A Different Angle

This is a photo of Muffy, looking at the world from a different angle. I think everyone should do this every now and again.

Well, I WAS scheduled for a solo exhibition at ARTspace in 2011. Due to technical difficulties (a chronically sore paw and a matching sucky attitude), I decided not to proceed. I did three shadowboxes in my Saints Series (see below) as part of the exhibition, and then I hit the wall. And it was not for lack of ideas- oh, I had a myriad of possibilities lined up! Aforementioned suckiness gripped my Art Mojo with the Tentacles of Doom.

Enter the ARTspace committee. I informed them of my plight and begged to be reconsidered for an exhibition in 2012. But no. Nay, they said. Nay, Laurie. You WILL keep your spot (September) and you will like it.

Actually, it didn't go down like that. The ARTspace committee was very supportive. They suggested that I look at it from a different angle- keep the date but share the exhibition with other found object artists. As soon as that alternative was mentioned, I had one of those "AHA!" moments.

They say 'when one door closes, another one opens'. (Or something like that. If you're like my friend Phyllis, then you might unwittingly combine two adages and say "When one door opens, there's two in the bush." She once commented on the departure of a boyfriend by saying, "Oh, well. There's plenty of fish on the beach.") Because I am an oldest child, I am very good at sharing. Why I hoard bird skulls is another issue entirely, but I digress.

As co-conspirators for this exhibition, I immediately thought of my two friends, Becky Fixter Vagners and Kelly Ridley. Neither of these women are really known for their found object creations. Becky is a fabulous painter. Kelly is a fabric artist who also makes SteamPunk corsets. She once sat in the ARTspace window and, over the course of a month, knit herself into an 'egg'. Every now and again, however, both women have created found object artworks that I thought were pretty cool. And strangely enough, my sore paw had become the catalyst in creating the very opportunity for me to work with them.

Art Grrls unite! Both Becky and Kelly are intrigued with the shared exhibition idea. We're meeting next week to discuss a theme to which we will all respond in our own ways. Becky's piece will probably hang from the ceiling in a tangle of rusted metal, stripped wires, and nasty but cool salvaged stuff that could give you tetanus. Kelly's piece will be softer and will probably incorporate hand-spun wool (dyed with Cool-Aid) from her own sheep, the odd insect carapace, and doll heads that she's hoarded for years. And a small skull. Mine, of course, will be nicely contained in a box with a frame. My work will probably be the most pedestrian of the three, but it will be interesting nonetheless.

Of course, this is merely speculation at this point. We might end up doing a collaboration that's 29 feet long by 11 feet high, involves video screens and large, pointy spikes.

What I DO know is that the show in September at ARTspace will feature three found object artists, all women, who will have had a lot of fun putting an exhibition together.

I honestly thought my exhibition was toast. But all it took was looking at the problem from a different angle. My original idea for a solo show was pretty cool.

The Laurie, Becky & Kelly Show is going to be even cooler.