As meteorological summer drifts to its end, my cup is full. I hope that you were able to spend time in nature, with friends and family, creating, and doing whatever you love. Mine was packed with art events and as a result, I have connected with so many creative souls.
One day last week, I dropped off donation pieces for non-profit fundraising auctions on the way to deliver my latest painting that had been purchased. As funding dwindles, non-profit arts need some extra love and support lately. So, I was already feeling grateful for being able to support two local art locations (Grid Gallery in Providence and the Attleboro Arts Museum) when I arrived at Hair Lab Providence to deliver the painting.
True, it feels really good when your art sells. Often, though, you don’t know anything about the collector or where the piece will be hung (or, gulp, stored). If it’s a piece you’ve become attached to, it can feel sad. When you actually get to interact with the collector, and they share your values, and you see the wall reserved for your artwork, it’s pure joy.
This painting is very special to me and I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing the reactions and interpretations of numerous observers. If you would like to see the painting before learning more about it, pop over to my Instagram to see a few images of it here before you read further. It started as an abstract image of floating beings on the canvas. It’s charcoal mixed with soy on raw linen. As I sat with the images, they spoke to me, and I hand-stitched around them with plain cotton machine thread. Then I un-stitched and re-stitched several times with different colors and in different formations before the final image emerged. When people have articulated what they saw, I’ve heard an aerial map, elderly breasts, fallopian tubes, vessels, fossils, general feminine energy, and most recently, the feeling at the end of the day of wearing a prosthetic bra and breast. I’ll let you in on a secret. It was originally inspired by a couple cross-section slices of red cabbage. But the origin matters less once the art is out in the world. The observer brings their own meaning to it. When we are able to remove ourselves and consider other interpretations, humanity grows.
What did you first see in the image? Can you envision the other interpretations? Maybe you can only now see one of the suggested meanings and can’t unsee it. It makes me think that our reality is perhaps less fixed than we believe. Possibility gives us multiple options in any given abstraction, and we could view this world as one big abstraction. Imagine that world where more of us not only share our own interpretations, but are receptive to shifting to see through the lens of others – visiting other’s perspectives can enact positive change.
Is there anything considered ugly out there in which we should seek beauty? Conversely, is their superficial beauty that we should consider reinterpreting? I can think of several examples.
Here are my upcoming and current exhibitions.
- True Grit Art Gallery, Poetic Visions, Middleboro, MA; September 13-27, 2025 (Opening Saturday, September 13th, 6-8pm)
- Nine-Eighteen-Nine Studio Gallery, Innovations in Fibers, Charlotte, NC; 8/9 - 9/27
- Aplomb Gallery, Rising, Dover, NH; 8/8 - 9/30
- Boston City Hall, 6th Annual Exhibit of The National Arts Program, Boston, MA; 8/4 - 10/24
Until next time,
joç
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