doing:

Above are just the beginnings of my screenprintig career, the middle one is actually Chine Cole (pronounced: Sheen-colay) from my screen printed paper stencils. Anyway, I will try to post more prints once I get some photos of them.

So my interest in geometric abstraction has not dissipated. It is still there. I certainly have a liking for geometry and organic shapes, I am trying to figure out a way to marry the two.

Process and Studies

I forgot to mention , in my last post,  what other ideas I was working on...I was told in a critique last semester, that I should slow down on my art and experience my process. Well, this summer, that was my goal, my practice. I did not focus on creating anything per se, however, I did explore and make studies of random  or suggested ideas.
First, I started reading " Concerning the spiritual in Art" by W. Kadinsky. I wanted to  understand more or less what most of the abstract ideas come from. Being that he was musically trained, he certainly compared music to painting and all was linked to the spiritual. I relate very much to his theory or thoughts, being that I do make music(though not classically trained) and my work is based on spiritual ideas ( the invisible, esoteric, what can't be seen with carnal eyes) or at least these are my intentions.
I  understand what cannot be seen or has material description is left to be seen as abstract on the this plain, hence abstract art.  I played with some ideas and wrote a few notes down...so far  I am working through a thought, having no expectation of it but at the same time hoping it evolves into something. Below will be a preview. I do not want to explain it at the moment ( a huge reference is Kadinsky), since it is not quite formalized:

Then I was suggested as an experiment to study Still Life's of Morandi, which I did being the modern artist lover  that I am. I learned Morandi was an isolated artist. He didn't mesh with the Parisian bohemian life style that was so popular amongst artist of that  time. He ived in his home in Italy, where he shared it with his sisters...he collected bottles and vases, painted them and arranged them in different ways, used different angles of light source and also was very particular of the table cloth or back drop... at the same time looking into the spiritual.  I read it would take days/ months to decide on the "right" tablecloth or arrangement. There was something he saw in these figures, their simple shapes, the shapes created in the negative space..the color palette he chose, which are the chromatic greys( mentioned in my last post) that I love so much.
I first started taking photos of  bottles then decided to start making the bottles and vases with clay using his images as references and I painted them in a chromatic grey palette..at least I am trying to do so..I haven't yet decided exactly what I am to be doing with this...but this is the beauty of the PROCESS for me. I am not trying to hurry myself. I just have to keep exploring.
This was my lesson for the summer. I am still trying to practice it...Patience and Discipline have been friends this summer. I hope to continue a healthy relationship with them for the rest of my Life career.
Below: Morandi studies

ideas

My ideas flowing constantly. This Summer 2012 has been dedicated to evolving, my process, my progress with no attention to producing. What I have learned is due to an internship I took at Arevalo Gallery in the Design District. This gallery's main focus is Latin American Geometric Abstraction.  Abstract art is my least interest since I started school, however, I knew because of this lack of interest I needed to immerse my self  in it, to be able to understand a little more about it. In this case, I have learned a little of the Latin American movements in modern art regarding abstraction. I learned about grupo MADI, formed in Argentina in the mid 1940's  by a group of artists coming from Concretismo, Constructivismo Universal , Arte Concreto, etc... Within these artists were  Carmelo Arden Quin, Rhod Rothfus, Tomas Maldonado, Gyula Kosice, among others.
 I am learning little by little what  these artists have contributed and  as innovators, what they have influenced and so on.

As for my art, it is usually mildly, abstracted figures, mostly consisting of organic shapes, and earthy tones. It is interesting that I am starting to see and like geometric shapes and it is starting to influence my work. Along, with the idea of negative space in still life's have become something that my eye keeps focusing on, which is considered the abstract area of a setting...I see my work evolving. I also am interested in specific palettes of chromatic greys/ muted colors, with very minimal light sources still using representational subjects but focusing on the non representational within my set.
I just needed to write some ideas down and post on the blog. I don't even know if I made any sense. I do this for me to learn , to keep motivated , to understand, to keep focus, to document my thoughts.

More to come! Thanks for reading.

Sculpture - Abakanowicz

I am a big fan of sculpture and I have been paying more attention to names of Artists that stand out to me when I see a work.  I will start with my second real impression of sculpture ( the first was Louise Bourgeois, but I don't have to get into her since she is very well known), this  is Magdalena Abakanowicz. She was a victim of the WW2 era, being from Poland and Jewish, she went through a fearful and chaotic childhood filled with uncertainties and trauma...I fell in love with her sculpture called" Backs". I first saw them 2 years ago at the Margulies Collection in Wynwood and was taken aback ( no pun intended) by the simplicity of the hunched over  burlap statues,  filling a room  with their obvious vulnerable pose. They were almost alive.  In another  room she filled  it with what looked like an "army of  headless people, also, made from Burlap. Different heights, ages, genders, etc... all looking like victims of some sort of  chaos. This piece was called "Hurma" and it was their frontal view. You have to look her up for more information, I am no expert however just wanting to share what I see  and inspires me. Something about her pieces remind me of the reality and sadness of  humanity. How loud is the presence of  this "army" and yet they remain quiet. Very accurate in her execution highlighting a society victimized by a manipulative, fascist government.

Thanks for reading ;)
Soir

FEb 2012 - Unexplained Emotions.

Today was a day of thought and unexplained emotion. I was sitting at a Jamaican cafe eating my favorite dish, oxtail, and a random thought  crept into my mind. It was of a recent post I saw on Facebook about racism and before I knew it, my eyes became watery.  I asked why? A sense of unexplained sadness came over me.  Was I in a depression and didn't even know it( sometimes this happens to me)?  I knew I was feeling this way for a couple days now just did not want to address it. I still do not know why I am sad, but I suppose I  can only  take that energy and create with it since I don't want it manifesting in to anything else that may impede my spiritual growth or creative process.
Everyday is growth for me. If I stop to be conscious of myself, my surroundings, my thoughts then I have learned and have taken in a little bit more knowledge of what IS. I do not want to be consumed with illusion and unrealistic thoughts that can boggle my mind. I want to live in reality, which is a beautiful one, I have nothing to complain about. Maybe because  I am a highly sensitive person, I do feel  other's sadness and yesterday was a full moon so there was a lot in effect in my surroundings, possibly.?  I can only question and try to understand my Self. I only have one chance to know this vehicle inside and out. Creating is important to me for this reason, bringing what is inside to the exterior with my hands through my  art.
A natural introvert with a friendly personality, that is me. Social awkwardness does not control me, but it use to. Today I do have to recognize it on a daily to control it, take deep breaths and so on...lol.  Anyway, just being honest  and hoping I didn't bore anyone to death.
 Life gets a little more beautiful while listening to Bjork's "Joga" ..." emotional landscapes they puzzle me- confuse, then the riddles get solved and you push me up to this state of emergency!" LOL, it just came on and felt  I had to share.:)

Soir Feb. 2012

Self-Portrait2010

Title: Spirit-Matter

In a boundless space
Spirit flies
In a body with a face
Matter lies

Latent soul can never grow
Wake up! 2012

BW film, print 5x7