PROJECTS
There are five galleries in this page - the first three are discussed below. The fourth has its own statement. The fifth gallery contains projects in process.
I've been mulling over the idea of “monumental” art. Dictionary.com offers the following definitions: 1 – resembling a monument; massive or imposing, 2 – exceptionally great as in quantity, quality, extent, or degree, 3 – of historical or enduring significance, 4 – (fine arts) having the quality of being larger than life; of heroic scale, 5 – of or relating to a monument or monuments, 6 – serving as a monument.
This aspect of enduring significance and of serving as a monument – essentially immortalizing – is of interest to me. In the previous round of icons and even in my BFA work, I was headed towards this idea of enduring significance and immortality. My use of the bird-woman as an archetype for my show narrative pushed its status to “heroic” and/or “god-like”. The investigation of religious imagery via my Icons was also an attempt to create “monuments” to people that the “Church” does not immortalize. So much of immortality and monumentalism is attached to the idea of “worship worthy”.
I like the idea of work that is monumental. It can be looked at from two points of view; work that shows the “largeness” of the subject. Which can take place on any size of canvas, even smaller sizes or work that is, in and of itself, of a large size. Monumental, in these instances, meaning that the subject and/or the work takes up space. Monumental can also mean something that has been created to memorialize something. The large size helps to suggest heroic or majestic aspects. Monumental can also suggest that the subject is massive.
Secondary to this, I like the idea of creating work that touches on what I consider “worship worthy” - subjects that are god-like, divine, holy, sacred. I've been working through that aspect via the Icons series I'm currently finishing up. It gets back to the idea that art was once a sacred thing. Even though I am not Christian, there are things I consider sacred and worthy of worship. This idea is directly related to the idea of monumentalism in that most of the monuments that we are familiar with in European and American culture are created to memorialize ideals. This idea of creating a large monument isn't confined to Euro-centric cultures; there's a really beautiful, really large statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia that comes to mind when I think of “monumental” and “worship worthy”.
Sketches - click on photos for descriptions.
Color Studies/Sketches - click on photos for descriptions.
Sculpture, etc. - click on photos for descriptions.
Small Beadwork - click on photos for descriptions.
I've been considering adding traditional and modern beadwork to my personal practice. This was one of the first artforms I remember being introduced to as a child. Bitterroot women were famous for their beadwork - bags, clothing, cradle boards, horse accessories, and hats were historically all skillfully beaded. Beadwork continues to be an accomplished art form on the reservation using both traditional and contemporary motifs and themes. I feel that there is room within these small works to explore monumentalism and memorialism as well as relationships, transitions, and ambiguity - all of which are current themes running through the rest of my work. I especially like the idea of these juxtaposed with the very large beaded sculptures, above.
