one new sculpture

at the table # 3

papier mâché

Inside the Box (The Artists' Gallery Annual Box Show )

An invitation to participate in The Artists' Gallery annual box show got me experimenting "inside the box". My invitation came with a 6 inch pine box that I could work with in any way I wished. This is an image of the first day.

When I saw the box I thought about shelter. I went about recreating(at 50% scale) an earlier sculpture that was about a different type of shelter. I've been curious about placing the paper people inside a structure - this gave me the opportunity to play around with that idea.

Well, it was a busy week around here and I didn't finish painting my outer walls. I missed the deadline by about 12 hours, but I'm thankful for the nudge to try something new. I look forward to doing it again next year.

The Artist Statement (and the subject of Love)

I don't meet many artist who enjoy writing about their work; as essential as it is, the artist statement is often a thorn in our sides. The purpose is to offer a platform from which the viewer can explore the work. My approach is usually to be as brief and straight forward as possible. I grumble and edit and end up with words on paper that introduce people to my work.

When I sat down to write about the paper people, the task was more difficult than ever. I prefer to have my hands tell the story, but the collection must travel with a statement. Two words came to mind, a title perhaps: necessary luxuries. The Paper People were here to be a little bit braver about the things we crave need, but for some reason, can't quite deem essential. They challenge our habit of keeping secret that which is most human.

private collection Philadelphia

private collection Washington DC

One day, after quite a while of having only a few lines I would commit to, I came across this quote by visual, conceptual, installation performance artist, Helene Aylon:

"Because there  is a fear of sentimentality, love is not very often addressed -- and it is really the one motivation in all of our lives."

Well, there you have it, I was afraid to say it's about love. I was afraid of setting that word out to sail in a sea of misconceptions. For me love is
                               bigger
                               badder
                               brighter
                               bolder & more brilliant than my words can convey. I would prefer the paper people say it for me. As Jean-Paul Sartre put it, "There is no love apart from the deeds of love; no potentiality of love but that which is manifest in loving."

private collection Indiana

So, as these pieces greet the public, they will be accompanied by the sparse words that came to mind on the first day I started ripping up newspaper...a question more than a statement:

What would we share if we didn't fear?

Which simple pleasures have become necessary luxuries?

The explorations of the paper people.

                                                  

one new sculpture

Here are some pictures of one of the new sculptures. You can see more of the Paper People here.

no fear - tea with Kālī

At the beginning of the month I posted about an idea for the new paper-mâché series. I finished the first one today...

"Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction."



Quote by Pablo Picasso

a new relationship with destruction and high tea

The paper people population continues to grow, but there's a new series that's been knocking at the door. It took some time to find a way for for them to integrate - it ended up being as easy as sharing a cup of tea.

My greatest satisfaction comes from taking complicated and rambling ideas chewing them up and spitting them out. It's why I love poetry, fairy tales and jelly bellies. I also love symphonies, reading the encyclopedia and Blinis Demidof a l'Oobleck, but that's not what I want to create. I delight in making a little paper and wheat person who tells you a secret to rival Lady Chatterley's without a word. Here's what I've been chewing on:

Stories that remind us everything we need to know we already know, we're just remembering...

"Many hundreds of years before those great European pioneers, Galileo and Copernicus, had to pay heavy prices in ridicule and excommunication for their daring theories, a section of the Vedas known as the Brahmanas contained this astounding statement:

“The sun never sets or rises. When people think the sun is setting, he only changes about after reaching the end of the day and makes night below and day to what is on the other side. Then, when people think he rises in the morning, he only shifts himself about after reaching the end of the day night, and makes day below and night to what is on the other side. In truth, he does not see at all.”

- Nancy Wilson Ross (1901 -1986)

Unexpected heroes.

nice picture of high tea from here.

High tea...because ceremony and manners can be the glue to hold us together while the big issues are under construction.

and a new relationship with destruction.


New work next week....

paper people

This piece was finished yesterday, but I missed the sun for photographing. It felt good to be reunited with the paper people; there are quite a few waiting to be made. I've written before about how I find them akin to the Mayan worry dolls; the Mayans believed that there are worry people. At bedtime you would whisper your worries to these very little dolls, and then, during the night the worry dolls would carry your worries away.

These paper people do their job through expressing the human experience, they display the simple pleasures that go unheralded and they are honest about the hardships that linger on the margins...the ones that are harder to articulate because they are so co-mingled with our love and hopes that we hesitate to name them.

I hope to get more time tonight to start a flock of birds, until then I have some real ones that need my attention in the back yard.

children's papier mache class - day two

Although the day was sprinkled with intermittent chicken and chihuahua adoration, we still had plenty of time to paint and make some accessories for our little paper dogs. One has an ottoman and the others have food dishes or bones.

They are all adorable and I'm thrilled with the fantastic colors.

The group worked so well together; I loved to see them offering each other a hand when they could, sharing ideas, and encouraging each other.

The next group of classes will be the plein air session in the Wissahickon, July 20th and 21st.

New papier mache classes will be listed next week.

the finished motmot

Here is the completed papier mache motmot. He's a handsome guy and is related to the kingfisher which you may be more familiar with. Unlike many other species, both the males and the females sport the brilliant plumage and long tales.

The warm weather relatives of the kingfisher are thought to bring with them peaceful times or, "halcyon days" the seven days of winter when storms never occur. They fall on either end of the shortest day of the year. As the story goes, during theses seven days, Alcyone, in the form of a kingfisher, made a nest on the beach and layed her eggs there. Her father, Aeolus god of the winds, held back the winds to keep her safe. This is where the motmot makes its nest - by water in tunnels in the banks.

Motmots are the national bird of Nicaragua and here they are often called, guardabarranco ("ravine-guard")

I will be taking orders for the motmot birds and 50% of the profits will be given to the Center for Development in Central America http://http//www.jhc-cdca.org/

Where many live on less than one US dollar a day, these contributions can help bring worker owned cooperatives, health care, and organic farming to those in need - the building blocks for building healthy, self sufficient communities.

Each bird is unique and comes on a perch. The body is approximately 12 inches.

The cost is $75 and the delivery time is two weeks.

rosemarymarkowski@yahoo.com

motmot in progress

Here's how the motmot is made - should be finished up tomorrow evening. Can't wait to paint him!

Remember - 50% of sales will be donated to the Center for Development in Central America. CDCA has been working in Nicaragua for 15 years to support sustainable economic development, sustainable agriculture, health care and education.

The Paper People

What would we share if we didn't fear?

Which simple pleasures have become necessary luxuries?

The explorations of the paper people...

This is all I would originally write about the papier mache sculptures I have come to call the paper people, but people are always curious to know my intention with particular pieces; they want to know what was I thinking when I created them. I'm always a little reluctant to say... I like to wait and let them try to tell me...nobody is ever wrong.

Never has my work come so directly from my dreams. I wake up with the feeling I have been introduced to a paper person who needs to be formed. As I work (it's slow work) the stories of the the individual become clear to me. At times I've wondered about the image; I've wondered why I felt so strongly about certain details. In the end it's clear and images that seemed harsh or confrontational have a deep, simple truth to them.

Some days the paper people are an army of worry dolls that stand in plain sight, not tucked under a pillow. They ease fear and doubt with honesty - creating beauty. On some days they celebrate the things we forgot to.

They can be viewed at http://www.rosemarymarkowski.com/index.htm