For the past few months I have been working on creating a new body of work for my upcoming solo show at the Guest Gallery at Artists and Makers Space in Rockville, MD. I am honored and excited to have been invited to show there and it has been an opportunity for me to create work that is a little bit bigger than I usually make. Which is not big, but for me it is.
This past weekend, I printed out small images of the paintings I have so far for the show and laid it out with a rough diagram of the gallery space, moving things around, doing the math, etc. And I was thinking of calling the show Grounding. But I am still thinking on it. This year has been stressful and uncertain (and still is) and what I have found grounding is of course, getting my hands in the dirt, feeling the wind, being in my body in the outside natural world. I also find the act of creating to be a very grounding experience because again it is a state of being in the here and now.
The photo that inspired this piece was taken in Delaware, near the ocean. These grasses probably measure 6-7 feet high, maybe higher. And just looking at them, makes me remember that moment of standing by the towering plants and seeing them sway in the wind and hearing the rustle through their forms as they moved together. I found it mesmerizing.
Many years ago I created a book art piece that contained writing from my journal from when my sister passed away when I was 18 years old. It said:
sometimes/ i think that the wind/ is more than just/currents of air/ it is the spirits/of those i’ve known/ and even others/of my own unknown/spirits reminding me/of their presence and/ the impermanence of life
During the time when I was working on this piece, I visited Facebook and saw a post from an artist I have followed online for many years. The post was written by a family member, which as you know, it means that he passed away and they were sharing the news. I was shocked as I had just seen him post a few days earlier with an in process shot of a painting in his studio. I cannot even remember where we first started to follow each other. I think it might have been on flickr and I think it was when I was living in Chicago. So it has been a while. I remember the first time he left a comment on one of my paintings, I think back in my Chicago days, I was in disbelief. I couldn’t believe one of my pieces caught his eye and he that said something nice. He would say things like- “nice one.” Very simple, but ohmygosh, it would always make my day. Especially as a young artist making my way blindly into the art world, it was a pat on the back, like keep going, you got this.
It is a reminder to me how a kind gesture can mean so much. And also how this social media world, while it has damaged so much in they way our society communicates, has also been a way to connect people and to lift each other up. I always looked forward to his Instagram posts and seeing in process photos of his powerful work and the little bits he shared of his personal life, especially of the river he would visit often.
So, while I was finishing up this piece and thinking about wind and spirits, and our time in our bodies on this earth, I was thinking about him, a great artist, who I never met in 3D, but I feel so lucky to have known him, in the very small way that I did. You can view Jay Carrier’s work and read a little about him in this article. If you are interested in seeing more of his work and hearing him speak in different artist talks and interviews, there are several videos online that can easily be found in a quick search.
I think this piece is done. If not, 99% done. Time will tell.