As a trash and found object artist, I personally collect most of the materials with which I work. The trash items may be collected from curbside trash in the city, from dumpsters, even bits of interesting litter rescued from underfoot. Found objects are purchased for pennies at flea markets and thrift stores. But I am also fortunate enough to find bags of cast off items on my stoop from time to time – flotsam and jetsom left behind by friends and family who know of my proclivity for transforming trash to treasure. And even Betsy’s students will bring me the occassional bag or two filled with cast-off Barbie dolls, broken Walkmans, assorted toys and toy parts that no longer fire their young imaginations. One such item is pictured here: an eight inch high resin figurine. Now, I don’t use or keep everything that makes its way to my studio door. Some of it ends up going out with my own trash for curb-side pick up come Monday morning. The pictured item was one that didn’t make it to my work bench. I knew immediately that I wouldn’t be using it in an assemblage, so into the trash bag it went with all manner of other refuse, and come Monday morning it was at the curb. But not for long.
As I exited my studio very early that morning to grab a bite at a local breakfast spot, I noticed the figurine on the sidewalk next to a small tear in the bag, as though it had orchestrated an escape from its black plastic prison. Well, I thought to myself, if you really want to stay, who am I say otherwise. I carried the figurine back into the studio. She now sits on my workbench and oversees the numerous contructions, assemblages and collage works that mark the hours, days and weeks in the life of a trash artist.
Back in the summer of 2009, I was fortunate enough to receive the Third Place award for my piece in a show at Smile Gallery titled Through My Window and curated by Dr. Debra Miller. The First and Second place winners were Carol Wisker and Carl B. Johnson, respectively. As the top prize winners we were given a show together at Smile in January of 2010. That show, titled Another Man’s Treasure, and also curated by Ms. Miller, will open on Friday, January 8, 2010. I am very pleased to be showing with Carol and Carl, and I hope you can stop by to say hello, check out the work, and perhaps purchase a piece for your collection.
SMILE GALLERY
105 S. 22nd St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215.564.2502
I just had to share this video with you. I love trees, always have. You might say I feel a kinship with them even. And what Diego has done here is nothing less than an honoring of our leaved companions.
Here’s a few photos of the studio as it looked for the 2009 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours this weekend. Had about 150 visitors. Saw a few familiar faces, but most were first-timers. All in all, it was a pleasant time. We also directed most folks to the second floor to meet Nora The Piano Cat. She played a bit on Saturday, but mostly napped on the paino bench on Sunday – at least until everyone left. She then played as Betsy and I went around turning off the lights in the paino room. I guess that’s why she’s a Diva.
Thirteen days till the Open Studio event. Thirteen days to make the space accessible and attractive. The pressure is on. The deadline is looming. And now suddenly I begin to feel motivated. "I can do this," I keep telling myself. "Nothing motivates like a deadline." Nevermind that I will be gone for three days to Hudson, New York for an art opening during the next two weeks. That leaves only ten days to work in the studio.
And this isn’t just about cleaning up. There are certain changes I’ve been wanting to make, e.g., moving work tables, installing shelves and pegboard on the walls. Why make those changes now when it would be so much easier (and quicker) to just do a clean up? Because I’m absolutely out of my mind. Having said that, here’s what I did today:
I removed all framed prints and photos from the south wall. Then I installed pegboard. The old oak drawers you see in the photo will be removed and a shelf installed in their place. My work tables will butt up against that shelf. The photo below shows the wall with the pegboard installed.
One month later and one month to go. I honestly thought if I made this into a blogging project the clean up would proceed in a more timely fashion. I’ve barely made a dent since the last entry. There is, however, now a path cleared from the entrance to the sofa, where I have spent hours lounging and watching Stargate: SG1 on DVD. I am definitely in avoidance mode. Looks like this could be another of those last minute, frantic rushing around kind of events – the kind I had so wanted to avoid, or had deluded myself into believing I could avoid.
What’s my excuse? I have several, actually. I’ve been depressed over a health issue for some time now. For a while I thought I’d gotten past it, but it’s obvious now that I haven’t. Also, the Nora stuff seems to take up a great deal of time and lately I’ve even fallen behind in that.
But the most understandable excuse, perhaps, is the very recent death of a close family member, which was preceded by almost of a month of hospitalization and rehab and then a week of hospice and death from a condition unrelated to what had originally put them in the hospital. Life turns on a dime, indeed.
So now I’m getting down to the wire (well, not quite the wire – that won’t happen till the last week), and it’s time to get my ass in gear, roll up my sleeves and do what needs to be done to reclaim the studio.
Just this evening, Betsy noted that a link to this blog and blurb about the project was listed on the home page of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. “You have to get down there and get to work and start posting about it. It’s right on the front page!” she exclaimed. I know she’s right. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So, I did the next best thing – I posted about not doing it.
It’s that time of year again: exactly two months before I welcome the public into my studio as part of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. And this year is very special; it’s the tenth anniversary of POST. And it’s my seventh year of participating. You can get all the info you want on POST at www.philaopenstudio.com.
It seems that every year there is a sense of dread and impending doom as the event approaches. This dread is not because I don’t like to share what I’m doing with the public. Because I do. And it’s not that I’m averse to selling my work. I’m definitely not. It’s just that by the time late summer rolls around, my studio is usually in its most cluttered and disorganized state. By July and August, I can barely walk in the space (actually, space is not the right word). There is no space. Junk is pilled high on nearly every surface and on the floor. This is compounded by the fact that I’m a mixed media artist who uses trash and found objects in my work. So junk is a necessary ingredient in what I do. The walls are also a mess as work has been removed and sent to shows. And much of the returned work is still in boxes or leaning against whatever has been presumed stable enough to be leaned upon. In other words, the studio is a disaster and there’s just no way it can be straightened up in time for October and POST with its hundreds of visitors. Yet, I manage to do it every year. And at the end of each year’s event, my wife and I come to the same conclusion: “Next year we’ll take the year off.” Inevitably, by May of the following year we’ve decided that yes, we will do it and we’ll just start the decluttering process earlier. Then August arrives and “earlier” has become a houseguest that never showed up.
Well, this year will be different. No, I did not get that earlier start. And, if anything, the studio is in worse condition than in previous years. This year it will be different because I’ve decided to chronicle the process through photography and possibly video. I’m tentatively calling it Operation Studio Clean Up – although, I am looking for a catchier title. Over the next two months, you can follow my progress on this blog as I de-clutter and organize my studio in time for the POST event on October 10th & 11th.
To start us off, you may click on the two thumbnails above to view larger images of the current state of my studio. These, of course, are the before shots. Wish me luck.
The varied works represented in the image above now hang in the space once occupied by Fifty-Two Collages in 52 Weeks down at Diver Central Gallery, 734 South Street in Philadelphia. At the top are a couple of Chair Sculptures from the Roadkill series (Skunk on the left; Fox on the right). In the middle we have eleven works from the Dolls of the Apocalypse series. And the rest are assemblages. Stop on down and take a look. Gallery is open from 3-8pm, Wedenesday through Sunday. And everything is for sale.
Fifty-Two Collages in 52 Weeks is hanging out at the Hicks Art Center Gallery in Bucks County. Read more about that HERE.
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As a trash and found object artist, I personally collect most of the materials with which I work. The trash items may be collected from curbside trash in the city, from dumpsters, even bits of interesting litter rescued from underfoot. Found objects are purchased for pennies at flea markets and thrift stores. But I am also fortunate enough to find bags of cast off items on my stoop from time to time – flotsam and jetsom left behind by friends and family who know of my proclivity for transforming trash to treasure. And even Betsy’s students will bring me the occassional bag or two filled with cast-off Barbie dolls, broken Walkmans, assorted toys and toy parts that no longer fire their young imaginations. One such item is pictured here: an eight inch high resin figurine. Now, I don’t use or keep everything that makes its way to my studio door. Some of it ends up going out with my own trash for curb-side pick up come Monday morning. The pictured item was one that didn’t make it to my work bench. I knew immediately that I wouldn’t be using it in an assemblage, so into the trash bag it went with all manner of other refuse, and come Monday morning it was at the curb. But not for long.
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