Black Box online exhibit

From the Weeds portrait featured in online exhibition...Since moving West, my artistic focus has been turned to mining new ideas and working with established artists as a consultant / studio assistant / gallery sitter / et cetera. I consider this work to serve as an apprenticeship of sorts. Thus, my energies have momentarily turned away from exhibitions and the such. However, one of the portraits from my From the Weeds series is now part of a modest online exhibition through Portland's Black Box Gallery.  Fourth row, third in.  Enjoy!

Swedes / Cyanotypes

Lately, I've been flying excited circles in a holding pattern waiting for these two important personal art events.

1. The epic voyage to the matriarchal motherland: Sweden (see earlier post).  It is almost upon us!  I have just been teeming with inklings and leads for various work that I would like to create out of this loaded journey.  The anticipation is difficult to contain.

But, as the Swedes say, "Det ar ingen ko pa isen."There's no reason to freak out.”

Literally: There's no cow on the ice. 

2. Learning about cyanotypes.  After my return, I am slated to take a class on this original photographic printing process at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley.

The process is marked by a basic list of chemicals, the potential to use the sun as your exposure light source, and a liberal list of grounds that one can print on. Plus, one can then paint on the resulting print!  The possibilities for combining my photos and painting through this medium seem just endless, from the Paws work to the Mama series.

Watch out world.

Actual Lamps

The local product photography continues.  Our most recent subject: LAMPS!

Oakland-based design company Actual features a line of lamps it calls the Stola, and they have just rolled out a large table lamp version. Made with recycled P.E.T., these objects are meant to have a dynamic sculptural presence when illuminated.  Below are a few of my personal favorite takes.  See the official selections at the source: www.actualsf.com.  Profiled at Inhabitat.com.

Next up: Zip Ties!

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A Tahoe 4th

The 4th of July was upon us.  And our dormant rural parts were suddenly awoken and demanded recharging.  So, we took our maiden voyage to Lake Tahoe.

Holiday gridlock in 105 degree temperatures, two nights of camping, one epic hike to peer into Nevada from the south of Lake Tahoe, and one runaway truck ramp.  The trip was an incontestable success.

Ghost Town Farm Stand

With our favorite urban farm bursting at the seams with a beautiful bounty, the Ghost Town Farm Stand has been revived!

In conjunction with Oakland's First Friday / Art Murmur festivities just blocks away, writer / neighbor Novella Carpenter has been opening up her one-woman urban farm operation, Ghost Town Farm, to visitors. (Past posts about the farm can be seen here and here.) The first go around featured freshly harvested veggies, t-shirts, Novella's books, as well as a dramatic honey extraction demonstration. Perhaps the most amazing part of the demo was witnessing the bees that got stuck in the honey resurrect after our local bee-expert Emma carefully fished them out of each jar.  Nectar of the gods!Some photos documenting this season's first farm stand are below.To learn more about Ghost Town Farm / find out about the next farm stand, visit Novella's blog.

(And here is a link to Novella's post about this summer's farm stands, featuring my photos!)

East Bay Open Studios

Since 1979, East Bay artists have thrown open the doors of their studios in concert to welcome visitors to tour their work spaces and buy art directly from the maker during Open Studio weekends.  For this -my first!- Open Studio event, I will be assisting artist Jane Norling, my earliest ambassador to the Bay's art scene when we arrived here last autumn, at her newly reopened studio on Lakeshore Ave in Oakland.

After a frenzy of inventory taking and packing, we temporarily moved Jane out of her space for a building renovation in the late winter. The work is complete, and now she is back just in time for this annual event! The paint on the walls is fresh and things are still being unwrapped, but there is lots of remarkable and diverse work to be seen.  (I am especially partial to some new small paintings that bring together Jane's digital work and painting in an interesting new way...)Jane's studio-mate Judy Levit will also be present showing her work, so it's two for the price of one!

Details below...

Who: Jane Norling | Judy Levit
What: East Bay Open Studios
When: June 8th & 9th, 11a - 6p (final weekend!)
Where: 3298 Lakeshore Ave, 2nd Floor, Oakland

Actual Photography

New work-for-hire collaboration project! Design photography for neighbor Josh Jakus's company Actual. Based out of Oakland, Actual has an varied and ever evolving line of meticulously-designed and made-here products. Many have been featured in the press, and items are available in stores all over and online.

We are going to be working together on some new lamps, zip ties, and whatever else Josh comes up with throughout the summer and beyond. To follow what's going on with Actual, check out: blog.actualsf.com.

Emak Bakia

I find that periodic doses of surrealist art are quite healthful. It helps keep my pragmatism in check, which can sometimes reach dastardly levels that threaten the art

.This latest infusion of surrealism into my life could not have arrived at a better time. Various projects have wound themselves into awkward, wrenching stalls, and self-doubt was becoming rife. In a recent interview, author Claire Messud articulated something that has gnawed at me since art school and was starting to reach a fever pitch in my thinking: "...the choices that are necessary to make art...are choices to make something that doesn't exist, that no body needs. ... People might be glad you made it once you made it, but before you made it, it doesn't exist. So what's the point?"

And then Surrealism waltzes in, an arrogant and self-affirming partner-in-crime. This angst about creating isn't even worth a dismissive nod. Of course one must create -- of course this world needs more art! Chance, imagination, irrationality, humor -- the salt of life.

Enter Emak-Bakia at the on-going San Francisco International Film Festival. Through "The Search for Emak Bakia," another life is breathed into Man Ray's 1926 cine-poem when Basque filmmaker Oskar Alegria sets out to unravel Man Ray's use of the title phrase, which translates to "leave me alone" in Basque. Through a messy yet beautiful copulation of journalistic intent and surrealist chance, the film proceeds with the most liberal definition of an objective.

La casa Emak Bakia, un film de oskar alegria. from oskar alegria on Vimeo.

This film was thoughtfully recommended to me with my still fermenting Sweden journey project in mind. And, indeed!, it is wonderful fodder while working through the various motivations / objectives / plans for documentation for such a endeavor. Both projects take the form of a journey through travel and time. We cobble together our paths through an artifact-montage of our predecessors' the journeys. We set out with vaguely held objectives, striving to remain open to chance. (Often despite "better" judgement.) And I think that my journey will be all the richer thanks to the work of Alegria.

Madame Nola

The wonderful opportunity to spend a few days in New Orleans recently arose, and it was with great pleasure that I loaded up a small backpack and headed back east. Springtime in the Crescent City meant that the lush greens were accented by blooming flowers, we saw some mild rain storms, and the air was fresh rather than thick.

I was there in the company of my mother and my aunt, the two originators of the Paws tale. So, we had lots of stories to swap and news to share about our favorite rabbit family.  We also took the opportunity to explore an extension of the Mama Series. Tentatively titled Mama Nola, we wandered through the French Quarter in the early morning hours and took a plethora of images with some old family texts as the props in this storied city. (A preparatory reading of Andrei Codrescu's collection of stories about his adopted city of New Orleans, "Mon Amour," gave me a great appreciation for the special place of literature here.)

My hope for the Mama Series is to someday print each series using different methods of old (photogravure, cynaotype, etc.). The idea first came from a dear photographer friend who hails from New Orleans herself, and it is an exciting prospect that is gaining in popularity in certain circles. But for now, the focus shall remain on the picture making and explorations that go hand-in-hand with that wonderful process. And New Orleans has, unsurprisingly, proved a futile land for such wanderings.

Ghost Town Farms: March

Here's the latest report on our progress at the neighborhood urban farm!March was a busy month, with the most notable development being a hard fought battle to cut through some serious concrete to make holes for fruit trees. My own part in the process was limited to clearing dirt to get to the concrete floor and shifting out rocks after the jackhammer did its work, which suited me just fine!We were rained out of our regular Thursday work session today, so instead let us reflect on the progress and know those newly installed fruit trees are enjoying their showers. (Photos of those to follow in the next batch.)To learn more about Ghost Town Farms and its farmer Novella Carpenter, visit her blog here! 

Springtime Camping Excursion

We've picked up a new hobby, which is giving rise to more travel photographs: camping. First experienced on our journey cross country to our new lives in California, it is now our main vehicle for getting to know this enormous state.

For this month's excursion, we set off for the central coast and got lucky with two great campsites. The first was at Montana de Oro, where we were serenaded by the crashing waves throughout the night. From there, we headed back north to an amazing 2,600 ft. perch at Henry W. Coe State Park over looking the Santa Clara Valley.

I won't bore you with photos of our tent or the dog chasing a tennis ball at a Morro Bay beach.  However, when we  were en route between our two encampments, we drove through some sublime green farmlands bathed in a beautiful morning sun.  Here are few snapshots from that drive... 

Ghost Town Farms

The first set of photographs documenting this season's growth at Ghost Town Farms.

Well before our eyes turned West, I came across Novella Carpenter's book "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer" in the New York Times.  A story of one woman's adventure turning an unused lot into a working farm (livestock and all) in inner city Oakland, I gifted it to a foodie friend from the Bay Area.  While I had it tucked onto my own "to-read" list, I never got around to it.  Until we were slated to be neighbors.What an amazing coincidence that the apartment we secured upon moving to the East Bay was just a block away from Novella's urban farm!  While we waited for our move-in date to arrive, I got my hands on my own copy of her book and loved it.

After we moved in, I would walk the dog past her fence and peer in to catch a glimpse of the honey bees and see what she might be growing.  It was December, though, and even in California things were in repose.  One day, she happened to be outside digging away with her daughter when I was walking the pup, and I introduced myself through the fence.It's essentially springtime now in Oakland, and Novella has begun holding regular farm work days on Thursdays.  (3-5p, here's her blog if ya wanna join!)  As we work to transform the plot into this year's incarnation of Ghost Town Farms, Novella has kindly allowed me to document the process.  So, here's the first installation! 

"Year in Color" exhibit opening with "Painting Time" book

Since moving out to Oakland, I have been doing arts consulting work with some really great local artists.  On Thursday, a solo exhibit for one of those artists opens along with the premier of the exhibit catalog, which I designed!

YEAR IN COLOR/LUNAR CYCLES: New Work by Carol Ladewig
SLATE contemporary, 473 25th Street, Uptown Oakland
Opening Thursday, February 28th, 6-8p
Show runs through March 3rd

In conjunction with the exhibit, the book Painting Time has been published, for which I did the design work and some of the photography.  The book is both an exhibit catalog and a wider examination of the featured work within the context of Carol's art practice as well as modern art history.  The text contains essays by art critic DeWitt Cheng and SLATE director Danielle Fox.

Come check it out!  And be prepared for COLOR.

Mae Ella | Sverige

On the occasion of an anniversary, retracing the origins of a still gestating project.

One year ago, we kissed good-bye my beautiful grandmother, Mae Ella (Carlson) King.  She was 91-years-old and had been living independently in the home that she and my grandfather built until a few days earlier.  It was a sunny winter morning, and she pulled her car out of her driveway onto the two lane rural highway and into the path of an oncoming bus.  No one else was injured, but the accident proved fatal for her.

I could carry on all day about how special my Gamma was.  However, what I want to share here is how this tragic event lead has inadvertently led me into a new project that I am just now beginning to shape and form. 

The Sverige Project

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While going through her house, we came across three small slide boxes and a stack of neatly typed notes.  It was the slide show that my great Aunts Margaret and Alice Alphield assembled after their holiday to their ancestral homeland of Sweden in 1964.  It was an impressive archive : the notes detailed and sprinkled with wit, the scenes lovely.

Nearly twenty years after the sisters' journey, my own mother (and Auntie's namesake) studied abroad in Stockholm.  And from her tenure, we still hold the small Kodak 3 1/2 " x 4 1/4" snapshots that she took and a thick stack of postcards that she sent home.Perhaps in remembrance of that past generation, but certainly for our own sense of wanderlust/nostalgia/adventure, my mother and I are going to undertake the journey to Sweden together come this late summer.

I hope to bring the ephemera of all three expeditions together into a highly-illustrated text exploring the parallels and divergences of our treks through this loaded landscape. In the meantime, I really need to start learning nagra ord pa svenska.

Se ut for dorrarna, dorrarna stangs!

The proper project portfolio page can be viewed here.

Murmur Murmur Murmur

I do not know how long it can last, but Oakland's "Murmur" gallery night is magical.  Just a hop-skip-jump from our new home, the galleries along Telegraph's side streets are so packed that you can hardly see the art.  Packed!

A wonderful problem that has a few solutions: come early or go to the Saturday Art Strolls.

After my first few jaunts, one exhibition has really stuck with me: Ursula Brookbank's She World installation at Krowswork. A few images from the gallery are posted here, but it really was something that needs to be experienced in-person. With only your borrowed flashlight and the lights of your stranger-companions.

This beautiful, haunting work that seems to be getting some nice attention.  Here's one piece from the new Art Animal publication.

Feeding in the main artery of Telegraph, the feel is carnival.  Rows and rows of food trucks.  Flea market bazaar.  Live music of every genre.  Open bottles and vodka shot hawkers, to say nothing of the ubiquitous aroma of pot.

The moons have somehow aligned in Oakland that a modest gallery night has bloomed into a raucous extravaganza. Mum is not the word.

Heading photo taken at my first Murmur with Artist Jane Norling, contemplating "Embarrassment of Riches" sculpture by Patricia Thomas at SLATE.

Paws Revisited

An important part of the journey West has been to re-center my work on my art.

Over the past few years, some wonderful opportunities have come along and pulled away my attention at the expense of concerted and concentrated focus on the various projects that I have stewing in varied states of completion. So, this dramatic change in geography is being paired with a refocusing.

First on the agenda is a return to the work of the Paws Family.  The Paws were the object of my thesis work, an ambitious installation relating the historical narrative of a strange rabbit family.  Since their first showing, I have wanted to tell their story in novel form.  As part of my thesis, I did assemble and publish a transcript of the Paws Family's source material : a rich written correspondance between my mother and her sister.  Five years later, though, I am revisiting the work and re-configuring it  to be a more concise text saturated with illustrations.

A few sneak peaks into some of the early sketches are available on the Paws' portfolio page, as well as images of their past showings.

Oakland, California

A new year and a new home : Oakland.

After spending our collegiate tenure plus that time repeated over in the central New York city of Ithaca, we decided that it was time for a dramatic change.  So, we gave up our rural Quonset Hut on twenty acres outside of town and set our sights West.  Golden California promised to be enough of change (but not too much) and a significant improvement in climate.  We narrowed our target down to the East Bay area, and set off.

After our arrival, we explored the area (walking the dog, talking to bartenders and baristas, consulting other eastern ex-pats), and fell in love with Oakland.  Teeming with artists and home to the vibrant Art Murmur scene, the folks we chatted with were all super-excited about their town and all the stuff going on.  While many were lifers, we have found no shortage of fellow transplants.  Even a few New England Patriots fans.

So, we are now one-month into our residency in Ghost Town, Oakland, California.  It's not utopia, but it's home.  And we're really happy to call it that.

New exhibit on children's literature: Wardrobes and Rabbit Holes

Showing at Cornell Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections...

Wardrobes and Rabbit Holes: A Dark History of Children's Literature.
November 7, 2012 - March 22, 2013

It promises to be a spectacular exhibit and opens with a lecture by author M.T. Anderson!

Enormous congrats to former colleagues (and always friends) Eisha Prather and Fredrika Loew. It was a privilege to serve as your AC.

More details on my work with RMC here.

Westward, ho!

After eight years, it is time to bid Ithaca farewell.Nearly all our possessions are in storage outside LA, and we are undertaking a cross country road trip to begin a new life in California.  No jobs, no housing.  Just the faithful dog, some borrowed camp gear, and our optimism.It's been real, CNY.  See ya out West!

Addendum: some photographs for our journey can be viewed here.

The Invisible Sun Being Returns!

A crew of drummers positioned themselves in the center of the old school auditorium, while their accompanying musicians arranged themselves on the outskirts.

The walls were painted by a variety of projections, and local video art pieces played at ground level.

As one moved through the space, the sound scape could change dramatically.

The audience accordingly varied its movements between lounging on cushions along the periphery, slowly marching a path through the performers, or settling onto open patches on the floor to melt into the scene.

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Organized by Ithaca Underground, hosted by the Community School of Music and Arts.

Special shout out to The Invisible Hand's Devin Conathan and Mark Pearson.