dear allison, thank you

Last Monday, October 10, I open this email before heading out to work. It was a perfect way to start the week.

Photo courtesy of Tucson Museum of Art

Hi Monica,
I live in Southern Arizona, and some friends in Tucson recently invited me to join them on a visit to the Tucson Art Museum. I was so excited when we walked in and immediately saw your art on the walls. I said, “Oh wow!! It’s Monica Aissa Martinez! I love her art.” I know you’ve written about this show, but somehow my brain reading the blog and my brain going to an art museum many many days and weeks later didn’t connect the two. It was a great surprise. I didn’t realize that my friends had read an article about your work also and wanted to see your art at the Museum. My friend has a brother with Down syndrome, and she had read an article or interview with you which struck a chord with her.

Photo courtesy of Tucson Museum of Art

What a great day at the museum. I love looking at all the layers to your art, seeing new things each time I look at a painting, looking at the things you choose to call attention to, the textures, the colors. I love how there is a human figure, the insides of a human figure, and the insides of the insides all at the same time. It’s like a three dimensional view but seeing all the layers that we normally don’t see behind the skin. It’s also fascinating to see how different things connect and connect again. Seeing the paintings in photos doesn’t begin to convey how tall many of the human figures are and how they have such a presence.

Photo courtesy of Tucson Museum of Art

I have enjoyed following your blog. I have only seen your art in person one other time, and that was just one painting. I was so excited to see a full exhibit of your art at the Tucson Art Museum. It was really magical. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Allison

Dear Allison: You describe your experience so wonderfully. Thank you for reaching out and thank you for letting me share this!

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Nothing in Stasis runs thru April 23, 2023
On view in the Kasser Family Wing: Modern and Contemporary Latinx Art
Museum Hours: Thursday – Sunday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
→ More 

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©2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

a puzzle!

Justin, Customer Service Manager and Artisans Market Director for the Tucson Museum of Art, connects with me in July. He’s thinking to have a few things made for the museum store. #Merch #MuseumMerch

“A black T-shirt and a magnet using the Neuron Tucson image.
A set of postcards using the brain-scans.
A small 200 piece puzzle of “Handstand”.”

When I arrive to the museum on the day of the opening, I have to go see what Justin has set up. #Fun!

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When you go see my exhibition → Nothing In Stasis, stop in and visit with Justin.
(The museum store…has a whole new look, too!)
I could write about the benefits of making a puzzle. Or you can make one and experience it for yourself. #ItsGoodForAllOfYou

Eddie has really enjoyed the whole experience so much, that when we are complete with the Handstand puzzle, he points to my jaguar painting on the wall, “Let’s do that one, next!” What does he think, I materialize puzzles?

No, not me, Tucson Museum does!

#NothingInStasis #TucsonMuseumOfArt #SoloExhibition

nothing in stasis – at tucson museum of art

I spent the whole morning talking with Dr. Julie Sasse. She is writing about my work for my  upcoming solo.

Oh hey…You’re invited! 
Come join us at the Tucson Museum of Art. Nothing in Stasis will include another variation of my human life-size studies along with 34 new brain-related artworks (I’m calling Constellation).

Portrait of Sara, Arms Akimbo

WHO: Tucson Museum of Art 
WHAT: Nothing In Stasis
WHERE: The Kasser Family Wing: Modern and Contemporary Latinx Art
WHEN: Thursday, September 1 – April 23, 2023
MUSEUM HOURS: Thursday – Sunday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
→ MORE INFORMATION

Directions → 140 North Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701
Phone → 520-624-2333

Also a part of the evening ↓ A CONVERSATION with ARTIST and CURATOR…

In Conversation: Monica Aissa Martinez and Dr. Julie Sasse

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©2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

nothing in stasis – a solo exhibition

My solo exhibition was installed last week. I feel sort of like I am returning from a long break and things are unfamiliar. Though, I’ve been working steady. Truth is, I don’t remember protocols anymore. Do we still send out a press release? Who are the press people? What year is this?

Photo courtesy of Frank Gonzales

Let the record show this post acts as PRESS RELEASE and INVITE!
This exhibit has been 2 years in coming. Whew….COME JOIN US!

Portrait of Vanya, The All That Is, 2022

For the last decade, Phoenix-based artist Monica Aissa Martinez has been researching and depicting the intricate structures and complex diversities of living organisms. From humans to microorganisms, Martinez masterfully captures the physical, mental and spirit of our biological world. Nothing In Stasis features Martinez’s latest body of work of more than 30 colorful physiological and anatomical drawings.

* Monica Aissa Martinez is a 2019 proposal winner.

WHO :       MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ
WHAT:       NOTHING IN STASIS – A SOLO EXHIBITION
WHEN:      APRIL 8 – August 7, 2022
                  → ARTIST RECEPTION: MAY 13, 2022 (7-10pm)
WHERE:    MESA CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM – SOUTH GALLERY

FREE and Open to the Public
Musical Entertainment by Djents
Numerous Art Exhibitions with Artists in Attendance
Light Refreshments and Cash Bar
Mesa Arts Center is located at One East Main St., Mesa, AZ 85201 → Driving Directions
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum: (480) 644-6560
Hours:  Mondays: Closed
             Tue – Sat: 10 AM – 5 PM
             Sun: Noon – 5 PM

More  → Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum

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©2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

no woman is an island

It’s early December when I receive this email from Julie:
By any chance do you have any small works of just the brain? My sister is looking for a present for her son (my nephew) who is a neuro surgeon and I wanted to tell her about your work. If you had a small drawing of a brain, send me an image and the price and I’ll forward it on to her. Thanks!  Happy holidays! -Julie

You could guess things played out well. As I prepare to write, I ask Julie for story.

The way it came down, Julie explains, was that my sister asked in passing, Do you know by any chance an artist who paints or draws images of the brain? We want to give our son (Steven) and his wife Mary (also a surgeon) a gift that would be near to his practice (a neurosurgeon). 

Julie’s reply: Boy do I have an artist for you, and I just so happen to be organizing a solo exhibition of her work at TMA! Her work is wonderful and I think I saw a few brain images when I visited there recently. 

Julie Sasse is Chief Curator at Tucson Museum of Art. She’d made a studio visit in early November. We were going over the artwork for my upcoming September exhibition, in the museum’s → Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art.  Wendy Carr, is Julie’s sister.

Julie continues, I really like my nephew (and his wife!). He and I went on a three-week trip to Chile the summer before he entered med school so we have a special bond—went to Easter Island as well. What a great trip that was. He is so smart and I love to hear about the lives he has saved. 

Friday, I send 4 images, along with the information she’s requested. Monday, Julie tells me to hold one particular study. Tuesday I speak with Wendy.

I enjoy hearing about her son, Dr. Steven Carr, MD., an Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Wendy notes Steven’s creative side, He enjoys working with his hands, wood in particular. He made a toy box and a rocking horse for his son as well as a train set and a trolley car.

I tell her about an exhibition of my work at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. I recall how I especially appreciated the medical students and faculty talk about my work and point out the details. I didn’t say much, mostly I listened (and learned!).

Here ↓ is the small brain study Julie asked me to hold. I paid extra attention to details with this image. And I was using mylar for the first time. I discovered both graphite and casein paint love a mylar surface! It’s a favorite material and I continue to use it.

 Sagittal View of the Brain
Casein, Graphite Ink on Mylar
10×13″

The brain and its cells have become the focal point of many of my works since my father’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. I’ve had time and opportunity to learn about the brain, including visiting the brain bank, in Sun City, AZ.

This artwork showed with phICA, in a container space in downtown Phoenix as well as the University of Arizona Medical School, also in downtown Phoenix.

Now it’s yours, Steven and Mary! This gift of art is in recognition of becoming a Board Certified Neurosurgeon, Steven. Congratulations to you.

Wendy and David, thank you so much. I’d like to extend a personal invitation to all of you. Should you be in Tucson, come and join us for the opening of my solo exhibition, on September 1st! Amongst other things, I plan to have a wall of brain anatomy, including microanatomy study, on display.
#UrBeautifulBrain

Thanks again, Julie!

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The blog posts titled No Woman is an Island acknowledge the people and/or organizations who support me and the work I do.

©2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

sound + light = creation

A new work is in progress. I’m painting a newborn, more specific, a preterm baby.

Organizing this study, I began with one focus, shifted to another, and then still another.
 Finally, I  started painting at what was supposed to be the bottom of the composition, only to eventually make it the top.

When this idea presented itself in October, I’d been spending so much of my time in my head (Pun intended, I was trying to lay out neuron structure). When I got done, I was so ready for some grounding. In this way, I guess it’s natural to land in conception (it couldn’t be that complicated, I thought. Ha!).
#It’sComplicated

At some point, I wondered if I could imply those that had come before. It felt natural to want to indicate those that protect and guide. I wanted ancestral presence. #biological #intellectual #emotional

I contacted Gila, a friend who is a Yoga and massage therapist, as well as a doula. We have a fun conversation. I returned to the studio and worked an ovum onto the bottom of my canvas. #grounding

This human reproductive cell ↓ is one of the largest single cells in the body. It’s much bigger than the sperm (about 10,000x larger). And it holds loads of mitochondria.

Ovum

Gila commented on the ovum …..as a sound/vibration she sings a song to the sperm, which is the carrier of light : sound + light = creation that’s how the universe started and we are the same

Sperm…carrier of light.

Meanwhile, I’m reading sperm cells are haploid (single set of unpaired chromosomes). This ↑ haploid will connect to the egg, also a haploid. (Sperm’s midsection holds lots of mitochondria too!) In humans, only their egg and sperm cells are haploid. Together, egg and sperm will form a diploid. #Sound+Light=Creation

Things get more interesting as I learn about cortical reaction, a process preventing any other sperm (other than the1) from fusing with the 1 egg. #GotAllMystical #TheCreativeProcess

1 Sperm (of about 250-280 million) meets 1 (largest cell in the human body, released once a month during ovulation) egg.

I connected with my friend Dominique who is a cancer biologist. She clarified: Sperm and ova are haploid, germinal cells. They undergo a special cell division called meiosis, that renders them haploid. As soon as fertilization takes place that egg and all the subsequent cells are diploid, as you point out in humans that means 46 chromosomes.

It’s complicated. I wanted to redirect. 

Meiosis is very important, Dominque continued, because the 4 daughter cells each have independently assorted chromosomes. Like shuffling a deck of cards. One way to ensure a random assortment of genes, the other way is recombination which also takes place during meiosis!!! 

Above the ovum and sperm cells is where I layout meiosis.

Including the 4 daughter cells!

O.k. I’m in here! What about mitosis, Dominque?

Mitosis happens when any plant or animal cell divides. It has a series of steps in which chromosomes are copied and condense as they become tightly coiled. This allows them to them to pair up and align in the center of the cell. Then there are little organelles called the centrioles, these move to opposite sides of the cell and produce the spindle. Think of them as making thin filaments like spider webs that attach to the center of the chromosomes, called centromeres. And now comes the magic trick: half of the copied chromosomes are pulled towards each centriole, exactly half. Then the cell divides and each daughter cell has a full genetic instructions for its function!!!

I like magic!

Mitosis

Well…ok. I’m rolling now…

And without anymore delay, I’d like you to meet Vañya Victoria Jacquez.

I’m here! I’m here!

Vanya made her appearance at 32 weeks. Jeorgina (mom, who happens to be a Pediatric ICU nurse) had a C-section and tells me Vanya came out screaming! Which I gathered was a good thing.

Vanya is Victor’s (my nephew) and Jeorgina’s daughter. Tomorrow she will celebrate 3 months!
Congratulations Jeorgina and Victor. Clearly, your little girl was eager and ready. #soonerratherthanlater

Let’s see where this composition takes me next…
#workinprogress

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©2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

sims lab – the practice

Invited to visit the Sims Lab at the Phoenix Biomedical campus, I think – mannequin designed to simulate human vital signs – things like breath and pulse. I don’t imagine a complete hospital environment – including sounds – High Fidelity Simulation. I can’t know I’ll meet numerous mannequins including smaller trainers.

Briana walks me into an area that’s ready for an OB lab. She refers to the trainers, I assume she is talking about students in training. I see no students. A trainer, I learn, is a tool, equipment and/or technology, shaped like a human body (full or partial) aiding in the teaching/learning process in medical school. Briana  pulls out a couple of them and explains their use to me.

We move into another room and come across a full body mannequin on a hospital bed, in what appears like an operating room/lab. Briana apologizes for the mess. Mess? I see sterile and clean. She points to things that are out-of-order. In an emergency situation where seconds matter, equipment and tools are in their place.

I touch the mannequin. I’m relieved he doesn’t feel real, at least not the skin surface. Briana helps me to feel organs and bones.

We head down the hallway to meet Victoria (below), a birthing mannequin. Yes, a mannequin that gives birth. Here is where I get a better sense of what high fidelity simulation means.

Briana explains the mechanisms while I note a 2-way mirror.  Medical students learn to respond to a full birthing experience, including sound. As in real-life each birth, and so each simulation, is unique. It all goes smooth or it doesn’t.

We come across placenta sitting on a table (of course we do).

Briana: It is birthed 35-45 minute after baby.
Me: Are there contraction?
Briana: Yes.

Briana mentions placenta brain. The phrase, not necessarily the explanation, brings a visual to my mind.

Me: I understand it’s a part of the secondary endocrine system.
Briana: It carries all the hormones that mom and baby need.

Right at this point I notice Briana is pregnant. We talk about various cultural norms concerning placenta. She explains it is also freeze-dried, ground and encapsulated, so mom (and nursing baby) may continue to benefit from the nutritious placenta for a good while after delivery.

Across the room I see 2 more mannequins – male and female. As we exit, I’m glad to know Victoria isn’t alone.

Briana: Let’s go see the kiddos!
Me: Kiddos?
We enter a smaller dark area. Lights come on bright and for a second I feel like I’m backstage at a theater production.  

Briana: Victoria’s bellies are hidden back here.
Me: Victoria’s bellies?!
Three fabulous bellies! As I write this I don’t recall if Briana says this or I do. I think she says it and I feel it true – they are fabulous! …and in various stages of pregnancy siting across the narrow table.

I learn about Leopold’s maneuvers.

And then I meet the kiddos… I hold one and as directed I roll it tightly in my hands like it might be while in utero. It is smooshy, flexible and surprisingly heavy. Average weight, Briana notes.

She then opens up the less common vertical C-section belly (below) and calls out the layers. Particularly interested in fascia, it’s the only layer (white) I focus on.

Off to stage right is the plug-in station …
I don’t say this but i think it. Babies, they lighten everything up.

We walk into a few more mock hospital rooms that include infants and young children on gurneys. Briana wipes the eyes of one of the mannequins and cleans the mouth of another. I sober up understanding the elements in these environments are for training students before they meet real people in real events.

Completing the tour, I ask about the student’s emotions and reactions. Yes, these are also part of the learning experience. It’s all about the full practice of medicine.

Briana works at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in the Center for Simulation and Innovation. Her background is in Cardiology and Cardiology Intensive Care.
She heads off to a meeting and I return to my studio.

Photo from the Tempe History Museum currently on view – 4th floor HSEB.

Note:
While I walk across the hall and take the 4 flights of stairs down – again I can’t help but think about being an artist. I especially appreciate the unusual experiences my work brings me. I could not have imagined any of this in all my years of art school.

Thank you Briana. We both have newborns in the planning – mine will be in 2D (probably on canvas) while yours will show up in 3D (real-life). Best wishes!

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My artwork – Nothing In Stasis (solo exhibition) is on view through the first week of April.
Monday-Friday, 9-5

At the Health Sciences Education Building
Phoenix Biomedical Campus (PBC)
435 N. 5th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004-2230
Map (PDF)
Parking Information

→ Health Science Education Building

anatomical drawing workshop with med students

I teach an anatomy drawing workshop at the college of Medicine on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. Participants come from several programs (including a couple of faculty) though the majority are Northern Arizona University (NAU) students in Occupational Therapy (OT).

They introduce themselves and I enjoy hearing why they signed up to come to the drawing workshop.

One young woman tells us she saw a kidney and thought it beautiful and wants to learn to draw it. I understand completely. Another speaks about the piriformis muscle – she explains, it’s from the Latin and means pear (shaped). She wants to see and know this. I don’t know piriformis means pear-shaped, I want to see this too! Someone else explains she would like to learn to draw the human body when needing to explain something – instead of the usual stick figure. I smile and note if I had a patient and needed to be efficient – that stick figure would come in handy.

I move around the room and learn every participant has a personal reason for being here, including an appreciation of anatomy. Someone tells me she likes my artwork and thinks this could be fun. Thank you. Yes, it will be! I tell her.

I want to say a lot of things to them. I want to talk about science and art and their connection, and I want to talk about Leonardo (I never do!). We have 3 hours together – they’ll start something today but will probably finish up on their own.

They arrive ready with organ (subject-matter) references. And medical models are available. We talk about a contour study and I quickly explain the value of working organically. While Cindi (Director of Art in Medicine) provides a variety of papers (surfaces) and materials – the majority of the group chooses to work on black paper (I’m excited to see the black paper – I know what color does on it). A couple of the participants pick out beautiful rice papers and after some conversation – they work in parts and layers – bringing a more sculptural sensibility to their work.

Here are some captured moments of the afternoon. Note everyone begins with a careful contour study and then loosens up (with some prodding) to bring in color and texture. The nervousness steps aside and the afternoon brings a little science and a little art together. Ahhh…creativity!

On a side note: I particularly enjoy the overall conversation. It’s an unusual experience being around medical (health and wellness) people. They’re familiar and comfortable with the body in a way that the average person is not.

The afternoon is coming to an end and  I hear comments like … Oh! I love your kidney! Oh…look at your brain!! 

I learn some new things. I don’t take notes but I probably could (should) have.
Thanks everyone. And a special thanks to Cindi and Rebecca.

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My drawings and paintings are on display right now at UA College of Medicine in downtown Phoenix until March of 2018. You can see the exhibit M-F, 9 to 5.
An Artist Reception is in the planning for February 2, 2018 – First Friday, 6-8 pm.

art in medicine – nothing in stasis

I spend the day with the crew at the University of Arizona’s medical school. I am in downtown Phoenix, at the Health Sciences Education Building, installing Nothing In Stasis, my most recent (years of work actually) drawings and paintings.

Walking in this morning, I see a group of students looking closely at my largest canvas that at the moment leans against a wall. I hear someone call out the name of a muscle. Someone else points out the thyroid.  I smile as I approach them and someone asks,  Are you the artist?  This is so accurate, she says. I hope so, I respond. I identify the figures in the painting and we talk about the content.

In between classes I catch students looking at artwork.  Either I am introduced by someone or I introduce myself. I completely enjoy it.

I shoot a series of photos ↓ while sitting in the corner working out a hanging system. Again, students are between classes. One young woman looks at one drawing and then another. She calls a friend over and says something to her as she points. I decide to walk over and introduce myself (all the while feeling like John Quiñones on What Would You Do).

The one female asks me if the surrounding organs signify something about the people depicted.

Yes! You’re correct!
Are they people you know?
My niece, my father and my mother. 

We discuss the compositions of my parents.  They clearly recognize and appreciate the details.

I don’t know how many students I connect with on this busy afternoon but each conversation brings insight.  Are you a medical doctor? My not so scientific response – No, but maybe in another life I was.

Before the afternoon is over I gather how meaningful the usual art works are  to the students, faculty, and staff. They have rotating exhibitions here. And for some reason this last month there has been no art on their walls. I am, in fact, putting my work up 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I clearly hear and see the art element is missed by most everyone.

I speak with Cynthia Standley,  who among other things organizes the Art in Medicine programming. We discuss the value of art in this particular educational setting. We talk about the connection between art and medicine (science) in terms of skill building: observation, critical thinking and communication. She notes how the skills enhance patient care. I note these are the very same skills I teach my drawing students.

I learn they have a partnership with the Phoenix Arts Museum as does our Department of Art at Phoenix College.

At the end of a long day, I sit and watch the natural light flood the now quiet area.

On a side note: When I agree to have a solo at the medical school, I am unaware they have a room with glass walls ↑ and they don’t know I have 2-sided translucent drawings. A medical school with glass walls…perfect!

My studio is empty. I have 60-plus drawings and paintings hanging in the Health Sciences Education Building at the Phoenix Bio-Medical Campus located a few blocks South of the Roosevelt Row Arts District.

The exhibition titled Nothing In Stasis will be showing to April of 2018. The area is open to the public and allows for visitors. An artist reception is in the planning for February’s First Friday. More info to come.

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Health Sciences Education Building
Phoenix Biomedical Campus (PBC)
435 N. 5th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004-2230
Map (PDF)
Parking Information

no woman is an island

Hi. I love your Torso images. Do you have similar work available? Dennis

This simple note arrives on September 13, 2014. Chosen for the State of the Art, Discovering American Art Now exhibition at the Crystal Bridges Museum, my studio visit makes the cover of the arts section in the NYT.  I receive email from across the country.
It still makes me smile. I am overwhelmed in the best possible way.

Eventually Dennis inquires about a commission. He let me know he’d prefer a male, anterior view anatomy study. He’s a cardiologist, the connection to the heart is the draw. Willing to wait as long as needed (his words), I decide he’s a patient man. In our correspondence I also gather he’s thoughtful. He describes how he works with artists to foster both creativity and opportunity. He writes that he rarely buys paintings, though he loves and collects glass sculpture.

Fast forward to September 2017

Hi Monica – I contacted you a few years ago … I had discussed a piece in your torso series. Do you have any completed works in line with that body of work you might have for sale at present?  Dennis

I have work and send him images. It doesn’t take him long to decide on a painting titled  Front Body, Male.

Front Body, Male,  Casein and Gesso on Canvas,  34 x 13″

I now know his full name is Dr. Dennis Chugh.  I very much appreciate his reconnecting after all this time.

Front Body, Male will be on display at the University of Arizona medical school opening in a few short weeks.  I am happy to note the painting is his. I will borrow it for the exhibit, Nothing In Stasis. The show will run to March.

Dennis will have to wait a little longer for the work. His response: I’m in no hurry. I’m so glad your work is being seen (and sold).

Thank you Dennis, for reaching out and for the support of my work.

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Dennis Chugh is a cardiologist who appreciates the arts and is also a maker of beautiful objects. He has blown glass for several years.

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

You can see more of his colorful Aviary Cilinders at → dennischugh.com

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The blog posts titled No Woman is an Island acknowledge the people and/or organizations who support me and the work I do.

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“in pursuit of your humans”

I think about Wade as I pull this drawing out of storage…

In February, 2014 – I received a few emails and a phone call from a gentleman whom I believe said he was from Louisiana. Wade had seen the New York Times article announcing the State of the Art exhibition at Crystal Bridges. He read about my studio visit and work. He was planning a one day trip to Phoenix, and wanted to see pieces…gallery…ect. 

I was teaching the day he was scheduled to visit and could not meet with him. He managed to locate two spaces where my work was hanging. I spoke to both owners of those facilities and before the day was out I had the opportunity to talk with him on the phone. I remember Wade because his reaction was sincere and his words were kind and generous. He was excited about my work and the attention it was receiving. I especially liked that he referred to my anatomy studies as ‘your humans’.

Wade asked me to stay in touch. I received lots of emails from across the country, because of that article. This last July (2015) I received an email from Wade. He was in Phoenix again and dropped me a note to tell me he was thinking about my art and hoped that I was doing well.

…about my humans…
They have made their way to Los Angeles for a month showing at LA ARTCORE Brewery Annex.

I have about 8 full size studies now – and counting. I hope to find an exhibition space that will show all of them together as one installation. I may complete 2 more to set up what I might refer to as generational mapping: four generations that includes these two drawings, my parents, a niece and nephew and 2 smaller ones, representing the generation after that.

Connections to the Natural World opens today – my humans are showing
along with the work of six other AZ artists.

LA ARTCORE Brewery Annex, Lincoln Heights 650 A South Avenue 21, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Reception and Artist Talks, Sunday, Jan 10, 2016, 1-3 p.m.
Exhibition Dates: Jan 2nd-Jan 30th. Hours Wed-Sun 12-5 pm

See you in LA!

More:
Saatchi Global Gallery Guide
LAist

And as for State of the Art, it will be traveling : artdaily.org

no woman is an island

I meet Vlada and Matthew in June, while making center pieces for the wedding party tables. We all sit cutting and organizing flowers. My sister is getting married and they have come from New York City to El Paso, Texas, to attend the wedding.

I learn Vlada is from Sofia, Bulgaria. Her husband Matthew is from the United States. They are both musicians. And before the wedding is over the next day, they sit at the piano together and play for everyone. Their performance is physical and captivating.

Vlada contacts me mid-November while I am at Crystal Bridges.  They are interested in buying an artwork. I am surprised and pleased. We have a number of interactions to narrow down what will work for them.

Today I learn they want to buy two paintings, a set Hers and His.  The compositions are small female and male pelvis studies representing primordial energy. They both are from the series Nothing In Stasis. Here are a couple of posts about the artwork: Primordial Energy and Hers, Nothing in Stasis  and His

Vlada  lives and teaches in New York. Matthew is completing his teaching license. They  perform throughout the United States and Europe (far and wide). In our correspondence I learn Vlada is also a body worker.

Thank you Vlada and Matthew! Enjoy the paintings. I do believe the purchasing of these two works is creatively symbolic.

 

www.Masterwork Conversations.com is Vlada and Matthew’s website. They  have recently recorded an album called Imagination of the Folk.

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The blog posts titled No Woman is an Island acknowledge the people and/or organizations who support me and the work I do.

state of the art – discovering american art now

I am excited to let you know my work will be a part of the State of the Art exhibition at the Crystal Bridges Museum of America.

This is certain to be a one-of-a-kind exhibition experience – for artists and visitors both – as curators travelled 10,000 miles across the United Sates to visit with nearly 1000 artists. My studio was in that mix of visits as were a handful of AZ artists. I recall the initial phone call and email I received – I really couldn’t believe it ( for the record – I do believe it now ).

Photo by Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

About the exhibit:
State of the Art features 102 artists from across the country selected for inclusion as a result of Crystal Bridges president Don Bacigalupi and assistant curator Chad Alligood’s travels and visits (mostly in person, some via Skype) with artists from every region of the U.S.

About the art works:
· Works in the exhibition include photography, video, ceramics, action/interaction, glass, fiber, installation, paper, painting, and sculpture.

· There are more than 200 total works in the exhibition

· The exhibition will reach beyond the boundaries of the Museum’s temporary exhibition spaces, extending into the permanent collection galleries and activating public and community areas indoors and out. Gallery spaces will total 19,000 square feet.

There is no charge to view the exhibition.

WHO: Crystal Bridges, Museum of American Art
WHAT: STATE OF THE ART – DISCOVERING AMERICAN ART NOW
WHERE: Bentonville, AK
WHEN: September 13, 2014 – January 19, 2015

 For more details click ↓

Visit the press page here on my blog and see the YouTube studio visit and/or read about the show and my work.

There is more to share but this is a good start.
Did I say I am excited? Yes I did. I am.

I could have titled this post No Woman is an Island.

6 zygotes

The word zygote comes from the Greek and means joined or yoked.  On a quick tangent – this makes me think of the Sanskrit word yoga which means to yoke, to join or to unite. Here I think physical process, development and growth. And I think mother – my mother.

You recall I am doing an anatomy study of my mother and I want to reference in the composition the 6 children she raised. Initially I think to include 6 embryos. But as I look at resource material and compositional space I choose to set up 6 eggs becoming fertilized by sperm. I also think design: movement, color and line.

The bottom part / the ground of the drawing ( a 12″ x 44″ area ) is where I refer to the developmental phase after fertilization and the resulting one-celled organism called a zygote. The zygote stage lasts about 4 days – ironically equivalent to the amount of time this area takes to draw out and paint – 4 full days of steady, intricate progress.

Here are the stages of the 6 zygotes.

Hot summers in Phoenix – I draw all day. This mixed media composition is bright and intense – more so than most of my other work on paper.

I need to start thinking about the title of the work and I wonder if it’s still part of the series called Nothing in Stasis. It is, I decide.

organs

My current and in process anatomy work is a life-size study of my mother’s body. Though still in the Nothing In Stasis series, I also see it as a tangent. As you recall my last painting was of my niece. I consider this work and the last as studies of anatomy, studies of the female form, and maybe studies of inheritance.

While there is bone and muscle structure, they are not primary in this composition as much as they’ve been in earlier art works. I’m thinking more in terms of organs and tissues. I sketch and outline for a long time before I decide how to approach things.

I like the shape of particular organs especially the ones of the immune system, which I am so curious about. I spend time researching the thyroid and the thymus. The butterfly shaped thyroid is found in the lower part of the neck.and affects every cell in the body. The thymus sits below the breast bone and is larger in a child than it is an adult. I find it contradicting  that it begins to shrink at puberty. I look at various tissue including adipose tissue. It’s lovely under a microscope.

Each organ takes a few days to complete because the work is compact – I want it dense and colorful.

My mother had her gallbladder removed. I include it early on because again I like the shape. It reminds me of how a leaf looks growing off the stem of a plant. Eventually I remove it and place it into the background of the composition. The gallbladder is the first form that fills the lower space behind the physical body – it will appear as if growing out of the earth. I leave a trace of it where it once sat just under the liver. While the physical shape is gone, the energy of the organ remains.

It’s interesting doing this particular work. The fact that this is my mother and the body of a woman who is 20 some years older than I am makes it familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time –  difficult and fascinating.

I consider this work a meditation for sure.