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CAC ‘17 Open Call Submission

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Most people think that shadows follow, precede or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories.                                                                   

—Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) 

It is only in the world of objects that we have time and space and selves.         

—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965)

As a port city, New Orleans has long served as a departure, respite, or destination point for artists, intellectuals, merchants, and romantics. As we celebrate the three hundred year history as a city of journeymen, we recognize our own history in global patterns of geographic mobility. From refugees fleeing conflict, or facing oppression and natural disasters, to immigrants seeking opportunities and freedoms in new regions, the nomad presents as contemporary archetype.

And with him, across national borders and difficult passageways, (s)he brings mementos. Despite, or perhaps because of, their fragility, these objects accrue heightened significance as carriers of cultural and personal history.  They serve as signifiers of ethnic, religious, and regional association, transmitting memories of particular landscapes and traditions.

This exhibition presents the work of artists who examine the relationships of objects— which hold importance beyond their physical form—to experiences of places and cultural identities. Artists are asked to submit works that evoke their own sense of emotionality, sacredness, and personal connection to their cultures and beliefs through objects found and made. When faced with conflict or duress, what sacred objects or physical memories would be the first in hand and tucked away for safekeeping? What forms serve to tell your cultural story to the next generation? What is the history communicated by your chosen medium? Are objects singular and distinctly self-reflective, or do they portray individual history as copy, reproduction, or commodity in a global economy of exchange? How do histories of colonization and cultural domination figure in the objects with which we most closely identify?

“ARTIFACTS” ARTIST STATEMENT:

The “Dead Sea Scrolls” were discovered in caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, 1300 feet below sea level. These fragmented texts have been called the greatest discovery of a preserved manuscript in modern times.

As technology progresses, older forms of documentation become obsolete: letters, bound books, photographs, etc. These objects are made more precious by their continued scarcity, becoming something to savor and preserve.

Through the creation of “pickled” books I direct visual representation of attempts to preserve the objects or ideas we deem vital. Each jar translates the idea of place and memory into visible connections of the subconscious. They are a futile attempt to freeze moments in time while making them unusable in the process. They become artifacts: specimens restricted to observation, small glimpses at the information they contain.

Each glass jar contains one entire book in which all of the pages have been layered in their original order, filled with water and sealed. The above image references an iteration of the completed piece which will present twelve jars of various sizes in archival format to reflect the proportions of the books they contain.

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I recently submitted to the New Orleans CAC’s Open Call for 2017. These are some images of the work I submitted. I will post the exhibition description along with my artist statement. I’ll hear back by May 5th as to whether my submission was accepted into the exhibition or not. Hoping my positive streak continues...

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I just applied to the Alyssa Monks painting workshop at the New York Academy of Art. She is one of my all-time idols and I can’t express enough how badly I want to get into this class! Fingers-crossed for me. 

UPDATE: I GOT IN!!! I’ll be in New York for the workshop from May 27 - June 4. So excited!

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“Blemished” Artist Statement

I gave myself a black eye once. I was 12 and it was with make-up. I applied eye shadow every morning before school and throughout the day to keep up the charade, gradually changing the color to give the impression of healing. At first I made it red and tender-looking, then on to a darker purple and black, and as it progressed I added lighter tones of greens and yellows until, finally, it faded away. I'm still not sure why I did it and although I may not remember the reasoning behind my actions, I will never forget the act itself. I was surprised by the immense attention it drew and the immediate negative connotations that were implied. My parents received a phone call from my school, concerned and suspicious of child abuse. I was a clumsy child. Why should a bruise on my face be any different than the many I acquired on my knees or elbows? The whole experience became a delicate struggle between pride and shame; pride at how convincing my work was and the genuine attention it drew. Shame knowing that it was all a guise. Shame that I was the only one in on the secret deception with all the turmoil it had caused.

Since I was a child, I have been fascinated with the “grotesque” and increasingly perplexed by my casual attitude toward the subject matter when compared to other people. There is something triumphant in defining attractive qualities in unconventional subject matter: works of art are capable of expressing many subtexts. I am inspired by art that leaves a sense of ambiguity. I create works that confront the viewer with flashes of weightier narratives left open for interpretation. Wounds especially have unfavorable assumptions tied to them. Through found images, I am pushing the viewer to abandon their preconceived notions, encouraging them to find the beauty in something repelling. An illuminating discovery more rewarding than simply seeking out faults. We judge, critique, and compare ourselves for our imperfections instead of admiring them. In this series, bruises and wounds are a harsh, direct representation of human imperfection and challenge the viewer's perception of beauty. These images present a contrast of vanity and discomfort. It is important that the viewer see, not only the coexistence of these opposing themes in my subject matter, but also my struggle to balance them.

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Updated my website with some new pieces from a series of oil paintings I have been working on the last few months. Check it out! 

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I'm not one for posting works in progress, but here's something I've been working on recently... #oilpainting #artprocess (at Bywater Art Lofts)

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Beautiful Corpse  by Mia-Jane Harris

Intro: I found this artist today while doing some research for a new series of paintings I am about to start, and I loved her work instantly. After reading her artists statement, I felt it was so similar to mine and even articulated some of my thoughts more clearly. Thought I would share...

My art delves into the curious, fascinatingly odd and morbidly beautiful. The idea of intriguing the viewers and pulling them in to my world with strange objects and morbid curios to manipulate peoples’ emotions on the subject of mortality - life, death & resurrection. My artwork challenges the inevitability of our disappearance after death by preventing decay and rescuing ‘junk’. I give a second life, an artistic resurrection, to deceased animals and second hand objects with the hope that in return this second chance I give them will help me live on through these creations when I am gone.

My work is about helping me overcome my fear of nothingness by accepting death as a thing of beauty and using preservation and upcycling to show myself that if I can stop decay and disappearance then I can have some sort of control over my own demise. I have been influenced by Victorian memento mori’s and post-mortem photography to remember the dead, the Christian concept of Christ’s resurrection, and the mummification preservations of ancient Egypt.  The idea of mortality means a lot to me and has always fascinated me due to my death during birth, and my fear of when it will take me next. There were complications during my birth which resulted in me being born deceased and after resuscitation left with Erbs Palsy, the partial paralysis and stunted growth of my right arm. So I have always had a fascination with the morbid and abnormal.

As I work on my animals I feel as though I'm taking control of death. Preserving these animals is a way of challenging the idea that the cycle of death is completely out of our control. I see death as being in three stages:

We die, we decay, we disappear.

I confront this by holding these creatures at the 'death stage' and stopping them ever reaching decay. I use second hand objects in the same way, finding objects that have fulfilled their life’s purpose and have moved on to ‘junk /trash’ and then giving them a second purpose. Aiming to turn these morbid and used objects into ones that will forever live in art, giving them an artistic re-birth. This also links to being an artist, which is my way of living on and never disappearing after I die. The idea that an essence of someone/something can move on to a second cycle in the world after the life cycle is complete. A cycle in life/in use, and then a cycle as an art object. During the process of my art I am resurrecting the deceased and disused in to their second cycle, as playful new relics that give a space an atmosphere not dissimilar to that of a sacrilegious alter.

Each piece also has its own secondary personal meaning. The processes of dissection and sculpting themselves can be very tricky, especially with my erbs palsy, but this is a very important struggle for me to get through. I use it as an outlet, a sort of catharsis to let out any negative emotions or stresses in my life at that time. And what I am dealing with when going through the processes of each animal and object comes out in the final creation. The title of each piece is also a very key aspect here as they are my way of communicating with the viewer about what each piece means to me on a more personal level.

The pieces are made from chance and fate. It is a butterfly effect that causes each deceased animal or found object to be in the same place and time as me to make it into my collection. And when collected items fit together in a partnership with each other that feels right then they transform into an art object. It is all little fragile pieces of a puzzle that could end up entirely differently if just one thing had changed. I love that aspect with the work. The way that the medium itself takes some sort of control, some kind of life.

Another large part of my practice are my deceased foetal studies. As I walk around medical collections I appreciate and study the beauty of many of the human organ/tissue specimens, but it is the deceased foetal specimens that have always struck me the most. The idea that I could have been – and for a few minutes was - one of those lives that had never started and yet have ended. I hated that they never had their own life cycle, so I put them through a cycle and process as an art-form. I hated that they never had the chance to make an impact on the world, so as an art-form I let them do this. And I hated that they had never left that hospital, that their eyes have never seen the world outside of that building; so I capture their essence and I let them escape and take those eyes to see the world outside the hospital walls.

After working with this for a while I wanted to show people other things around the museums that I didn't think were appreciated the way that they should be. These museums hold collections of thousands of human cadaver sections and specimens that are used for scientific research and study. They are looked at every day to learn from but in their dull and dirty containers surrounded by thousands of others they lose a huge part of their charm and people are so focused on what they are that they don't notice how amazingly beautiful they are. So I wanted to take away the scientific surroundings, the educational environment, the dust and the grime and the information text books to leave behind just these absolutely striking objects. I photographed a selection of the specimens that I fell in love with the most, focusing on the patterns and colours in the tissues instead of what each specimen really was. I showed them to people without telling them what they are or where they were from and it worked. People appreciated the beauty behind them. Those outside of the medical profession weren't pushed away due to their normal mind set of 'its part of a dead person so its disgusting' and those in the medical profession finally saw the beauty that they had ignored that had been staring them in the face the whole time. People were amazed to see that death could be such a beautiful thing and were curious to find out more about the images and kept asking to see more and more of these captivating objects. I even had people telling me that I had helped them overcome a death of a loved one by showing them the amazing aspects that can be left behind

http://www.mia-janeharris.co.uk/#/beautiful-corpse/

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It's been a weird day of Sunshine☀️+☔️Rain.

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Soon to be a new drawing...?

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As I was cutting into a roast to stuff it with garlic I noticed the little holes I had made closely resembled a certain female genitalia...then I thought, "this could be start of a new painting series. Georgia O'Keefe style."

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Updated Artist Statement

So I recently submitted some work to the CAC in New Orleans for their NOLA NOW show opening on White Linen Night. I ended up reworking my artist statement for the submission which had to be a max of 200 words with an additional optional statement of 100 words max. This is what I finally came up with thanks to the skilled editing of my lovely friend, Jenn:

I am debilitatingly terrified by my own mortality. While I would like to believe my impending death could be as beautiful as it is terrifying, the balance between fear and acceptance eludes me.

Through self-portraits I unmask my own death – I reveal it to myself. I find myself drawn to the underlying beauty in my own mortality. My exploration shows all the beauty I find in my life is still present in images of my death. The calm quiet of eternal rest is interrupted by the slightest flicker of life. I invite the viewer to look past the surface to uncover the life that cannot be extinguished or ignored.

I believe there is something triumphant in defining attractive qualities in unconventional subject matter. Works of art are capable of expressing many subtexts. I am inspired by art that leaves a sense of ambiguity. I strive to create works that confront the viewer with flashes of weightier narratives left open for interpretation. My fear of mortality is diminished by the display of life and death intertwined. It is my intention that the viewer see, not only the coexistence of these opposite states of being, but also my struggle to balance them.

…

The female gender has consistently been regarded as the embodiment of beauty; we as women are trapped in an endless pursuit of youth and ideal form. The gender standard requires females to constantly seek self improvement due to the vanity society instills in them. I want to help the viewer see the beauty in something repelling. I find this more gratifying than seeking flaws in something already beautiful. We judge, critique, and compare ourselves for our imperfections instead of admiring them. By forcing the eye to look for beauty instead of imperfection I challenge the viewer's perception of feminine beauty.

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Another year...or more

So it’s been yet ANOTHER year already! So far I have managed to create 1 unfinished sketch and a handful of “crafts” or “Pinterest-like projects”(mostly as a cheap gift options) and my paints are drying up like old raisins. Not like any one reads this or cares but if you DO then here is an update on what’s going on with me lately…

I’m starting to get more involved with some friends in a small art community in Nola. I’m considering applying to grad school in Colorado and I am working on getting a portfolio together. Not sure that will happen though. Its more of a back up plan in case i cannot find an art related job in Nola to build a career off of. As far as work goes its hard enough finding a job at all lately, much less a good one. Still wanting to get involved with the museums and galleries in the warehouse district… working in the event industry has lead to some small connections in that area, but nothing super promising.

Up to almost 4 cats now. I’m border lining becoming a creepy cat lady. I have discovered snap chat, candy crush, bourbon whiskey and Pinterest and they are slowly ruining my life. I’m still stuck in an artistic rut with tons of ideas but no motivation to pursue any of them as I cannot settle on anything worthy enough. I can feel the lack of a strong artistic community wilting what little passion I have left. It’s starting to bother me more lately which motivates more to make a drastic change in order to find a solution…such as finally making the decision to go to grad school.

I would like to stay in Nola. All of my friends are here either getting married or pregnant, 2 things which i want nothing to do with. I need a community, a regimen and discipline. The economic downfall has affect Nola greatly and I can feel it, especially within my area of work. There are really no excuses though, I am disappointed in myself. I just need to make a move either way or I feel like nothing will ever happen.

So there you have it. That’s me. Right now…typing this post… on my iPhone…with my Tumblr app…sitting on my couch…after midnight…whining about how I’m so unmotivated to create art while at the same time thinking about the fact that i still need to watch the new episodes of True Blood and Dexter all as my boyfriend plays some loud annoying motocross video game next to me. God I need a life.

Does this happen to most people? I don’t see how people just jump right into shitting new art out every day and having shows every week all while still having time to post it onto Instagram just for me to hate myself.

Well no more of this self loathing and pity I tell you! Someone come forth and give me a high paying job at the Ogden or CAC as an event planner! I would even love a decent paying job at a gallery, as long as its full time. Just anything to keep me in the art world so that i can stay motivated, inspired and genuinely love what i do. Hell, ill even teach little kids to draw if I can get on a salary with benefits. Life sucks.

In case anyone is interested my site is still up but my domain is not live, recently discovered this and currently trying to get this problem worked out with blu. You can still view my site through this link though.

http://72.29.78.207/~gabri/

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My little baby the first day I got him!!!

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So I started working as a freelance artist for the Audubon Institute in New Orleans, for the zoo, aquarium and insectariums. This is the first project I did for them which is the entrance for a new exhibit they are working on called, "Dinoland". I did all of it in photoshop. I have used the program many times before, but this was really my first time working solely in the program to draw and paint as opposed to hand drawing and scanning my images or photographs and later manipulating them in PS. I'm trying to get more familiar and comfortable with the program while also trying to improve my skills in digital drawing/painting. I think I did pretty good though for my first try :)

Here is a look at my progress, I had about 20 photos total but had to cut it down to only 10 due to the Tumblr limits :/

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If you haven't seen this yet, you should. It may come off as intensely creepy or disturbing at first, but after taking in the concept of the video (which in my opinion seems to be the exploitation and direct comparison of the difference in male and female desires upon a first encounter) and then watching it again after, it is quite brilliant. Plus, it's Monica Cook. Can't go wrong there. 

She also has a new video out titled, "Volley" but there are no videos of it that I have found, aside form a short 3 minute excerpt from the 6 minute long video. 

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Is it almost a year now?

I've been the laziest artist ever this year! I can't believe a whole year has gone by and I haven't made a single scrap of art. I've done nothing but try to come up with ideas promising myself that the moment I land on a good solid idea I will go forth with it and create again. Yet here I am, still coming up with ideas, none of which are good enough. I decided to motivate myself by buying new art supplies. They came in the mail yesterday and I am super excited! Sadly after working 40 hours a week on my feet cooking and managing, I can't find the energy once I get home. So today when I got home I did research, I took photographs, I wrote in my journal...all forward steps towards making my first piece happen.

I thought, at first, maybe I should try to finish one of my older pieces to get back into things, but then I realized why I never finished it in the first place. I hated it. Then I thought I should do some small figure paintings or still life's to get comfortable with painting again. I told myself once I have that golden idea and I'm back in my process, everything will fall into place; I'll have a flow, a balance. Then I realized if I'm waiting for that to happen, I might as well just jump right into it and force it to happen. None of this has happened....

So I decided to update my artist blog in hopes that it will act as motivation to start something with promises of new work to come! 

As far as my ideas go, I've been pondering on the same themes I have been focused on in my previous work, but also taking it in a new direction. I started jotting down words that came to mind when I thought of what I wanted to convey in my work. This is what I came up with (so far):

FEAR CONTROL BEAUTY SEXUALITY MORTALITY DISGUST SIN PURITY SICKNESS CRUDE CONFRONTATION EMOTION DISCOMFORT INTRIGUE CAPTIVATING MESMERIZING INDEPENDENCE HUMANITY INSTINCT RELATIONSHIPS LOSS PERSPECTIVE DARK

You can see a general word flow and connection as you read the words in order. I like the idea of that brain flow and I also try to instigate those same mental connections in the viewer through my paintings. There are also some artist I am inspired by that I have been looking to for some direction. Here are a few names (images posted above):

Gregory Crewdson, Monica Cook, Brooke Shaden, Alyssa Monks, Marilyn Minters, Jenny Saville, Sophie Jodoin, Godfried Helnwein, Dara Engler.

By going through these artists' works, you can see a subtle connection. I think most of them are very dark, fantastic, sexual, or simply intriguing. There is also a wide range in media, such as photography, painting, and installation works. My works vary depending on the media they are done in. There are certain things I believe are conveyed better in a drawing than a painting, and vice versa. These are all things I am considering as of lately when I begin to think about what types of images I want to create and how I want to create them. What types of messages, specifically, do I want to send out. 

That is all for now...