Parson's Hall

Beginning June1, we moved into our studio at Parson's Hall.

studio share with the vaccum,Dan Greenwood and Frank-the-cat.

Starting to get back into it. Putting shelving and comfortable chairs on hold for now....

On my "desk" are photocopies of letters handwritten by soldiers containing detailed observation of action on the battlefield and 2 long and narrow pieces of styrofoam that remind me of the ghost formation of a southwest strip mall when placed in tandem.
I'm starting to cleave things that i find myself becoming too precious over.

I went to Historic Northampton last week to check out their database. I also perused a binder full of trade cards. My favorite may be the giant(?), tiny (?) cherub riding the giant (?), tiny (?) worm as a silk advertisement.

For those of you snoozers out there

For those of you who weren't able to get out to see the sights at Reachfest this past month..
"Assume the Position (Discretion as a Holy Virtue)" was an installation presented in the dining room of Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke, Massachusetts. I was particularly struck by a story I was told about the former inhabitants (the Skinner family; silk tycoons) feeling the necessity to relocate all of the accoutrement of the front entrance to the rear upon encroachment of the lower class into the neighborhood. Not wanting to share a street address with their chauffeur, back of the house would now be the front of the house. Since the servants quarters were typically located in the rear of the house, in lieu of further relocation projects, a wall was constructed to deal with this blight.

It occured to me that there was no way in hell these people would invite low income former trailer trash like myself to be a guest in their home. All of these walls and rules and dark corners felt to me like a challenge to bring that which was oppressed, slighted, or relegated to the periphery out into the light. My goal was to play up a tragicomedy of pervasive class issues using materials and imagery specifically related to servitude, especially in the capacity of housework and catering (thus the cocktail swords!- this is no longer a homestead, but rather a museum that hosts many fundraising events). I found it rather stimulating that almost all of the materials I gathered fit nicely into a garish, technicolor pallet- rubber gloves, sponges and "handi-wipes" don't come in taupe or eggplant.

Someone who's known me and seen my work for awhile had this reaction: "i'm sick of the gloves". yeah, okay- but, i'm sick of this problem. i'm sick of the effect poverty has on women in this world.
i'm sick of women being groped, beaten, raped... and not even getting a chance to clock out beforehand. I'm sick of sexy maids and nurses. I'm sick of CSI rape fantasy marathons. I'm sick of the revival of goddamn aprons and cupcakes from MILFS.
and on.
and on.

anyway, yes.. i feel like it is a good time for them to retire. they've been on parade looking for the right baseboards to creep around. ..............

(swan: the other white meat)

I should say this too:
This room was impressively difficult to photograph. So, I'm very thankful that Anna Rotty was willing to spend an afternoon with me figuring out light and listening to me babble. I'll be updating the website someday soon...ish.
Oh yeah and "These images appear courtesy of Wistariahurst Museum", etc.

studio images

styrofoam covered in stockings, house paint, plastic cup,
 moss,
 leopard spots, mixed media

love seat springs, upholstery fabric,
spiral telephone cables,
 chair legs

upholstery fabric, party favors, artificial pine,
upholstery fabric, embroidery,
leopard spots, cocktail umbrellas, naugahyde,
facial tissue, cosmetics remover pads,
styrofoam, cosmetics

sponges, styrofoam, cocktail swords, frilled toothpicks,
push pins,  silicone chicken plugs,
bead formations, artificial flower petals, ribbon,
christmas cards,
cocktail umbrella, mixed media

styrofoam, vaccuum molded plastic packaging, cocktail swords,
christmas cards,
push pins,
naugahyde, cocktail umbrellas

curling ribbon, artificial flower components, cocktail umbrellas,
cosmetics removal pads,
 denim, 

styrofoam, liquid foundation, facial tissue,
 cupcake papers,
 cosmetics removal pads, holiday decorations, 

with russell stover's chocolates box

artificial petal with mixed media

horse

vacuously festive: NEW!! for Spring!

Conglomerate Occasion:

(work in progress)

Sneak Peak

news flash!:
i am not the world's premier photographer.
(heh..also, the light in this room is like- crazy!- it's super bright and super shadowy at the same time)

but here's some stuff i did this week:

sideboard

rear of dining room, facing pantry. there's the arrangement from the top of the page in that nice nook of a vitrine.
it's made with the same ruffles from the gloves, wiping cloths, sponges, bristles and scouring pads....

They were nice enough to let me use this platter. Fowl carcass mirrors image embroidered on apron.

Seen from other side- serving dish lined with dress cut-aways and filled with synthetic silk flower petals.

Progress Report: Wistariahurst

I decided that for my piece at Wistariahurst, I would once again cannibalize, update, or reconfigure some existing pieces from my repertoire- hoping that I finally get them right and that they will leave me be..let me move on. I want to the presence of the untouchable in the room to be undeniable. Instead of concentrating on being a period purist, I instead want to deal with issues that permeate the time gap. I've decided to go for technicolor, contemporary materials which are dispersed and arranged throughout the space in such a way that their placement within the room may be jarring, like seeing through to another dimension. 

I've been wondering whether or not I'm a surrealist? Ah..if only it were as simple as trusting in my dreams. 

Over the past couple of days working in my studio, I feel like I've hit my stride. Plowed through the agony-wall and dove head-long into some sort of visual-language building. Decision making minus all of the hesitation. Probably having a deadline real means there is no time for all of this second guessing- what does your gut tell you? double check it with your heart, then your brain..everybody in? Good. NEXT. go. 

colorful ric-rac edged ruffles

flower arrangement

new apron with swan riding heart

second flower arrangement

Angela Zammarelli gave me a box of 1000 red plastc swords- base of  effigy pillar

mop head with chandelier beads (from Carolyn Clayton) underneath skirt

taking up space

surprising new configuration of dismantled piece. now stacked to the ceiling atop my dresser....