ending and beginning

time has moved swiftly onward, and my year long journey has come to an end, berlin being my final residency destination. i am back in the US now, grounding and digesting the smorgasbord of this past, exhilarating year. i suspected, but could not have known what a rich, diverse experience this would be, and i am deeply thankful to all the fantastic people along the way who made it the epic journey i had hoped for.

i will leave you with a few photos  i took in berlin with my “hipstamatic” iphone camera app -

my intention is to make a visual journal book and an exhibition of all the works, so check in periodically for more information, or email me and i can contact you when things are finalized. i also like the blog format of posting new work as it emerges, so will continue to explore the possibilities moving forward.

thanks to you all for following along and for your wonderful comments and emails ~

fritz lang's epic film "metropolis" projected on a wall at a party

an old cemetery wall in east berlin

another old cemetery wall in east berlin

corner wall piece, berlin

for the open studios last sunday, had an idea itch that needed to be scratched – so rushed off to the sunday only flea market at mauer park first thing – early enough to find what i needed, get back to the residency, make my wall piece/installation and shower before the opening at 3pm. managed to pull it off, even though my original idea morphed into something much more interesting based on what i could find at the flea market.

there is a stall that sells old photo albums – probably picked up at estate sales – an intimate view into strangers lives – posing here and there, with loved ones, in front of monuments and such. but the photos that gripped me most were 2 albums i found from the early war years – 1938-1942. people living, loving, getting on with their lives in the midst of a terrible history. i made an installation of the photos – some typical family shots, others quirky and strange – each image drawing me deeper into questioning – wondering what their place was in the scheme of things: the little girl holding her doll, the family group portrait with young soldier in nazi armband, a couple on their wedding day.

i usually avoid political, historical or current events in my work, choosing instead to look for the universal, the mythical. but this immediate past was too compelling to pass up, and the richness of stories that may be lost are now written visually in my corner wall piece. being here in east berlin, it is impossible to not be reminded of what went before, and to wonder at the profound metamorphosis in such a short period of time.

found vintage photos, album paper - installation

detail - found vintage photos, album paper - installation

detail - found vintage photos, album paper - installation

pigeon drawings and video, berlin

finally worked out my pigeon stop motion video – made into an 8 second loop from 32 pigeon drawing/paintings. my fellow resident, thomas helton, a bassist and composer, generously recorded 6 small improvisational soundings based on my video, which i looped around to complete the visual/audio piece. each one of his compositions is quite different, so depending on which one is played with the video, the entire mood is altered, so important is the sound aspect of this work.

unfortunately, my technical abilities are stymied by the prospect of posting the actual video/sound piece on my blog, so instead i am including photos of my wall of pigeons – all of which were used in the video loop and hung for the open studios. will attempt to post the actual video soon.

charcoal, acrylic drawings for video loop, on paper

charcoal, acrylic drawings for video loop, on paper

charcoal, acrylic drawings for video loop, on paper

pigeon fest, berlin

found a few pigeons in alexanderplatz – took a mini video on my digital camera – and now am breaking it down, doing some charcoal drawing/paintings, and attempting to stitch it together again in some way, with sound, etc. a whole new world for me, and slow going, but i’m getting some tips along the way from my fellow artists who work in video. this is all very basic stuff, but without the right (and often expensive) tools, simple things become laborious. and hours at the computer is not my thing if i can help it.

drawing pigeons is the fun part.

charcoal, acrylic on paper

charcoal, acrylic on paper

charcoal on paper

TAKT residency, berlin

been ages since last posting – moving from india to london (springtime!) for a several week interim before arriving today at my next residency in berlin. for the first time have a specific idea of a project i want to do – this one involving stop motion video and flocks of pigeons – only to hear that there are very few pigeons in berlin! funny how best laid plans often become something else ~
there’s already an open studios planned in 3 weeks time, so will need to work fast whatever i do…

invitation for open studios

homage to the leaves

one of the beauties of a residency such as this, is the onsite “junk pile”. i scavenged several old shutters and miscellaneous things, as well as leaves and pods from the grounds – then drew the fallen leaves directly onto the wood. i am glad to have focused on the leaves as the consistent theme of my time here so far, especially after my daily meanderings hither and thither in new zealand, which of course was right in its own way. the thing is to notice the differences without judging them.

scavenged wood, metal, leaves, pods, feathers, ink.

exhibition at sanskriti kendra

tomorrow evening is our exhibition – myself and 2 other artists – gracy yang from taiwan/vancouver, and andrew connolley from california – we are the sole artists left here at sanskriti, as the temperature hovers at 100 degrees, marking the end of the season until the autumn. i will stay another week here, and when not exploring some of the surrounding areas of interest, i will lay around listlessly from the heat…

banyan leaves and henna patterns

i notice a pattern emerging – the more exotic/stimulating the environment, the more my response is to break it down – go simple, meditative and focused on the everyday. this was especially true in turkey, and now india. and, ironically, in the land of the color drenched sari, i am simply drawing in black and white. this is not what i would have expected but is my authentic response to the assault on the senses that is india.

each morning i wake to the sweeping of the fallen leaves by the workers, and in particular it is the Banyan leaf that  has caught my eye and become the focus of the series i am working on here. and because this is a culture that loves to decorate everything – from the elephant to the henna patterns on the hands and feet,  i have incorporated those patterns into the leaf drawings to ground them in this time and place.

henna drawings on banyan leaves - detail of larger drawing/collage

leaf drawing with sanskrit goddess name - saraswati

drawing on handmade paper - "everyday object" from local museum - i gave it the sanskrit goddess name - lakshmi

sanskriti kendra, new delhi, india

it’s taken me this long to post here in india – so rich and varied is this experience. my work is coming along slowly  with all the interesting distractions, both the chaotic city of new delhi, and the diverse mixture of people from around the world in residence here. sanskriti kendra is a large oasis walled and buffered from the city, with gardens, flying peacocks,  even monkeys. we are fed a delicious smorgasbord of vegetarian indian food, and otherwise well taken care of. my apartment – upstairs bed and bath, downstairs studio – is spacious enough and despite the voracious mosquitos, a place i can call home.

the work is not ready to show yet, but with an exhibition in 10 days, something will need to happen! my excuse is the oppressive heat by day, but i reckon it’s just a true and somewhat convenient excuse to be a bit summer-heat lazy. in any case, i am pushing through the lethargy and slowly slowly bringing thoughts to form.

i am posting a few images for visual effect – one of the grounds of the residency, another a typical street scene in the city.

more cars have taken over the city, but other vehicles such as this bicycle cart are still common

banyan tree on the residency grounds with the studios beyond

final days at new pacific studio

leaving for asia in 2 days. wanted to pull together the disparate work i have done here and make something cohesive, but i will have to be satisfied with my book of “short stories” as i see them – since they don’t much relate to each other. but now that i have indulged completely my hyperactive and overly curious mind, i feel the urge for a specific project coming on – something i can sink into and go deeper with. have some ideas for india and especially berlin – where for 3 months i will vibe off of the current art scene and also review what i have done in my year of “discoveries” – maybe to make an exhibition or work on a book about this journey.

going from rural new zealand to hong kong, shanghai and then new delhi – will be about as much contrast as you can get!
thanks so much to my host, kay flavell, for her commitment and dedication to sharing the arts and culture of the pacific ~ 

another solar print worked into the book