Bouquet Project

Bouquet 1 2013,  Mockup, 55½ x 36 in. to variable dimensions.

Mixed media on paper with low relief panels.

Bouquet 2 & 3, Diptych 2013, Mockup, 55½ x 72 in. to variable dimensions, with low relief panels.

Possible arrangement of low relief panels extending to the floor and towards the viewer.

Sakahàn Exhibition and National Youth Orchestra; Ottawa,Canada

THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

The National Gallery of Canada with Greenlandic by Inuk Silis Høegh
Under the iceberg 'wrapping,' the glass plates in this part of the gallery are being replaced.
The structure looks like a crystal prism when it is not wrapped. 

We were only in Ottawa for two full days, but we saw a great deal at the National Gallery. The Sakahàn show was spectacular, featuring contemporary international indigenous art, 150 works by over 80 artists from 16 countries. There was a tremendous variety of media and approaches, combining cultural traditions with contemporary art strategies. I bought the 286 page catalog and I will have to take time to read the 14 essays included within it. 

Sakahàn Exhibition

Water Song by Christi Belcourt, National Gallery of Art

Water Song by Christi Belcourt resonated for me. Based on Ms. Belcourt's knowledge of traditional medicinal plants and the traditional aboriginal use of beadwork, the canvas consists of tiny dots of acrylic paint on a black background. I like the way the artist has shown some of the roots in the soil.

http://www.christibelcourt.com/home.html

cantchant 2009 Vernon Ah Kee, Kuku Yalandji, Waanji Yidindji

Cantchant  brought the world of surfing to the screen and the gallery, not as fun in the sun, but as a clash of cultures. The video made me want to find an unspoiled beach somewhere and plunge into the water. Just as you are enjoying the water with the surfers, a surfboard wrapped in barbed wire appears in the waves. I won't spoil the ending in case you have a chance to see it! Large drawings of members of the surfers' families grace the undersides of the boards, while on the other surface, they are painted in traditional patterns of red, orange, yellow and black.

Brett Graham & Rachel Rakena, Aniwaniwa, 2007

Aniwaniwa was captivating as an installation. The work references the flooding of a Maori town in New Zealand when a dam was built. The five round video screens suspended from the ceiling show us the Maori going about daily tasks under water in a fluid, poetic film with five viewpoints as a Maori singer accompanies the visuals. Lying on your back on a black mattress in a dark room enables you to become engrossed in the installation. I read the screens' frames as rubber tires for a huge truck, but apparently, they are embossed with traditional Maori symbols. This was our favourite part of the exhibit!

Aniwaniwa - a fine arts research project

We also found Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire, which was purchased by the National Gallery in 1989 for $1.8 million. People are still talking about the controversy here! The painting was commissioned for Expo 67 in Montreal, for the US pavilion organized by art critic and historian Alan Soloman. The exhibition  American Painting Now featured 22 the work of 22 artists. Although the painting is huge, I must admit it was something of a let down for me. I have seen other Barnett Newman paintings that show incredible subtlety in blue-black, pink-black, green-black, etc. This painting is very bright and very flat. It would have dominated the geodesic dome where it hung.

Voice of Fire, by Barnett Newman 1967
acrylic on canvas, 540cm x 240 cm (213 in x 94 in)

Louise Bourgeois' Maman  welcomes visitors to the NGC.

Majestic by Michel de Broin, made of damaged lampposts

in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, 2011.

I remember this sculpture on the cover of Canadian Art magazine's special sculpture issue of December 2011. Michel de Broin selected damaged streetlights for his Majestic, named after a funeral home in new Orleans where he was born. The sculpture repurposed broken pieces into something new, giving hope to the New orleans as people rebuilt the city following Hurricane Katrina. It would be great to see this piece at night with its lamps fully lit! I am standing by one of the posts.

Majestic Sculpture Video

100 Foot Line by Roxy Paine, 2010.

This is not a tree or is it?

Ever skyward!

I am standing at the base of this sculpture!

As we sat down in the cafeteria of the National Gallery of Canada, I immediately recognized Roxy Paine's  One Hundred Foot Line sculpture. I had written about some of Paine's work, including this one, in an essay about nature, culture and technology during my second semester at AIB. Paine takes the forms of trees and represents them using industrial materials in a hybridization of the natural and the industrial. It was great to stand underneath the sculpture and realize its true dimensions. In addition, we viewed works by the Group of Seven, the Impressionists and early 20th century modernists. 

THE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF CANADA

National Youth Orchestra of Canada in Vancouver

Review: National Youth Orchestra of Canada in Montreal

Our primary reason for visiting Ottawa was actually to see our daughter play with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in the National Arts Center. ( She is in the photo in the bottom right-hand corner playing the viola!) What an amazing concert! The program featured Mahler's Symphony 9, D major as well as Leonore Overture #3 Opus 72b by Beethoven and Isomorphia by James O'Callaghan. They are playing in Vancouver this weekend.

There were also some tourist activities we took in, such as the Changing of the Guard on Parliament Hill. The ceremony is accompanied by the Ceremonial Band of student musicians. We are aquainted with one of the trombonists and my musical daughters know a few other current members of the band.

The Changing of the Guard at Parliament Hill

The Ceremonial Band marches to the parade ground.

Locks on the Rideau Canal

The Rideau Canal passes through downtown and features locks between waterways at different sea levels.

Parliament from the National Gallery. 

We toured Parliament during a morning of pouring rain. It was interesting to see the inside as we are used to seeing only small bits of it on television as politicians are being interviewed. Canadian government is based on the British system.

Parliament from Wellington St.

The proper neo-romanesque atmosphere for serious government-

inside Parliament in the foyer of the House of Commons.

The House of Commons that we see during "Question Period" on television.

Stained glass windows of the provincial and territorial official flowers in the Commons.

I can relate to the 'wildflowers' in the window panes.

In the foyer to the Senate, royalty are ever-present, if only in their portraits.

The Senate chamber.

Under the Peace Tower.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The flame burns in the middle of a fountain, seen from the Peace Tower.

Light show on Parliament Hill!

Glass Flowers. a 'Vacant' Lot and a Drawing

Assorted Plants

Figs

Chicory

Freshly cut Chicory from the corner of a condo building site by the road.

Lupins, escapees from cultivated gardens, have invaded a 'vacant' lot.

Creeping Thistle is native to Eurasia, and Chicory and Tansy have come from Europe.

The Glass Flowers at the Harvard Natural History Museum are fascinating to study. Besides replicating the original plants, they feature magnified cross-sections of plant structures that are usually hidden to the casual observer. I was interested to see the model of Chicory, a 'weed' I see at the roadside where I live in Canada.

I have been exploring a nearby vacant lot as well. Tansy is a plant that was originally valued for medicinal folk remedies and young Chicory leaves are still valued in Europe as salad greens. The root of the chicory plant can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute. Upon researching these 'weeds' further, I discovered that these plants prosper in land that has been disturbed by humans. They are  considered aliens to what used to be a natural habitat.

I am interested in the vigour of these plants and their defensive strategies. I am working on a drawing of thistle leaves at the moment, that will be the basis for a panel project with three-dimensional protrusions.

Thistle Leaves 22" x 16" graphite on paper 2013

Deux regards, Exhibition

Sixteen, A Weed is a Treasure, and Fifteen
Deux regards at Galerie 12, Centre culturel Aberdeen
July 12, 2013

The opening of "Deux regards"

Two Artists, Deux regards
Gisèle L. Ouellette and Barbara Safran

MassMoCA and Joan Mitchell

I think this piece is called White Lines 2013, by Jason Middlebrook.
Acrylic and spray paint on English Elm.

I was fortunate to visit my friends Robin and Jim in Western Massachusetts a few days before the June Residency began, as we were able to visit MassMoCA, the Williams College Art Gallery and the Clark Institute. I was excited to see the show of Jason Middlebrook's wood sculptures. His patterned slices of trees are intriguing in their combinations of abstraction and wood grains. Leaning the pieces against the wall instead of hanging them or supporting them as free-standing sculpture is a more dynamic way of showing them. They look as though they could slide away from the wall and topple over, which gives them a certain excitement.

Jason Middlebrook - I've Been Drawing Cliffs My Whole Life, 2013
spray paint on maple 93.625 x 41 x 1.375 in.

 Robin and I enjoyed Joseph Montgomery's show, "Five Sets Five Reps" as well. The assemblage of different materials and textures created sculptures somewhat reminiscent of early Cubism, but with the unfinished look of the 'provisional.' That is my take on them, at least.

I believe this piece is titled  Image One Hundred Forty-Seven, by Joseph Montgomery.
 Oil, pastel, clay, lacquer, resin, sponge, paper, canvas, wax and steel wire on plastic panel.
12.5 x 9 x 2.5 in.

 The Sol Lewitt's 'wall drawings' became a total environment of dramatic color and contrast. With so many huge curving shapes, it was not hard to imagine the floor swaying slightly as if we were on a ship at sea. 65 art students completed the various murals following Lewitt's detailed instructions.

Sol Lewitt - wall drawing

Sol Lewitt - wall drawing

Xu Bing's Phoenix was spectacular. The accompanying book of the project's progress was fascinating, as well as the video documentary. It is amazing to notice the discarded 'junk' that was assembled together to make the enormous birds in flight. The team collected items from Beijing construction sites that were being thrown out. There were many challenges to the project, not the least of which was the interruption in construction for the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. The scale of each phoenix is so large, that at first you don't realize that each feather is a spade, that curling feathers are made of empty propane tanks, exhaust hoses act as fronds near the bird'd tail.

Phoenix by Xu Bing at Mass MoCA

 A special treat awaited us at Williams College. Sunflower 6 by Joan Mitchell had been recently donated to the collection and the painting was on display in the seminar room for a few hours daily. It was wonderful to be able to see the painting up close with a magnifying glass. The textures and contours of the paint as Mitchell applied it are almost impossible to see in reproductions. I was interested to notice hairline cracks in the paint where it was particularly thick, although they do not hinder the effect of the image at all.

Examining the surface of  Sunflower 6 by Joan Mitchell.

Sunflower 6 by Joan Mitchell

Stopping by Louise Bourgeois' sculpture at Williams College.

Regrouping

 I have been hanging the panels in different arrangements every few days. The four panels here seem to make a good group since I added a light cream-tinted glaze over each one. The pouring medium dries to a high gloss, so I used matte varnish over the last pours. The stone-like affect is beginning to grow on me! My mentor has advised me to be open to what happens in the studio, especially if it is not what I am expecting nor what I intended. I have decided to leave these panels as they are. The white cut-outs are integrated more with the grounds and most of the edges are somewhat blurred with the glaze pooling along the edges of the cut paper.

My blog took a back seat lately as I worked on my first thesis outline. It has been interesting to go back and look at all the research I have already done through the MFA program. My essays have helped me to identify the main issues in my work. I'm sure I will be revising the outline several times before I am finished with it, but at least I have something to begin with.

Hybrid Panel - Crocus 10" x 8" x 1½" Paper and acrylic on board.

Hybrid Panel - Spruce Twigs 12" x 10" x 1½" Paper, graphite and acrylic on board.

Hybrid Panel - Fiddleheads 10" x 8" x 1½" Paper and acrylic on board.

Hybrid Panel - Roots 8" x 10" x 1½" Paper and acrylic on board.

 The next panel began with a detailed pencil drawing which I intended to cut out from the start. I am working on a second panel (below) with a thin wood cut-out of the plant's silhouette. I have trimmed off the three stems that protrude from the left side of the piece as I find them distracting. I hesitate to do to much to it! The plan is to see what the two versions will look like together.

Hybrid Panel - Butternut Leaves 10" x 12" x 1½"  Paper, graphite and acrylic on board
I enjoyed the drawing, but is it compelling enough?

Birch Panel - Butternut Forms 10" x 12" x 1½" Birch plywood and board 
More interesting than the graphite traditional drawing

I find it difficult to evaluate my work right after I finish it as I am usually most enthusiastic about whatever it is I have just made. The graphite panel, Butternut Leaves, above has not reproduced well. Perhaps this is what it really looks like and I will agree with my photo of it by tomorrow! It seems to lack the vitality of the other panels. Tomorrow I will be sanding the edges very carefully of the Butternut Forms. The wood grain adds to the piece. I may just seal the wood with a clear coat and leave it alone after that.

The butternut tree is an endangered species in New Brunswick. Apparently it is illegal to cut one down or prune it without permission from the province. A very industrious squirrel has been planting the nuts from our neighbour's tree in our yard and we have several small butternut saplings growing in odd corners of the garden. I actually pulled a few up before realizing what they were. The same squirrel has given us an oak tree and several purple-leaved maples. I found a cache of chestnuts the other day, but none of them had sprouted yet!

Three earlier panels form a group.

After arranging the four "frosted" panels together, these three make a good group.