Amy Clay

tulum – city of dawn

amy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:50:39 +0000

my quest for the mythical, often thwarted by the crush of tourism, sent me out on an early expedition to the tulum ruins.
a few images grabbed before the masses descended on this last stand of the great mayan empire.

tulum watchtower

filtered light through the tulum jungle

first look, ondarte residency, akumal mexico

amy — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:56:44 +0000

a novel idea – a residency at a resort in mexico in the winter. couldn’t have timed it better if i tried. the rising full moon over the bay in akumal mexico. la buena vida…

views of my exhibition at the Dairy Center for the Arts, july/aug 2011

amy — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:23:52 +0000

berlin corner wall

berlin pigeon video wall

spain wall

france, italy, turkey wall

portugal, italy wall

travelogue: portugal tracks

amy — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:48:52 +0000

travelogue page - portugal

my travel journals are a critical part of my wanderings and
visually capturing a sense of place.
here is a page spread of old railroad tracks in portugal,
altered and painted to suggest a sense of longing.

amy clay artist talk at the Dairy Center

amyclay — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:25:27 +0000

this video was posted by the Daily Camera newspaper – excerpted from my artists talk at the Dairy Center for the Arts, in Boulder, CO – july, 2011.

solo exhibition of A.I.R works

amyclay — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:07:21 +0000

opening july 15, 2011 in boulder, colorado -please join me for my solo exhibition of mixed media works created while artist-in-residence around the world the past 2 years. see attached press release for details.

edge of the world – cill rialaig, ireland

amyclay — Sat, 21 May 2011 09:46:11 +0000

my postings are shamefully out of date – so here i begin again. it is now the end of my second peripatetic year, with little desire to drop anchor. my current view at cill rialaig artists residency looks over ballinskelligs bay, in the far remote southwestern iveragh peninsula. my month long residency is in full swing, and i’m dragging my feet to keep time at bay.

my book about living as an artist in residence around the world is making good progress here, and i expect to have it self-published by mid july – check in soon. but i can’t resist getting my hands into the paint and charcoal, so will post some of the work shortly. for now, i will share with you a look at my stone cottage and the view beyond.

view from my cottage across ballinskelligs bay

my cottage on the windswept cliffs of cill rialaig artists residency

ending and beginning

amyclay — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:15:00 +0000

the end of my first year of wanderings. i’ll leave you now with a few quick photos of my world here in berlin. i plan to take a short breather back in the US, then spend some time over the coming fall/winter living in london – drafting off the rich creative work of others. check in again soon when i start up my blog again.

i will be working on a visual journal book and an exhibition of all the works i have done on this trip, so stay tuned for more information, or email me and i can contact you when things are finalized. i will continue with the blog format as it allows for constant updating and a general running commentary…

thanks to you all for joining me on this journey 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

amyclay — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:07:45 +0000

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

pigeon drawings and video, berlin

amyclay — Tue, 25 May 2010 14:58:58 +0000

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