December 2007

In my work I try to examine the political and social factors that shape my immediate world as well as our society at large. I start working by first looking critically at my surroundings, asking questions, and listening to multiple points of view. It’s a process that involves communication and often collaboration with others. I then synthesize these findings into visual constructions and multimedia works that hopefully can serve as a means to start dialogue and critical inquiry into the communities and systems we live within.

Recently I have been working almost exclusively with recycled materials, primarily the fabrics and cast-off clothing (especially t-shirts with graphics) found in thrift stores. For years, t-shirt graphics have been a means of publicly conveying membership, participation, and the attitudes of the wearer. By taking fragments of these messages and reassembling them, they become a kind of lexicon to convey new cultural meanings that explore class, power, conflict, dysfunction, and joy.

I am strongly influenced by the DIY craft movement that has proliferated in the U.S. since the 90s as well as other forms of (so-called) “women’s art.” I am interested in exploring how traditional materials and techniques such as quilting, knitting, needlework, and textiles can be used to realize process-based conceptual endeavors.

to contact this artist:
www.marcysperry.com

November 2007
Tchotchkies

“Spontaneity and impulsivity inspire the creation of my art, with risk-taking done in the heat of the creative moment. Exhibitions include the Athenaeum Museum of Art and Design in Schaumburg; the Du Sable Museum of African American History; the Chicago Cultural Center; “Free Expression Art,” New York. Publications include The Chicago Tribune, World Magazine, Pioneer Press, Chicago Sun Times, and Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ 91.5 fm)

My art is made without restraints in materials and processes. It explores a wide range of materials, mostly found objects that I collect at thrift shops. I use common household objects that people can readily identify with, to communicate my subjects: my everyday living experiences, my relationships, my emotions and feelings, and feminist/gender related issues.

My palette has been changing from the full spectrum of color to a limited use of color and gray. I find gray to be peaceful; expressing stillness and calm.

To contact this artist: www.elizabethgranton.com

October 2007
Cicatrix/Cicada

“Charm” from the ENTOMOMANCY series

I use real insects in my art. I am fascinated with insects and arachnids, an immense animal group with intricate social structures and routines. Much like insects and plants, humans use codes and signals to convey complex thoughts and messages: mating, navigation, locating food, calling for help, or signaling warnings.

Researching and investigating ancient codes and languages has influenced my thinking and approach to this work. I am interested in The Druidic Tree Alphabet, a language comprised of leaves; Nüshu, the secret Chinese women’s script; the Incan Khipu method of record keeping, a system of knots; as well as my own code, written while I was a child in an abusive family. My personal code evolved out of a traumatic time in my own life and involves insects, plants, poetry, myth, and metaphor.

In this series the viewer can be likened to a reader, as in tarot cards, runes, or bones. Insects and other parts of the assemblages make up a narrative that is open to interpretation based on what questions are asked and who is “reading” the boxes, reading the insects. What if we used insects the way we use other objects or signs as telltales or warnings? What if we tossed out some beetle shells to foretell our futures? Instead of a queen there is a cicada, or instead of a fool there is a longhorn beetle. Other occult ideas have also entered the boxes, such as knots, circles, and hair.

September, 2007
Bag World

I was trying to think what to do with all those bags
that you get everytime you go to the store. Even if
you bring your own bags, they still try to put the
stuff in plastic bags before they put it in the ones
you brought. And no matter what they tell you, these
bags are not recycled. They are just collected and
put in dumps. We are swimming in a sea of plastic. We
are drowning in plastic. Worse, these bags are made
from petroleum… Yep, the same thing we’re fighting
in Iraq for. I collected these bags over one year.

So take one big step for humankind:
carry your own bags to the store.

to see more of this artist’s work or to contact her:
www.maryellencroteau.net

August 2007
Endangered Waters

To contact this artist:
www.ruri.is

Monday, 20 August 2007 01:35 0 Comments