Artist Statement Overhaul

 

Part of my resolution for 2015 has been to make it a habit to update my website monthly. I am starting to come to dread the 30th of each month. I use Other People's Pixels and adding new stuff is pretty hassle free, but coming up with new stuff… that is the hard part.

I need to rewrite my artist statement, not revise, but a total rewrite. A lot of artist statements are full of stale bullshit; it's a cliche, like paint covered pants, body odor, and keeping your own schedule that does not include clocks. There tends to be an unwritten, but implied, "fuck you for making me write this" in most artist statements I read.

I feel that I have to be clever. Being clever can be exhausting. Here is what I have so far:

Several years ago, while eating a chicken sandwich, I came across the quote, “Food is essential to life, therefore make it great.” I thought it was a wonderful quote, which really played into the ideas that I was pursuing in my artwork. Unfortunately, I was at a Chick-Fil-A, and the words I was reading were those of S. Truett Cathy, a fact that now carries a lot of baggage. Baggage that, in some ways is essential to my work.

Food is essential to life, but it is also social and political. Every time we eat, we make choices about who we are, and who we are not, and who we aspire to be.

The tribe we chose to be a part of.

Religion, food restrictions— Sacrament (an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual divine grace), who can receive communion? Communion is received, not taken. The Holy Eucharist is the most important if the seven sacraments because in this and in no other sacrament we receive the very body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

You are what you eat

Because of Chick-Fil-A’s anti-gay stance, as a liberal red-blooded American, I feel that it is my duty to say that I never wanted to eat their greasy, disgusting chicken anyway. However, that would be a lie. I really enjoyed their chicken sandwiches and waffle fries and was even willing to suffer through their choice in horrible christian rock music to eat it. Out of respect to my friends, I don’t eat Chick-Fil-A anymore, and I am sure that probably pains me more that it pains the Cathy family. In the meantime, I hope that Arby’s never does anything that would cause us to have to part ways

Food can be aspirational. It taps into our feelings of health, safety, guilt, fear, happiness, success, and well-being.

 I've also been reading:

Don't be an Armchair Artist.

Sometimes I can be a pretty awesome Armchair Artist. I procrastinate a lot; I think that's a pretty common problem for everyone. It's not a habit just for artists. I also daydream a lot; also not a habit exclusive to artists. Now, whether or not either one of these activities are good or bad, well, as Paracelsus said, "The dose makes the poison." Together, I find they can be paralyzing.

I had a momentary pang of self doubt, so I thought I would Google "Armchair Artist," and I was surprised to find my definition was not there. There are many artists of armchairs, or "armchair artists", but no Armchair Artists. Armchair Artists; as in Armchair Philosopher, Backseat driver, or Monday Morning Quarterback. 

In my search from Armchair Artists, I did stumble upon this however, which can be attributed to one Julia Helen Murray, who I do not know.

I was first introduced to the phrase Armchair Artist by Jim Sajovic, my painting instructor sophomore year at the Kansas City Art Institute. Early in the semester, he came by my studio. I didn't have much of any work to show, so I told him all the things I was thinking about doing and he said, "That's really nice Jennifer, now make sure you don't become an Armchair Artist."

An Armchair Artist is an artist who sits and congratulates themselves over all the great artworks they have imagined, but have failed to actually make a reality for the rest of us to see and critique. They will tell you all their brilliant plans, but they will never produce. Being an Armchair Artist is sort of like being a Monday Morning Quarterback, if it were the Quarterback that was Monday Morning Quarterbacking himself on the Thursday and then not showing for the game because, in his mind, he's already won and he was awesome.

Pizza and Donuts

The pizza is slowly progressing and I have been binging on Netflix. I have decided that I don't want to buy any more embroidery floss unless I absolutely need to. I have two packed, but organized, drawers full of embroidery floss. I would like to get that down to one drawer. With that goal in mind, some of the colors I am choosing to use are not my first choice; they are what I have.

This sounds like fodder for a drunken argument among artists: Should you compromise in the making of your work?

Here is my progress.

I also started thinking about other circular foods, which lead to a trip to LaMar's for donuts. I found out there are not that many donuts left at a donut shop on a Saturday at Noon.

I was looking at the remaining donuts left in the glass case, trying to decide which would translate best to embroidery, while this little girl basically acted out all of my thoughts. She marched around me, clapping her hands, chanting, "Donuts! Donuts! Donuts!" Then, she pressed her face up against the glass case and started pointing, "Look at that one! Look at that one, there!" And, I looked, but I was having a really tough time because there was this noise distracting me. I looked over my shoulder and that's when I realized it was the little girl's mother screaming at her to get away from the glass. The mother saw me looking at her and said, "I'm sorry." It took me a moment to realize that she was apologizing for her daughter.

I bought the donuts the little girl pointed out. I brought them home, photographed them, then ate one and shared the other.

So, I'm still sitting on the couch...

I decided to get rid of a whole bunch of fabric I had been saving for no other reason than that I just felt bad about getting rid of it. I was very happy to find a student who I thought might have use for some of my cast offs. Now they are out of my house and off my mind.

Of course, I also rediscovered some linens I had forgotten I had collected. I am not sure what to embroider on them yet, but I am open to suggestions.

 

Here we have an unfinished cherry tort; one of my first food embroideries.

I was thinking about embroidering Chicago-style hotdogs on these two.

I have no idea what to do with the rest of these.

 

 

So far, I still have yet to work in my actual studio. I continue to hang out on the couch, watching Netflix and working on my latest embroidery project. If you are curious as to how I entertain myself while embroidering, I have been binge watching Daredevil while sewing an oversized pizza.

 

Embroidery of pizza on flour sack towel in progress.

 

I think I may have bit off more than I can chew (pun totally intended), or as my Mommy would say "big eyes, little tummy."

I have been hanging out with Alison Moyna Green a lot and she has been making mandalas with thorns. We have also been saving egg shells for her to walk on as an installation performance, so I have been having mandalas on my mind. I don't think otherwise I would have thought of embroidering a pizza.

New Studio Space

Sometimes a room just gets stale. I hate being in my studio and often opt to work in the living room instead. I've made a lot of great stuff in my old studio, but I think it is time to move on. I have begun the process of switching my studio and the guest room.

I got myself a fancy new table, a couple of Finnvard trestles in beech and a white table top, from Ikea. I found them particularly attractive because, as Ikea says; "You can choose a flat or tilted table top, which is good for writing, painting or drawing, by adjusting the trestle." Oh, la la! I also decided to get an Alex drawer unit on casters in white to match my table top. What a great consumer I am! I will put up some pictures when my new studio starts looking a little nicer. In the meantime, here is an image of the first artwork (from the cardboard packaging of the Alex drawer unit) made in my new studio.

My first blog post.

My studio practices have have been suffering as I work on my second bachelor's degree. In order to hold my self accountable, I have decided it would be worth while start a blog. And so, I am.