Tag Archives: Pro Arts

From a Box to a Book

28 October 2009

Art Has Become My Life, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

This is my “box” for Pro Arts 35th Anniversary Party/Box Art Benefit Auction: Saturday, November 7, 6 – 9 pm Preview Exhibition: November 3 – 7, 2009. Thanks to my dad for cutting the box of wood into nice 1/2″ pieces.

Inspired, I signed up for Leah Piken Kolidas’ November Art Every Day Challenge and received a really nice email back from her. I’m exited to join an online art community and post more of my work, more often.

Also, I signed up for Rock Paper Scissors Collective’s Sewing Lab Training. Looking forward to learning how to use their industrial straight stitch and serger! I want to make more books with fabric and leather.

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The process of Hammie

16 June 2008

Hammie 2, originally uploaded by Leah Virsik.

Tom and I put on a coat of primer on Hammie today. Such a warm day and after looking at art at Pro Arts Open Studios it felt good to do some painting myself. Those pots in the back are wanting some paint as well. Signed up for a flickr account tonight… Trying to figure out how this all works… Tom and I are working on organizing the garage. It feels really good.

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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.