The beautiful math of coral

I finally got over to see the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History.



I was especially excited to see it because my dear friend, Inga Hamiliton, is a contributor in the exhibition. Not only was it a captivating show, but it was fun to hear delighted children point out upcycled and unusual 'art materials' such as such as plastic bags and pop bottles.
Margaret and Christine Werthiem, created this exhibition that combines the mathematics of hyperbolic geometry with the delicateness of what is traditionally women’s handicraft. It not only displays these artworks, but incorporates an ever-growing social project—teaching others around the world how to crochet hyperbolically and make their own reefs. By working through this process and viewing the art, one can see the correlation between the crocheted reefs and living corals, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Margaret Wertheim recently gave this very cool talk about the project.

Fast Forward-Stop-Rewind

Two of my girls, Kieu Lam and Kelly O'Brien, will be leaving to live abroad soon. Kieu will be heading up a very cool book art program called Bound in Japan, and Kelly will be moving to Germany to continue working on books and prints, and soak up the amazing art community that Heidelberg offers.
As two of the dearest friends I've made during my time out here on the east coast, I'm sad to see them go, but I'm so excited to know that they are continuing their creative endeavors-growing as artists & inspiring others.

Catching up on what I've been up to...
Last month I was in Lumina Studio Theatre's production of Canterbury Tales.



What creatives can do on a tiny budget never ceases to amaze me.
Photographs by Linda Parker





And finished my book for The Love Library project. It will be on display during the Southern Graphics Council Conference at the Craft Alliance Gallery in St. Louis.

Calendar for a cause

The Mesa Contemporary Arts Center (across the railroad from my grad school, Arizona State University) has once again put together a fundraising calendar with original, limited edition prints. I was honored to be selected by Kathryn Maxwell, as one of the 29 artists from across the country to create a print for the benefit calendar. Each calendar has 12 prints, each by a different artist. This limited edition calendar, with only 65 available for purchase, is a great way to begin your own art collection or give as a unique holiday gift.(The calendars are available at MCA for the bargain price of $200 with all proceeds helping the MCA continue its excellent programming in the visual arts. ) Here are some of my favs. picked from the calendar:
Jana Harper, Cloud Grammer
John Armstrong, Bikini Mtn.
Kathryn Maxwell, No More Salt

Book (R)evolution

I feel like I'm still reeling from the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair last weekend. It's hard to believe that it's over, after spending the last 9 months working on it. I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such a creative and organized committee.
Highlights:

Beth Schaible, our former Letterpress Associate, joined us as an exhibitor.
Tate Foley put together a site-specific interactive installation in the Pyramid Vault, and Annie Albagli and Joshua Goode's Paradise Lost was an impressive installation in the Atrium of the Civic Building.

Out in front of the fair, Drive-By-Press was doing their thing. And at Pyramid, we held demonstrations including flip book making with Carla Nicolas.
We also showed some great films including Typeface, Proceed and Be Bold, and Who Does She think She is?
Here are more images of the event. Stay tuned for more information on the next Pyramid Book Arts Fair, scheduled for the fall of 2012.

Chuck Close shares his magic tricks

So, I have been hearing from everyone how fantastic, how (f**king, to quote a friend) amazing, how surprising, etc. the Chuck Close exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art is, and so yesterday I finally went to go see what all the who-ha was about.
My colleagues weren't gushing or exaggerating one bit-it really is pretty amazing. The title of the exhibtion, Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration, is a fitting title. I can't tell you how many times I've stared at the pulp stenciled piece of his daughter, Georgia, 1984, (above left) and tried to figure out how it was made.
In addition to seeing the large metal stencil that was used in its creation, I got to see all of 13 of the stencils used in the layered pulp portait he made of Roy Lichtenstein, the etched plates used in the Phillip Glass prints, and the carved blocks used for printing Emma. I appreciated how the blocks, stencils and plates were hung right alongside the prints. Chuck Close describes this exhibition as 'breaking the cardinal rule that was learned in magician school, that is, showing your audience how you did the trick'.
No tricks about it, go see this show. It has been extended until September 26th!

Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration from Corcoran Gallery of Art on Vimeo.

From Paper to Print

I just returned from teaching a 5 day workshop called 'Paper to Print' at Women's Studio Workshop. Like the name of it implies, it was a hybrid papermaking and printmaking class. The first couple of days we pulp painted on rag, abaca, and flax papers. Later on in the week, we used those pulp painted papers for backgrounds for pronto plate lithographs and xerox transfers. My students were great and brought so much to the class! Some highlights:

The blender bike that Barb brought

Sumptuous food

and our amazing tech Terez, who is pictured here washing some freshly cooked iris.

Here are some more pictures of the workshop.

Artist of the week

Due to working at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, I'm lucky to have gotten to know and forged friendships with some amazing artists over the past four years.
Irene Chan is one of these people. We actually met for the first time over two years ago when we were both in an exhibition at Montpelier Art Center, and we carpooled to the opening. Time past, and we lost touch, but have recently reconnected. We try to meet up once a month and talk about art, go see plays, or just hang out and drink tea. Irene's pieces are smart, sometimes humorous, well crafted, and very provocative.
One of her particularly powerful pieces to me is a piece called YELLOWSKIN BRACELET.

It is a sculptural artist book to be worn on arm, and it tells the story of someone seeing a bright yellow bracelet and thinking it was the exact same color as her skin. Check out the video

Here is another in-progress piece that I'm particularly fond of:

LOOKJUSTLIKE BOOK
she will flip a flexagon book of Asian portraits that people say she “looks just like …”

To see more of Irene's work, go here