We were on Bowen Island for a few days visiting Boris’ family over the long weekend. The forecast said it would rain all weekend but it turned out to be pretty darn nice. I swear I take the exact same collection of photos every time I am on Bowen.
One Self Portrait A Month: Cutting Away
This is the sixth photo in my series of one self portrait a month in 2014. I am so happy to be half-way through the project, even though it also means we’ve reached the middle of the year.
I shot this portrait quickly and did not spend much time on a pose or expression because I was banking on hiding any flaws with paper cutting. My process was to shoot it with the iPhone, clean it up in Photoshop, print in out on regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper, cut a design by hand, and then re-photograph it.
The top one is an early version, which I thought was finished at the time. The more I looked at it, the more it felt unfinished, so I worked on it some more and kept cutting.
Neither version feels perfect, but it was an experiment. I’ve had this idea in mind for ages, to combine portraits (or self portraits) with my paper cutting. Next time I need to do it differently, and better.
Tiny Paper Cut Details
I’ve been working on a papercraft commission with ReThink Communications for the last week and a half. The finished pieces are intricate set pieces made from paper, and they look incredible. This work was shot by a photographer yesterday and will be part of an ad campaign coming out later this summer. I can’t yet share the finished work, so I thought I’d hint at things to come with a few two tiny details.
The project has been terrific to work on, and has given me ideas to use towards my own work. It even has me rethinking the type of paper I typically use.
Join us for Art & Craft Social in June
The monthly Art & Craft Social at Hot Art Wet City is happening this Wednesday June 25th at 7:30pm. My co-host Kim Werker and I invite you to bring a small creative project to the gallery, make a donation, and hang out with us.
It was oodles of fun when we kicked things off in May, with a diverse group of people and their projects in attendance. If you can’t make it this time, Art & Craft show is an on-going event on the last Wednesday of every month at Hot Art Wet City.
Art & Craft Social
Hot Art Wet City
Date: Wednesday June 25th, 2014
Time: 7:30pm to 10:30pm
Location: 2206 Main Street at 6th Avenue
Work in Progress: Triangle Shaped Cut Paper
I was inspired by the concentric circles piece to explore other shapes within shapes. I really want to do squares within squares, but first I worked with a triangle.
I decided from the start to focus on creating clean outer edges and corners because it makes the design stronger. I went with two triangles rather than three but I think it would look more interesting if there was a third shape surrounding these two.
The finished piece is 14″ x 17″, cut from a piece of archival white drawing paper. I backed it with both blue and red paper for a quick photo, and to compare the two colours. I think the blue is actually stronger and more striking in this case.
Inspiring Art in Seattle and Bellevue
Boris and I did a quick trip to Seattle over the weekend. We went down to hear our friend Lee Lefever speak at the Seattle chapter of Creative Mornings, and to visit friends.
We spent a bit of time on Friday wandering the streets and visiting a few galleries. I was so thrilled to see the work of Andy Kehoe in person at Roq la Rue gallery. He works in layers of resin and paint, which gives the work depth and detail, but unfortunately this doesn’t come through in photographs. I’ve admired his work online for years, but they are so much better in person.
Detail of Twilight Rendevous by Andy Kehoe
Detail of Valley of the Ghoul by Andy Kehoe
Detail of Invoking The Heart of The Wild by Andy Kehoe
We also did a quick trip to the Bellevue Arts Museum to see Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami. It was an extra inspiring bonus to see exhibitions of work by Kathy Venter and Dan Webb.
Figurative sculpture by Kathy Venter, an artist based on Salt Spring Island.
Surreal wood carved sculpture by Dan Webb.
Folding Paper was a terrific survey of origami work from artists and designers around the world. There were many pieces of traditional work, but my favourites were the pleated fold-style of sculptural origami, as well as some of the modular work.
The origami show continues until September, but the exhibitions by Kathy Venter and Dann Webb ended this past weekend. It’s worth the visit to the museum because they always have wonderful craft-based shows that we don’t have the exhibition space for in Vancouver.
Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City: Chris Tyrell Loranger
I am so pleased to have Chris Tyrell Loranger as the next speaker at Hot Talks. I consider him a mentor as well as a friend, and he’s been an incredible creative force in Vancouver arts and culture for almost forty years.
So you want to be an artist, with dreams of playing in a studio all day making art? It’s an idealized vision, but the reality of working as a professional artist is that society fails to support and sustain the arts and artists on many fronts. The education system fails us, because creativity is not recognized as a core academic value; the arts are considered an educational option. And working professional artists are statistically destined to be poor and untrained.
Join us as Chris Tyrell Loranger shares his ideas around making changes to the arts in Vancouver and beyond.
Read the full description here.
The latest Hot Talk happens on June 24th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.
Hot Talks: Chris Tyrell Loranger
Hot Art Wet City
Date: June 24th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Ave), Vancouver
Scenes From Late Night Art 29
I thought I’d belatedly share a few photos from Late Night Art, which I attended a few weeks ago as an artist in residence. It was a crazy/fun evening of meeting people, sharing food and conversation, and trying to inspire people.
The food just before it was served.
Table one of guests drawing and drinking.
Table two of guests drawing and drinking some more.
The next Late Night Art (which I won’t be at) is happening on June 25th, and tickets are already on sale.
Around the World Blog Hop
I was invited by Kim Werker to participate in an Around the World Blog Hop. (Yes, we are in the same city rather than on the other side of the world, but no one is going to call us on it). These are my answers to the four questions related to my creative practice. You can read Kim’s answers here.
What am I working on?
I feel as if I am working on a ridiculous amount of stuff at the moment. I have a show coming up later this year in Vancouver and I’m creating a new series of paper cut pieces for this. At the same time I need to put together work for a show happening in Halifax in 2015, because this exhibition will be larger. These are longer term deadlines I am working towards, while also completing a commission of fifteen small paper cut designs for a client, and preparing work to exhibit at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire this past weekend.
I curate the speaker series, Hot Talks, for Hot Art Wet City gallery, and I am in the process of scheduling people for the remaining months of 2014. I’ve also recently started hosting an Art & Craft Social evening at the gallery, and have been working on outreach to make sure the next event is well attended.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Hmmm. I’m not sure how to answer this question because I’m uncertain of the genre I fit into. I sometimes feel like an anomaly because my art has evolved dramatically over the past five or six years. I was a photographer for about fifteen years, and I stumbled into creating paper based art first in the form of collage, then altered book sculpture, and now paper cutting.
I think the paper cutting work I create is distinctly different from most of the work people typically see, which is illustrative, while my work is very abstract. I also don’t draw the designs first. I create them directly with the knife and create the composition as I go.
Why do I write/create what I do?
I create because I need to. I get antsy if too much time passes and I haven’t cut, drawn, baked, crafted, or done making in some form. My brain needs to create in order to stay sane. I think this is the case for many creative people.
With the paper cut work specifically I am drawn to the process of it, to the feel of the knife slicing through the paper and creating these intricate designs from simple shapes. It’s such satisfying work to me. I am not a patient person but the work gives me focus, and teaches me to be disciplined, otherwise I’d never get one completed.
How does my writing/creating process work?
I have a self-directed artistic practice and it is centered around process driven work. I start with the materials at hand, a piece of white paper, a fresh blade in my xacto knife, and a cutting mat on a desk top easel. I begin to cut a simple shape, which I repeat over and over until the work feels done. I work in a freeform way and let things develop as I go.
Work in Progress: Kirigami
If you’ve been wondering what I’ll be working on at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire this weekend, here is a sneak preview. I’d been wracking my brain for a simple idea and I decided to try kirigami style paper cutting, which is essentially fancy schmancy snowflakes out of coloured paper.
I am completely obsessed with making these because they are so simple and beautiful. I use a knife as my cutting tool rather than scissors. It allows me to be more intricate with the designs. I have a pile of the cut off pieces and they look almost as interesting as the rest of the pieces.
I’m doing some of the preparation for this in advance but mostly I’ll be working on this throughout Maker Faire weekend. I’m curious to see how large an installation I can create over two days.