Monthly Archives: June 2010

di·chot·o·my: an installation

27 June 2010

Together with some great help and valuable input from Claudia Lamar, Lanell Dike and Lorraine Bruce we put up my Dichotomy installation Tuesday evening at the Kensington Library at 61 Arlington Avenue, Kensington, CA. It’ll be up July 1–August 29, 2010. The library open hours are Mon & Tue: 12 – 8 Thu: 10 – 6  Fri: 1 – 5  Sat: 10 – 5.

This site-specific installation consists of sixty sub-parts loosely arranged by color to fill the art wall of the Kensington Library. They are meant to be viewed as a whole, not as a series of works arranged like paintings in a gallery or museum. The design is intended to fill the space – a space for books. These are “pages”, if you will. Think of them as one linear book, laid page by page, end to end. While one’s eye may prefer one or another “page”, the true beauty (or ugliness) lies in the whole. My next step is to make the virtual book into a real one. See examples of my books here. Dichotomy is sixty individual pieces – arranged to fit Kensington Library’s art wall. Each piece has a title and consists of a variety of artistic elements, including among others: collage, screenprinting, wax crayon resist, stitching, repurposed art and office supplies. Arranged on the wall loosely by color and design, each individual piece stands on its own. Like one? Request one by commenting on specific card(s) on my flickr page. I will be mailing them to select recipients at the end of the show. If you are selected, I will contact you for your address.

di·chot·o·my: division into two parts or classifications, esp when they are sharply distinguished or opposed.

Acknowledgments
Thank you to my husband Tom for your patience and for listening. I appreciate you making me a priority and for helping me to clarify my thoughts for this project.

Thank you to Claudia Lamar and Lanell Dike for your enthusiasm and assistance in hanging this installation. Lanell, thank for suggesting a cleaner way of hanging and Lorraine Bruce, thank you for this opportunity and for asking me to exhibit in the first place.

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Meaningful Work

22 June 2010

Meaningful Work

“Meaningful Work”
mixed-media: paper, canvas, thread, collage, fabric, muslin, acrylic 7″ x 5″
©2010 Leah Virsik

I’m working on finishing up postcards for my show at the Kensington Library next week and trying to determine appropriate words for my process. I’m also thinking about my next question regarding the evolution of my work as I’m working through Alyson B. Stanfield’s Relatively Pain-Free Artist Statement e-book.

I started the postcards in November 2009 in response to inspiration from Jennie Hinchcliff and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler’s book Good Mail Day and Leah Piken Kolidas’ Art Every Day Month Challenge. I started these works as something that I could do quickly and post on my blog in an evening. I initially sent them out to a few people and then I held back. I wanted to hold onto them and now they’re turning into a sixty postcard installation project. The roots of this work is about appreciating the process and ultimately, myself. It’s about play, acceptance, non-judgment, love, messiness, experimentation, connection and exploration. It’s also about working fast and completion. On one hand, the work is great fun and I get lost in it and don’t want to stop. On the other hand, it’s really difficult work that I don’t want to do. I love the work and I can’t believe I’m getting away with it. All these contradictions…Dichotomy feels like it’s going to be a good title. Thanks Tom.

I’ve created this project, designed how it’ll look, put it out into the world, and am in the process of defending (or at least explaining/creating a story about) it to my audience and my inner critic. It’s my first wall… outside of the studio. At times, especially lately, I’ve felt down about it… how do I hang them? It’s not going to work the way I’ve envisioned… no, no it’ll be fine… Tom helped me and I bought some nails he suggested. I’m excited about the way they look on the wall in the studio now. How do I arrange them? By color? By date created? What if I’m hurrying too much and I’m not doing the work or myself justice? It’s painful or so I choose it to be at times. It’s all an experiment. This is a picture of where I’m at in the world today. Do I like the picture? At times, I really do, other times I don’t want to look at it. It’s my work and I’ll continue to do it.

Next post will be more about my process and about how my work is changing.

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Back to Reality

14 June 2010

Clingy
“Clingy” mixed-media: paper, wire, collage, muslin, acrylic, metal, aluminum, molding paste 4″ x 6″  ©2010 Leah Virsik

Sunday evening at 6 p.m. marked the end of the final weekend of Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios and I didn’t want it to end. I definitely faced some challenges during the busy times trying to juggle multiple situations and trying to do too much. But it was a good learning experience and hopefully I’ll handle it better next time. I had a lot of great visits from friends, family and neighbors. One woman saw my card in a café which was a nice treat.

I worked on creating more postcards for my upcoming Kensington Library show during the slower times. There’s something about being in the studio and working and having to be in there that is extremely satisfying. By the end of the day Sunday, inspired by a neighbors’ comment, I was using metal wire in my postcards like “Clingy” above. I’ll be working more with metal and jewelry in the future and hope to finish up some metal books. Ultimately, I’d love to get over my fear of fire.

I taught many people how to make mini books with my promotional postcard. Some people, like I mentioned in my last post, elaborated and added their own spin to my demonstration in inspiring ways. It is my intention to create a safe space that fosters this creativity and honors and accepts people where they are in their process.

As I continue to gain insight in this intention…I realize I need to start with me, create the space and let go. The magic will happen from there. Thanks Lanell for listening to me talk about this tonight and offering your insight!

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Open Studios, a Class and an Upcoming Exhibit

5 June 2010

Honesty

Day One of Open Studios went really well. I decided to teach people how to make little books with my promotional postcard and my day went by super fast! Lots of great friends, family and neighbors came by. I really enjoyed teaching the kids, the adults too… but the kids are so interesting. They have lots of different ways of doing things that get the same results. I so appreciate this opportunity to learn and be taught by them. I want to connect with other people and build relationships and this is definitely a way to do just that.

Pro Arts Open Studios 2010
Saturdays and Sundays: June 5-6 and 11-12 | 11am to 6pm
My studio: 3934 Madrone Avenue, Oakland, CA 94619

Please join me this weekend and next for Pro Arts Open Studios as I open my studio along with 460 other Bay Area Artists. There are now four of us, on one block, open the first weekend! Karen Schwenk next door to me is open both weekends and Barbra MacNair my neighbor behind the fence and Robby Dickinson are open June 5-6.

Come learn how to make a mini-postcard book! If you’d like a postcard with an image of my book “Honesty” shown above, please let me know.
Small Running Stitch books
Bind Your Own Small SCRAP Journal
Saturday, July 10 | 1pm to 4pm
SCRAP 801 Toland Street, San Francisco, CA 94124
Entrance on Newcomb, between Toland and Selby

I’ll be teaching how to bind a small journal using a running stitch from all those interesting SCRAP remnants! $20 plus materials fee. To register: email workshops@scrap-sf.org or call 415-647-1746.

Green Blue Landscape
“Green Blue Landscape” pictured above

Solo Show
July 1-August 29, 2010
Kensington Library 61 Arlington Avenue, Kensington, CA 94707

I’ll have many small postcards on display. Come check them out if you’re in the area.

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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.