No Time for Down Time

dust silhouettes on my bench

I'm back in upstate NY and already back in my studio. Everything here is just as I left it, except for a layer of dust, which is now gone. My lists and deadlines are in order, too, and I'll be spending the week getting back on track before diving into the bench.

Iceland feels so faraway and so close, my experiences like a dream and like the absolute best reality. So where do I begin? Tomorrow I'll show you…

freshly cleaned studio

a vintage postcard of Gullfoss hanging in my studio…

Gullfoss is a waterfall in Iceland I saw just a week ago

Thanks for reading.

Sjáumst

a favorite mural

Sjáumst means "see you later" in Icelandic, which is the attitude I'm trying to take in my last moments here; I fly back to the US tomorrow morning. These past three months have been incredible. I did everything I wanted to do and so much more than I ever could have imagined. Once I'm settled into my studio in Richfield Springs, I will share my thoughts. For now, here are some more pictures of Reykjavík:

dramatic sky looking out into the harbor from Harpa

hallway at my favorite pool

a house in my neighborhood

inside the dome of Perlan

Thanks for reading.

Fieldwork: Arranging an Experience

The space is clean, tables are moved, objects are roughly arranged and lights are placed. We have a projector and a wonderful, vintage pull-down projector screen, a big map of Iceland and several borrowed laptops and iPads. There is an exhibition space and a sitting area. Tomorrow we will paint a few table tops and two walls, create an installation of ephemera and finalize the arrangement of the objects. It's coming together and feels promising. 

Presentation #1 takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, June 18 from 6-8pm.

Please visit us and "like" us on Facebook.

Thanks for reading.

Fieldwork: New Territory

It's been a busy couple of days for Fieldwork. We are nearly done with our map and spent a few hours today cleaning the exhibition space. This project, which marks some new territory for me, uses all sorts of media and materials to communicate and share an experience. There's an interactive Google map, found objects, a variety of data, writing, photography, video and sound. We will present these forms in an alternative exhibition format and allow our audience to participate in whatever way they wish from exploring the map to examining physical objects. The exhibition space is a well-worn artist studio with beautiful natural light, paint splashed tables and a stainless utility sink. John and I will try to create an inviting laboratory of information, narrative and objects via arrangements and projections.

I'm finding the entire process to be exciting, challenging and very, very interesting. It combines so many things that I love like maps and collecting and is also opening me up to new forms of expression through the use of data and the internet. It's also my first collaborative piece like this and the balanced give and take that is happening is wonderful.

Presentation #1 takes place this coming Wednesday from 6-8pm.

Please visit us and "like" us on Facebook.

Thanks for reading.

My Hands are in It, Part Three

For the last few weeks I've been working on a collaborative project with my friend, John Rogers. The project is called "Fieldwork."

Fieldwork is a collaboration between artists John Rogers and Amy Tavern.The project is a multidisciplinary “fieldwork”, presented online & IRL, that incorporates ideas of space, movement, memory and technology; place, image, experience and object.The “findings” of Fieldwork are presented in an array of formats, with internet and social media explored and reconfigured as art spaces, creating a flow of content and an expression of information generated by moving through the world.

This includes a map that uses GPS coordinates to accurately place photographs, found objects, videos and other media into an ongoing online presentation. As well as the “facts” of these travels, the map will collate the artists’ experience of the journey and the project’s development, via accompanying texts and process documentation. Fieldwork will also be shown IRL, drawing together these strands with projections, arrangements of objects, exhibition of images and videos, and the artists present and working in a constructed art-lab-gallery-studio environment.

Presentation #1 takes place in Reykjavík, Iceland, on June 18, 2014 at the SÍM basement, Seljavegur 32, Reykjavík 101. The presentation will also be open June 19 and 20 from 2-6pm each day.

Begin exploring Fieldwork via the map, which can be found here.You can add Fieldwork on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr and YouTube to watch the project evolve.

John and I will be in residence for the three days it's open, continuing work on the project and welcoming visitors. In this regard, Fieldwork is an eternally unfinished live work - a process and a scenario. Drop in and see us.

Thanks for reading.

My Hands are in It: Part Two

A few weeks ago I mentioned my videos and now you can watch them on YouTube. One was made in Höfn, Iceland and was made in the U.S. on a train. (I will add more once I figure out a pixilation problem I keep running into.) I still don't know how I will use these pieces, but I've been thinking about projecting different ones on each wall in a gallery to create an immersive space, or perhaps projecting them onto a sculptural installation. 

May 1, 7:58pm

In addition to collecting these short videos, I'm thinking more and more about my photos, which I started to tell you about when I showed "11 Minutes"  at the Sím May resident artist show. Another project I've been working on happened during the month of May, my birthday month. I took a photograph of the sea every day standing in the exact same spot near the Sím studios. I took the pictures at different times of the day whenever I could easily be in that one spot. I missed a few days while I was away for my birthday and another day when I just plain forgot, but this is a diary and I don't mind the missing days. I'm not sure how I will show these images once I'm ready--a long line might be really nice or a calendar-style format with blanks for the days I didn't take a picture. 

Thanks for reading.

My Hands are in It, Part One

When I first arrived in Reykjavík I met Kathy Clark, an American artist who lives here with her Icelandic family. Her work, usually in the form of mixed-media installation, is like looking at dark fairy tales, rich with narrative and secrets. Kathy is preparing for a solo show at the Reykjavík Art Museum next year and I've been helping Kathy in her studio. Not only am I making things for her, but also talking with her about space and creating pieces that fill spaces. On one of our first meetings, we went to the museum with a diagram of her vision for the show and walked around the room. We took measurements and discussed where things will go. It was very interesting for me to think in this way, on such a bigger scale than I am used to, and to listen to Kathy talk about her work and how it will fit in the gallery. In the studio, I'm making an 8' gate that will be part of one of the vignettes in the show. Kathy drew a scale diagram for me and I have been bending and binding wire to recreate it.

Kathy also runs Wind and Weather Gallery ("Veður go Vindur" in Icelandic). The gallery is a window space, accessible anytime of the day to anyone. It's a wonderful way to connect art to everyone in the city. Kathy is a pretty incredible artist and gallerist and such a wonderful person. In addition to the great work experience I'm getting, I have a new friend whom I am going to miss immensely when I return to the U.S. 

Thanks for reading.

Sím Progress Report: More RVK Observations

walking along the coastline

Here are more photos taken while walking around Reykjavík. Walking is one of the best ways for me to process what is happening with my work. It allows my mind to relax and wander with intention, while the added layer of taking photographs keeps me sharp and observant. 

a sponge!

Grandi (the old harbor)

on my street

in a friend's neighborhood

See the entire album on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

Sím Progress Report: New Studio

I moved into a new studio at Sím for my last month. This space is on the other side of the residency building but still has a similar view. I basically kept the set up the same which made the transition easier. I'm reading some new books, too...

Thanks for reading.

Sím Progress Report: Thoughts

Over the past two months at Sím I've been writing about ideas for new sculptural work/installation and what I would like to achieve through its creation. My thoughts so far are just thoughts but they do feel solid and give me the feeling I'm on the right path. Here's a list of some words and phrases I'm focusing on and will continue to consider now that I've begun my third and final month at Sím:

space

immersion

(changing) perspective

creating a feeling

giving pause

layering

silence

solitude

warmth

capturing

illuminating

elevating

light and shadow

observations

accessibility

place
subtlety
anything and everything can be a material

Thanks for reading.

This Time It Was Pictures

I didn't blog at all last week… wow, I was busy! I went to a bunch of Reykjavík Arts Festival events, completed a project for my second resident artist show and did my usual of daily walks and reading. I'm also helping a new friend in her studio, which I will tell you about soon. But first, let me tell you about the work I showed at the resident artist exhibition last Wednesday: a series of images taken on my birthday inside the hostel where I was staying. The pictures are details of seemingly mundane, static objects and spaces using available light. It took only 11 minutes to shoot these pictures but I didn't realize that until I put together the presentation for the exhibition. I like that I took those 11 minutes on my birthday, May 11, to look closely and think creatively. It was great to show the pictures during the exhibition and to treat my photographs as art works and more than just a part of my process. I also liked how simple it was to exhibit the work: I created a slide show on iPhoto and played it on a loop on my own laptop. I found this all very refreshing and satisfying.

You can all the images on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.