When everything is wrong, we move along - The All-American Rejects

3/17/2020

So, I'm in my second semester of my final year as an MFA student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and we had to vacate our studios for a minimum of 3 weeks due to the new coronavirus outbreak. At first, I was devastated; how could I continue to work if I didn't have my studio...as much as I understand and respect the need for this to happen, it comes at a very vulnerable and formative time in my development as an artist; and I am certainly not alone.

After the initial shock set in and just as quickly passed, my partner and fellow artist Neill and I started brainstorming ways to transform our space. If there's one thing we're good at (besides art), it's problem solving. We live in a small one bedroom apartment in Center City Philadelphia and both make large work. We decided to convert the bedroom into a studio and move the bed to the living room. (Luckily we never invested in a bed frame, so all we had to move was the mattress). We are pushing forward, working on our thesis, planning and beginning to work on our projects keeping in mind that they need to be made in a way that is easy to transport, etc. At first this all seemed impossible, but were are "Making it Work" (thanks Tim Gunn). We have been binge watching seasons of Project Runway during the evenings over the past couple of weeks, and I swear it was a heaven sent in order to prepare us for the mindset for what was to come.

Luckily, the day before the studio closures were announced, I was able to try out my life-size pattern for my ASE (Annual Student Exhibition) piece that will be exhibited at PAFA (date TBD) as my final installation as a graduate student. I am making a pair of large wings for the exhibition using a few different fabrics and upholstery foam. These wings come from a dream that I have consistently, and from a lifetime of viewing winged creatures (real and fantasy) as symbols of strength, transformation, and freedom. The large scale was chosen to correlate with the architecture of the space, and the amount of impact the piece can have during your first encounter with it. The installation as a whole is meant to represent a shift between childhood and adulthood; a shift between art and architecture; between reality and fantasy, and between stability and falling. I was so happy to see it in the space; I plan to make adjustments to the size of the feathers, and overall shape, but am thankful that I was able to see it before the building closed. I'm now using my living room wall to make changes and adjust. I also have goals for this piece to be able to transform to fit into any space it is exhibited in; I'm making it in pieces so it can be disassembled, reassembled, changed, added to, taken away from, etc; you get the picture :)

I want to continue to share my work and process with others, so this blog is going to be a platform for that.

A reminder to my artist friends and anyone reading this - NEVER give up; push forward. Together, we are strong. Oh, and wash those hands! :) Let's all play our part in keeping our community and ourselves healthy and safe.

"I had the dream again last night...I was looking at my Memaw's swimming pool, the water was blue and sparkling, but the sun was not out. The sky was filled with gray clouds and white mist. I wanted to jump into the water. When I tried to jump in, I was lifted far above and far beyond the water, until it became a spec in my peripheral vision. I was above the pool, above the house, above the fields. I reached up to touch the mist that lay just above my head..."