Memory Creating the Self ~ My Solo Show

Memory is the treasury

and guardian of all things.

~Marcus Tullus Cicero 

Reception for Memory Creating the Self

September  18, 2016

1982  

6 x 12" 

oil on wood, with gold metal leafing

Here is my artist's statement for the show, as well as the list of works, which continue on the other side ... 33 in all!

In case it's too small to read on the paper, above, here is my artist's statement about the show: 

We are made of memory; genetic, experimental and body memory. We embody that which has come before us, as well as what we have experienced on our journey here. How much do we hold from our own past that we do not remember?

There are places and people we are linked with forever because they have left their mark on us. What is it that we will imprint on others and what will we leave behind?

My work integrates gold metal leafing, which incorporates memories of Thai temples and Italian altarpieces, from my own experience, as well as some deeper sense memory, that cannot be explained. There is a connection to history and tradition that I feel, as if I have been doing it for centuries.

All works are oil on wood panel with gold metal leafing.

For the reception, I made up a playlist of music from the 1920s, 30s, 40s and so on, to fit in with the idea of memory, most of which are songs that bring back my own memories. 

This one, is of Sarah Vaughan singing Come Rain or Come Shine, which my mom used to sing. (And she sang it at the Hollywood Bowl in the 1960s.)

With the exception of two paintings, all the works were painted in 2016.  Because there are so many, 33 in all, I will do more posts with the works not shown here, as well some of the processes and "work in progress" shots. The painting above, with the 66 GTO and Lowliner trailer, was the first one to sell, on the day of the reception.

Along the wall on the left (you can see in the photo above) hung the group of 13 pieces related to genetic memory ... my ancestors. 

The titles of all works in the show were dates. There were many reasons I chose to do that, but one was the sense of time passing and the memories building upon themselves, to create "the self," as well as giving the images more space for interpretation by the viewer.

1948

12 x 6"

(sold)

On the wall as you enter, it begins with my paternal grandparents, Mabel and Charles, and continues with their parents and grandparents.

1934

10 x 8" 

(sold)

And then my maternal side of the family.

At that far end of the room, on the smaller wall, I hung the 5 "body memory" paintings. Probably my most personal of the show. I'll do another post about them next.

Along the wall on the right, opposite the "genetic memory" group, I hung the "experiential memory" pieces.  (These below have all sold)

For memory, we use our imagination.

We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us,

then like an oyster we create a pearl around them.

~John Banville

With all the gold leaf and the pieces relating so much to history, I decided to polish up my 3 old silver trays, 2 nights before the reception! We set the food and drinks up outside the studio. 

1936

12 x 6" (sold)

The day would not have been the same without my 94 year old grandmother there! It was incredible. Here we are, with the portrait of her with her guitar between us, and on either side of us, her Maternal (left) and paternal (right) grandmothers!

Anna Whitney's (far left) mother was Anna Grant. The Grants were from the Clan Grant that originated in the Scottish highlands. We believe Anna Grant's mother was a Cameron, also from the Highlands. (My sister has gotten me even more into my ancestry, these days.) More on the Scottish ancestry when I get to my post about going to the highland games last Sunday, in Ventura.

1867-1944

20 x 16" 

1,100.00 

What we hold in our heads -our memory, 

our feelings, our thoughts, our sense of our own history 

- is the sum of our humanity.

~Richard Eyre

And this one, below, is my Grandma's mother, who we called Gongie, along with my Grandma's  father Julian. Gongie lived until I was in High School and I have so many memories of her so lovingly singing us to sleep with lullabies she'd written, reading our palms and our tea leaves, and telling us stories.

1923

10 x 8"  600.00

Here are a few more of the "Experiential Memory" pieces ... (all three sold at the reception.)

My beautiful (and fabulously stylish) sister brought these beautiful figs from her trees in Ojai, along with the beautiful wooden bowl ... which now sits on my coffee table at home!

It's surprising how much memory

is built around things unnoticed at the time.

~Barbara Kingsolver

1974

8 x 8" (sold)

5/1996

8 x 8" (sold)

Memory is the fourth dimension to any landscape.

~Jent Fitch

Just a few of the beautiful bouquets people brought to me at the reception! 

My sweet work family, who said "If you ever want to do your own show here ..." Thank you Paul and Donna! I'm so lucky!

With my parents, sister and nephew ... I love this photo!

The turnout was incredible and a bit overwhelming.  There were old and new friends, cousins, aunts and uncles, old classmates and my students, and people that I didn't know. There was this big blanket of love and support for me, and for my work.  My friend Victoria even flew in from Colorado! 

The response to the work and the show, as a whole, was incredibly positive.  

My amazing friend Malaika, (we first met when she was my painting teacher at UCLA extension and who has been an incredible help and support!) said it was my best work, and that she was inspired by how personal the work was and how beautifully the show all came together.  I'm paraphrasing probably, but it was great hearing such positive feedback from an artist and friend whom I so deeply respect and admire.

And then ... this.

My sweet 13 year old student Olivia made me the most incredible homemade banana cream pie, which must have weighed 10 pounds. Two of my girlfriends who took the train up from San Diego, for the reception, spent the night and we dug into it at 8 o'clock in the morning, the next day. Delicious! 

I was delirious for the following two weeks but it was all worth it. 

What's next? Actually, I have a few things in mind!

Gratitude is when memory 

is stored in the heart and not in the mind.

~Lionel Hamton

Blessings and light!

Imprints

Two more new finished pieces! Like a lot of people, I am a pretty good at starting things but finishing ... is another story. I am happy they are completed and with how they turned out.

These two work well together, side by side, as a diptych and I really am happy I decided to keep them simple. I had other layers going on but there is something about leaving space for them to breathe that I really like. They are also larger than the others and are on full sheets of blue Fabriano.

They are part of the larger series I'm working on and I probably have explained it enough but if you missed it and are interested in the inspiration and ideas behind it, you can read about it here in my "Inspiration and Miracles" post.

"Imprint" - paper, vellum, charcoal and pastel on Fabriano paper 19 1/2" x 25"

Imprint II - graphite on Fabriano paper 19 1/2" x 25"

Detail

MGDFive Launch Party 9/16

The photos below were taken at the MGDFive launch party in NYC at the Soho Digital Arts Gallery last Thursday. I would so love to have been there but it's fun to see how they have digital "frames" and all I had to do was send my friend Lisa the jpg files! My pieces involved in MGDFive are part of the same series of mixed media pieces as the two works above.

The "Nest" on the left is mine!

The various artists' bio photos apparently came up on the screens, because there I am on the right - my head larger than life!

Here is my friend Lisa Russell, who lives in New York and co-created the whole project. We have known each other since high school! I don't know who took the amazing photo on the wall behind her but the figure on the far right is another one of my pieces.

"Far away

there in the sunshine

are my highest aspirations.

I may not reach them,

but I can look up and see their beauty,

believe in them,

and try to follow where they lead."

—Louisa May Alcott

Fertile Ground

This is another work in my series of "layered" mixed media pieces. They are difficult to photograph with the top layer being very reflective but I like being able to work in ink on top and still see the first drawing underneath. The "first layer" of this piece can be seen in a previous post.

I have described what my layering represents and the inspiration for the works in a previous post, but in a nutshell it's about exploring "what lies beneath" (obviously not being literal here) and what really makes a woman, a woman. If it's not our reproductive system ... not our hormones or our breasts, what is it? This piece is a bit more "fertile" than the others, except maybe "The Nest."

ink, pastel and charcoal on Fabriano paper and Duralar

Please click to enlarge

Pomegranates. I love them. In fact, come to think of it, I had pomegranate juice this morning. But, back on the subject, they have symbolism in Greek Mythology, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism. In Hinduism they represent fertility and are also connected with Lord Ganesha, "the one fond of the many-seeded fruit."

Ganesha is the "remover of obstacles," and that speaks to me for this series and what inspired it.

Learning how to be kind to ourselves,

learning how to respect ourselves, is important.

The reason it's important is that, fundamentally,

when we look into our own hearts

and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant,

what is bitter and what is sweet,

it isn't just ourselves that we're discovering.

We're discovering the universe.

Pema Chödrön

New Work

This piece is another in my series of new works. As I have said before, it has to do with the meanings of being a woman, what makes a woman and what lies beneath the surface. If it is not our female organs, what then do we imagine there in our symbolic places of creativity?

To see more from this series of "layered" pieces and what is behind it, click here.

The Nest 2010 Mixed Media, water color/colored pencil on drawing paper, acrylic ink on plastic film

Please click to enlarge

One is not born,

but rather becomes,

a woman.

~Simone de Beauvoir

... More Inspiration & New Pieces

More from the new series. Please feel free to click and enlarge. In person it is much easier to see the layers of paper and media and they feel very light and translucent, almost ethereal. If you missed the previous post, and are interested, it explains the work and what is behind it.

Reflections I Mixed media on paper, vellum and acetate

Please click to enlarge

Detail Reflections I

Be not ashamed woman ...

You are the gates of the body,

and you are the gates of the soul.

~Walt Whitman

Reflections II Mixed media on paper, vellum and acetate

Please click to enlarge

Detail Reflections II

Hope your week is off to a beautiful start!

Inspiration and Miracles

Ovaries are said to symbolically represent creativity, but what if you loose one? What do you imagine as being there in it's place? What is there? What do you fill that space with, metaphorically speaking.

When I was sick last year I started questioning the meaning of what it means to be a woman, what our organs mean and what are we without pieces of ourselves that we aren't even aware we are emotionally attached to? (Until someone says, "It's coming out.") So, I imagined that space. What was there, what happened, and what I choose to put there in my mind's eye. What lies in the layers and layers under the surface? Maybe it won't always be "pretty" but to me, beautiful. That is what I want to choose. It's a process.

As some of you are maybe aware of from previous posts, I had some medical craziness with surgeries, infections and miracles last year. I am doing great now but with one less ovary. I realize how personal this is and debated if and how I should go about sharing. The thing is, that my new art is very much born out of that journey.

Some of you may recognize the figure drawing from a previous post. Many of my figure drawings are now going through a metamorphosis with these layered pieces. They are are very difficult to photograph and get the detail of what the layers look like in person, but here is one of the first.

The Dream 2010 Mixed Media on Paper, Vellum, and Acetate, with Ink, sanguine and white conte

Please click to enlarge

Hope you like the new art,

(I wish you could see it in person!)

I will posting more in the next few days ...

Blessings and light,

And may you all be insured

and your lives filled with miracles

and creativity!

Man and Superman

I ran across a quote this morning.  It's from Man and Superman, which for years has been one of my favorite plays. I saw it many years ago in San Diego at a small community theatre (that is no longer there) under this strange mall in suburbia.  Weird right? Anyway, I was blown away! Scary smart. 

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose

recognized by yourself as a mighty one...

the being a force of Nature 

instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances 

complaining that the world will not deovte itself to makeing you happy."

~George Bernard Shaw

from Man and Superman

Running Around

I have been running around a lot.  I am having a great time but alas, we all need quiet moments to sit and just breathe. This quote puts it perfectly.  It's from the book "Transitions." If you are going through one (a transition, that is)  it's a book I highly recommend.

"Today, I take time to practice spiritual deepening.

Setting aside a few moments for quiet contemplation,

I turn my attention inward to a calm center

in my heart.  There, in the meadow of stillness, 

I pause to refresh my spirit."

~ Julia Cameron

Grieving and Healing 

Mixed Media 2009