I Live Here Now

Last Tuesday I woke up at 1:37am and audibly gasped. I had just realized somehow, while sleeping, that I was exactly two months away from the opening of my show in Sweden. At first I thought I was wrong and I convinced myself I was wrong. Then I realized I wasn't wrong, not at all. My show opens on April 4 and, needless to say, it took me hours to fall back asleep due to a mix of panic and excitement. The next day marked the beginning of several days of intensely focused studio time. I also realized I should start talking about the work because this helps me to process and stay focused. There is also something in sharing, it makes it more real, less scary. When I made the work for my solo at Velvet da Vinci I kept everything secret for basically a year. When the work was done, I felt strange. I think keeping it hidden was a bit detrimental. I would like to learn to strike a balance between sharing and revealing too much when it comes to making new work…

I'm very happy to tell you that the title of the show is "I Live Here Now," a phrase I started using when I lived in Belgium in 2012. Now every time I go to a new place or move, I say these words out loud to myself when I arrive, regardless of how long I will be there. Since the work I'm making for this exhibition is all about home, it is the perfect title.

With "home" as the underlying concept, I'm working with three separate yet complementary themes: family, house and homes, and early influences. The pieces are about my mother, father and brother; the house I grew up in; how my childhood home influenced my interests as a kid and how these interests continue to influence my work today; the different places I have lived in the US. It is ambitious and I know I may not have time to make everything I want to make. At this point, I'm behind in my timeline with just a few weeks before I'm supposed to ship it all to my photographer in Seattle. I've been working seven days a week and some nights, basically as much as I can in between helping at home and sleeping.

I'll be sharing more every week leading up to the opening.

Thanks for reading.

New Weekly Etsy (or Halloween in February, At Least for This Week)

Badge in Black, $52

A few weeks ago I said I was going to list some new pieces on Etsy over the coming weeks. I started doing this last week by re-listing my remaining "Collected Memories." This week I've added two new colors of Regal Graffiti Badges that I often get requests for: orange and black. I also added matching Small Earrings. Enjoy!

Badge in Orange, $52

Small Earrings in Black, $74

Small Earrings in Orange, $74

Thanks for reading.

Guest Star #131…Wolfgang Laib

Pollen from Hazelnut

One of the best exhibitions I have ever been to was a Wolfgang Laib retrospective at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle in 2001. I didn't know about his work at that time but was awestruck immediately. I think the first piece I saw was Milkstone and it made me stop in my tracks…so simple and so beautiful. The color, the perfect square, the delicate tension of the meniscus of the milk along the edge, the complete silence in the room…it was stunning. I continued on to view dishes of rice and wax rooms and jars of pollen, all so perfectly, yet effortlessly placed, so it seemed. The stillness and contemplative feeling in the gallery, the smell of the beeswax, the subtle variations in color of the pollen, the thought of Laib hand-collecting the pollen and then sifting it onto the floor…it all blew me away. Then I saw a pollen field, and it was a singular experience. The gallery was packed but I felt alone with that piece, transported or something. It was moving. Years later, I happened to be in New York when he had an exhibition at a gallery in Chelsea. There were three pieces on view, including a pollen field. This time, however, there was no one else in the gallery. I was completely alone with the piece and I just stood there and starred for I don't know how long, again transported.

Pollen From Hazelnut installation with pollen harvested over 20 years

jars of pollen

Laib's pieces are minimal and quiet, yet they make a huge impact visually and emotionally. They appear simple, but the concepts are layered and run deep. I also admire how his process is embedded in the work. I have seen many images of him collecting pollen outside his studio and hand sifting it onto the floor of a gallery or pouring milk on a stone very carefully. I cannot separate these images from the work--it's like he's in there on view with each piece. Very powerful.

Milkstone, milk and marble

Nowhere-Everywhere, beeswax and wooden construction

Rice Meals, rice and brass

Please visit my latest artist board on Pinterest, Wolfgang Laib.

Thanks for reading.

Also Very Interesting...Winter Reading

Memory edited by Ian Farr

Next to my favorites posts, this is my other favorite post of the year. Every winter I seem to accumulate and read a number of books related to my work and I love telling you about them. This is an exciting time of the year as I find myself researching new material and investigating topics I'm very curious about. Here are this winter's books:

Memory (above) is a collection of essays by artists and writers about the use of memory in art. This book is an excellent way for me to learn more about the use of memory in my own work. 

 The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard

A book that explores home and how it shapes us…Another perfect book right now, specifically for the work I'm making for my upcoming solo show about home.

The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti by Rafael Schacter

In all my years of watching graffiti and street art, I have never read a survey or book about its history. I just felt it was time. 

Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information 

by Manuel Lima

This is a visually captivating book with "information-visualization" in the form of maps, charts and diagrams...and for me, another way of looking at maps, an ongoing influence in my work. 

Scandinavian Folk and Fairy Tales edited by Claire Booss

A gift from a friend because she knows how fascinated I am with Scandinavian culture…This is a great before-bed read.

History of Art by H.J. Janson

I read this in college as an art history minor and I'm revisiting it now in order to reacquaint myself with what I learned years ago...I think this is a good idea considering the shift in my work that I feel coming on. 

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, translated by Vladimir Nabokov

I read Madame Bovary three times in high school because my English teacher felt it was the most important work of fiction. This is one of my favorite classics and I'm just beginning to realize how important it is to the work I make. (More on this soon.)

Here are links to my winter reading from 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

Thanks for reading.

Collected Memories Back in the Shop

Necklace No. 6

My recent press in Metalsmith made me look at Collected Memories: 1974-Present again. I have the remaining pieces here in my studio in a box. I don't want them to be in this box. I want them to be out in the world. I want them to be seen and enjoyed…so I have re-listed them in my Etsy Shop with a new price and would love for you to take a look and get one for yourself or as a gift. They are wearable but also look beautiful hanging on a wall, like a drawing or photograph. These pieces are all one-of-a-kind, made with collected materials that I found or were given to me. They are based on my own collection of jewelry: they respond to specific pieces, people or moments, as well as patterns in my collection. 

Brooch No. 1

In 2011 when I made this work, I photographed every single piece of jewelry that I own and then studied the work and the images. I tried to remember how I acquired each piece, I thought about the people who gave me the work, and I noticed how I have collected since I was a child. Between the memories of the materials and the memories of the jewelry, events and people in my life were drawn together to create new memories. The following is from my statement for the series.

Necklace No. 14

In “Collected Memories: 1974-Present,” I analyzed the jewelry I own to discover patterns and to gain further insight into my history with jewelry. The completed installation serves as a timeline of my life with jewelry and a vehicle for intertwining events and people. The works are made using materials I have collected and are assembled in such a way as to emphasize the impermanence and incompleteness of memory.

Installation view from my exhibition at Velvet da Vinci

Of the original 34 pieces, there are 17 left…

Thanks for reading.

Necklace No. 6 in Print

  from top right, clockwise: 

Nikki Couppee, Katie Poterala, my necklace

Necklace No. 6 from Collected Memories: 1974-Present is part of an article by Michael Dale Bernard in the current Metalsmith magazine. "Material Complexity" describes the use of non-precious, mixed materials in contemporary jewelry and eloquently explains why artists, like myself, are using them. It's a beautiful piece and includes a strong group of artists. 

Michael asked each of us to write a short statement about our work. The following is my statement:

"This necklace is part of the series "Collected Memories: 1974 to Present." By using many different materials collected since childhood, I was able to intertwine events and people from my past that weren't connected until the moment each piece was made. Using my memory as a guide, the pieces were also assembled in such a way as to emphasize the impermanence and incompleteness of memory."

I am very pleased to be in Metalsmith again--it's always exciting to get some good press, especially in the magazine of my field. Then to have been chosen by such a strong maker in Michael and to be amongst such talented artists, makes it even more special. I've listed each person under their photo and included links to their websites. I strongly encourage you to visit each site and Michael's, as well. 

Katja Toporski 

 from top left, clockwise: Laura Wood, Kat Cole, Rachel Timmons

 from top left, clockwise: 

Laritza Garcia, Tara Locklear, Lauren Markley

Thanks for reading.

Teaching in My Neighborhood

In addition to giving a lecture at Munson Williams Proctor, I'm teaching two classes at the School of Art. The first class, "Innovating the Chain," happens this Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9 from 9-4 each day. The second class, "Exploring Process, Building Form," is Saturday, March 4 also from 9-4. Please follow the links to read class descriptions, see the tuition and to register. If you have any questions about my classes, please feel free to email me at amy@amytavern.com.

Here are some examples of student work from both classes taught previously:

Maia Lepo, chain from "Innovating the Chain"

Danielle James, two brooches 

from "Exploring Process, Building Form"

I'm looking forward to teaching at MWP. I took a drawing class and a ceramics class there back in the 90s and enjoyed both very much. The best drawing I've ever made was in that drawing class, too. I still have it and keep it on display in my house. It reminds me that I can indeed draw and is a beautiful document of my favorite pair of Doc Martens, which, sadly, I no longer have. The drawing also has all my marks of process--I intentionally left them intact then, which is telling to me considering my strong interest in process today.

Thanks for reading.