Monthly Archives: May 2009

Patience

18 May 2009

Patience, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

Sometimes growth can be super slow moving, not as fast as one would like. That’s the way I’ve been feeling lately. And yet, when I look at my life lately, I’ve achieved many great things. I owe great thanks to Courtenay Davis who invited me to speak about my art to an art salon in Alameda. And thanks to the art salon, Lorraine M. Bruce asked me to have my first solo show at the Kensington Library in July 2010.

I didn’t realize how much I missed making books and this talk put me on the road to begin the process of making lots of little books. They are still in process but I am excited about them. They’re built upon things I’ve done in the past but I’m making improvements along the way.

The recent mixed-media/acrylic piece above tested my patience as it was coming together. So often, the importance of stopping, letting go, releasing and coming back is taught to me through my own work.

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Happy Anniversary Tom!

4 May 2009

TVPig42509, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

We’re celebrating our one-year wedding anniversary today. A marker. It feels like it’s been longer. I’m very grateful to have this wonderful man in my life!

Tom Virsik’s drawing of a pig craving coffee at our Oakland CORE Citywide Exercise Debriefing Agenda on April 25, 2009. We were craving coffee.

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  • Artist statement

    I’m hungry to learn and it’s through my process of creating that I’m ultimately satisfied. I’m curious about different materials and take on the challenge to incorporate what I’m most drawn to into my work. I’m intrigued to discover the resulting patterns and repetition. As I create, I explore my inner landscape. I’m attempting to uncover a stifled sound. It’s my challenge to express this internal voice through my art and ultimately, boldly, out loud.

    My quest to connect my voice with my work has led me to reexamine my personal history. The threads in my bookbinding and in my collage are entwined in my familial roots. Growing up, I remember a quilt frame my dad made, taking up our entire living room. His grandmother taught him to quilt using scraps of clothing. Years later, I began a quilt when a friend was teaching a class on patchwork. To my surprise, cutting up fabric and piecing it back together reminded me of my work with paper collage.

    As a child I would sew with my mom and what I most remember is the guilt I’d feel as I jammed up her machine. Now, when the threads and material bunch up they become useful fodder for my work. In some ways the threads act as a binding element, as in my books, and in other ways they are a reflection of my internal processes.