I'm switching gears for today's GS post by revisiting jewelry with the work of Renee Zettle-Sterling. I've been talking with Renee about my work over the last few weeks, looking to her for insight because I admire her work, but specifically, because of its highly-personal content and Renee's use of sentimental, priceless, irreplaceable clothing. For my new work I have been using irreplaceable things, so speaking with Renee has been very helpful.
"Object of Mourning: Permanence #1"
Renee makes jewelry, objects, sculpture and installation. There is also a performative aspect to many of the works shown through narrative photographs. I'm interested in how she creates with different forms and materials and admire her ability to convey experiences and emotions. The work is labor intensive, too, and I imagine this is an important part of the process, adding even more depth and complexity.
"Object of Mourning: Recall #1"
I met Renee a few years ago at the ECU metals symposium. She was the key note speaker that weekend and I really enjoyed her lecture. She talked about objects expressing "universal content" and I think about that a lot still. The source of much of the content in her work is death and mourning. Her experiences are unique to her, but universal with all of us. I think her pieces serve as a way for her to understand and accept and further serve as a vehicle to communicate and connect with others. Her pieces are sensitive, beautiful and articulate.
a page from my sketchbook, notes taken during her lecture
from the series "Necklaces in Mourning"
from the series "Objects of Mourning: Untidy"
from the series "Mourning Brooches"
You can read this articleabout her use of death and mourning as inspiration. It's a good introduction to what she does.
Here it is: my list of 2013 favorites! This year it's exclusive to the internet and it's a long list. I must say, 2013 was the year I completely fell in love with the internet. I liked it a whole, whole lot before, but this year, wow, I saw and read so many interesting things every single day. This post covers only a fraction...
Jewelry
David Choi'swork (top image) is my absolute favorite jewelry of the year. Those fabricated forms are pretty wonderful. I also love the work of Begoña Prats and Helena Lehtinen.
Berndnaut Smildecreates cloud installations in beautiful spaces…while Share Your Sun, a project by Ólafur Elíasson, gives everyone a chance to participate by posting images of the sun where they live. Light Echoes(video below) by Aaron Koblin and Ben Tricklebank is a fantastic video of digital imagery projected by a moving train on the ground below. After watching the video I became very interested in the work of Aaron Koblin, too.
I also love this video of the first encounter after years of separation of once partners/artistic collaborators, Marina Abramovic and Ulay. It happens at her MOMA retrospective and it moves me every time I see it.
Street Art and Graffiti
Ian Strange(above image) has roots in street art and graffiti and also creates incredible installations, photography and video. I am especially drawn to his "Suburban" project. I also discovered the graphic, large-scale installations and paintings of L'Atlas(below image) and the graphic yet fluid illustration and wall work of Cannon Dill.
Abandoned Spaces
I became interested in ghost buildings when I was living in Antwerp, Belgium and since then have been collecting images of them. I was really happy to see this post on Hyperallergic that features the phenomena that "remain as an unintentional texture of memory..."
Zola Jesus, whose music isintelligent and emotional, has an incredible voice and really knows how to use it. (I was also lucky to see her live this past fall and it was a thrilling show.) And, I'm always happy to read about my absolute favorite musician ever, Björk. This post in particular describes a concise "History and Style of a Music Maverick."
Maps and Information
"Where You Are" is a collection of maps by a variety of artists, writers and thinkers, each inspired by personal experience. I've not seen the book in person but I've spent lots of time on the website where you can examine each map.
I became a little obsessed with the US Wind Map (above image) which shows live wind patterns. I was also a little obsessed with all the wonderful diagrams and charts on Information is Beautiful, a website that features information in all sorts of beautiful ways. Finally, I was impressed with "The Beauty of Mathematics" which shows lovely depictions of math as found in our every day lives.
Writing
How to Write: A Year in Advice from Franzen, King, Hosseini, and Moreis an inspiring article about process and creation from different writers' points of view, but the information can be applied to any discipline, in my opinion. I've been taking notice of poetry recently and really enjoyed "What is Poem?", an article that explains poetry and how to appreciate it better in simple terms. My favorite part comes right at the end and centers on a one-word poem.
I can't remember if I've shared this on the blog before because I've talked about it with so many friends...it feels like maybe I wrote about it here, too. I read Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (above image) when I was in Iceland. I spent a lovely morning in the library in Skagaströnd reading these letters and as soon as I was done, I read them again. Then I read them a few more times over the course of my residency and since returning to the US. They don't take long to read and are simply beautiful and inspiring.
The above video is a mesmerizing time-lapse of a container ship delivering cargo in Rotterdam. I saw it on NOTCOTat the beginning of the year and was transfixed. The accompanying music is also really good.
I don't remember how I found Brene Brown's "The Power of Vulnerability" TED talk, but I am so happy I did. I've listened to it several times and find it inspiring every time. Vulnerability is always the right choice… "You Are Here","The Soul Patch"and"Letting Go"are all Radiolabpodcasts I listened to while I was embroidering my "Island." They are fascinating and brought tears to my eyes.
Nature
Last, but certainly not least, I really hope to see total cloud inversion one day as shown in "A Sea of Clouds Fills the Grand Cayon." (above image)
That's a long list and I see I've used the word "inspiring" a lot. These links were truly inspiring for me and continue to be. I hope you visit each one and enjoy them as much as I do. Tomorrow I will post my Icelandic favorites!
I am very pleased to announce my new website! The URL is the same, but the look is quite different. I've been wanting to overhaul my site ever since my last year as a Penland resident artist. Finally, I had the time and resources to do it, and with the help of my friend and graphic designer, Brandon Dawley, I now have a new site--a simple portfolio style with photo sets for each body of work and project. I've also include a set for my Arrangements and some of my favorite Pictures. Brandon and I used Krop and chose the Grid template. It was very easy to use and the process went quickly. Then I spent the last few days detailing it. I'm really happy with the results and hope you will take a few minutes to visit. I will continue to update it regularly with new work and would like to add some of my writing somehow. Please check back for updates…and I will post them here, of course.
As I was walking over to my studio this morning I was thinking about how much is new in my life: so much of it began just a few weeks ago or is happening right now at this very moment! I have a new home and new life, a new studio, a new website, I'm about to make new work…it's a lot of change and it can feel overwhelming at times. But, it mostly feels really, really good and very, very exciting. I look forward to sharing my New Year with all of you and wish each of you all the best in 2014!
for the tiny galleryi began by making small versions of some of the things i have made already like metal cones, borderlines structures, and graffiti badges. to round out the group i made a few pieces with tiny details, mainly in the form of knots. the arrangement of the objects was just as important as the pieces themselves. to create the arrangement i used a piece of foam core and tacks. i worked quickly and stuck with gut feelings about where each piece should go. i only made a few changes as i went along. the final arrangement was nailed directly on the door. i posted a series of images on flickr that shows the arrangement from 1 to 2 to 3 and so on.
while on santorini we also visted the city of oia. i took a few photos outside an antique and imports shop that carried beautiful contemporary work, lots with a byzantine feel. lots of rich colored stones and pearls, high carat gold, and filigree inspired settings. i also wanted to mention that in fira, sanorini’s capital there are jewelry shops all over, but there is actually a street called “jewelry street” where every shop is dedicated to jewelry. most of the stores carry fine jewelry, lots of 18 and 22k gold, lots of diamonds... pave set stones seem to be very popular, along with mesh and woven wire. many owners and shop salespeople stand outside when things are slow, chatting with each other and inviting passersby to come in. this was all fascinating to me.
