I arrived home from my three-week residency/install at Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, SC on the evening of October 22nd…and departed for my install at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA on the morning of October 25th. Driving through farmland and witnessing what was left of the beautiful fall colors, it seemed fitting that my final project of 2011 brought me closer to home. But, dear readers, I have to admit that I was also feeling a bit groggy, and, dare I say it, a bit overextended. I don’t have much fear, but I was a bit fearful.
Was I really ready for Shaping Space? The exhibition postcard and catalog looked terrific, the work of Rachel Hayes is phenomenal, and the other speakers and panelists included the amazing artists Beili Liu and Isabel Barbuzza. And here I was, unable to remember what I had made in my studio prior to departing for Charleston. Uh-oh! The combination of the others’ amazingness and my seeming lack of it didn’t really calm my nerves, but it’s always good to have the bar set high!
Once I got into the gallery, however, my fears dissipated and I enjoyed a magical sort of week. I don’t often experience the sense that I am “in the zone,” as some describe it, nor do I find the process of installing work particularly relaxing–but that’s kind of how it felt this week. Maybe it was lack of sleep and general exhaustion, but I was able to respond quickly and intuitively to the space. And the militant processional that I had semi-planned-out in my head fit the long, narrow exhibition space more beautifully than I could have imagined.
As many of you know (and as I discussed in a previous post), my work has become more ordered and more sculptural…even architectural…in the past few months. This project felt like a culmination of all the work I’ve been doing with sequenced hanging structures. Viewers can walk through the work, but the placement is also confrontational, forcing them to proceed through a narrow space in front of a vibrant felt firing squad.
Many have inquired about the sources for my imagery, and I’ve shared recently with readers some of the guns and weapons that have fueled the shapes within the work. Just as important, however, are the configurations and choreography that the work is adopting as it moves through the gallery, and these have borrowed heavily from infantry arrangements across a diverse array of cultures and time periods. Below are a few images that I particularly enjoy.
Shaping Space is up through November 20th. The autumn 2011 triple play is complete, and I don’t have another big project until January. Stay tuned for updates on what I’m working on for that exhibition at David B. Smith Gallery in Denver!
Tomorrow I turn a year older. I am going to eat cake, put my feet up, and relax.
Thanks for reading and have a great week. Happy Halloween!
