And here we are nearly four months later…

By February 25, 2014Uncategorized

… Where after being sucked into a black hole time warp, I have returned to earth. Okay, that’s not really what happened. 

Apparently moving to the other side of the world is full of a lot of settling in. I arrived in Chiang Rai this past November and Anthony and I got right into getting our new home in order. We have had a steady stream of friends and family to host which has been a wonderful way to see the country and begin to feel grounded. There is nothing scarier yet more eye opening than leaving everything you know to live somewhere foreign. But I am loving it.
As timing would have it, about two and half months after arriving, I had to make plans to return to the states. But just for a visit. And for a really wonderful one at that. Earlier this month I was in the Northwest where Niki Johnson and I installed the most recent iteration of At Your Service at the Bellevue Art Museum, just outside of Seattle. 
So, I am going to make this a double post to break up the last four months. First, a really brief look into some of the amazing things that are feeding me excitement and inspiration. And then a little about my new studio set up and new piece. 

    

I have been eating up, no devouring, the colors, sights, weather, wonderful people and landscape of my new home. Patterns everywhere, shiny mosaics and ornament like you would not believe.  Though I have been taking a break from the old blog and studio/art making, I have been taking a lot of photos and really just enjoying being immersed in it all.

• • • • •
But work must prevail. I wanted, and had been planning, to make a new piece for At Your Service. Light and Shadow, Part One, was included in the original exhibition but needed a real makeover in the installation method. It was clunky and complicated and needed streamlining. I also wanted to expand on this series, which I plan to continue working on in the future.

It also seemed a good opportunity to jump headfirst and settle into my new studio here in Chiang Rai. Making artwork has always been what truly roots me to a place. Making Light and Shadow, Part Two was no exception. Getting my hands dirty (and my arms sore from sawing and sanding) is what makes me feel like I am at home. Navigating a new city to find materials is not only exciting but it is orienting. And working in my studio all day long for two weeks was absolutely the best. 

Just getting started here and going for it.
Testing out cutting the plastic plates and pouring resin to flatten out the backs (for hanging).
All the pieces cut and laid out.
I wanted to make sure that everything lined up and that I was not missing any parts.  
The back of each piece piece had a piece of resin which created a flat pad.
I planned to epoxy a piece of steel the resin to these pads so that all the pieces would be magnetic.
This way there would be a bit more room for error during installation
Then I gold leafed all the pieces and sprayed them with about five coats of acrylic gloss.

And then I finalized the template that I would use to line up where the magnets would go on the wall. I packed it all up in tissue paper and padding so that I could bring it on the plane with me. With no wall to do test hang on (and yeah, not really enough time either), I just had to trust that my system would work during install (okay, okay, I did do some small individual tests). Though I felt pretty darn confident that it would all work just fine, there was that little bit of anxiety that would’t go away until it was actually up in the gallery.
My strange package that I hauled from one side of the world to the other
–much to the airline’s chagrin I should add.

• • • • •

So stay tuned for the next post: At Your Service, Round Two! There will be photos of the exhibition install and the final layout and all kinds of riveting stories. But… here is a sneak preview of the completed piece as it looks in the exhibition.

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