Dali is Not Overrated

On Thursday, Ethan and i went to Figueres, a town almost to the French border, to see the Dali Museum. We got on the train early in the morning, and an hour and a half later i was thrilled to see the Pyrenees mountains in the distance!





There are several, of course, but this is THE Dali Museum - the one he put together himself, which is what makes it so very amazing. It's supposedly the largest surrealist object in the world, and i believe it. It's so much more than a gallery where paintings hang; the whole thing is one big installation. It's like walking through one of his images. I LOVED it. We both did.

The building that houses the museum is a theater that was damaged during the war, and when it was rebuilt, it was rebuilt specifically for this purpose, but Dali apparently loved the idea that it was a theater and so it wasn't changed much, to my understanding. There's a courtyard that houses this sculpture:



Inside, there's a stage like setup where there's a massive, massive painting, and the tiers of the theater where the seats would be have been enclosed to make gallery hallways. The wings of the stage also have galleries, and everywhere there are alcoves housing curious installations, like this sculpture which included some kind of piano and the whole thing had music playing in the background.

One of my favorites was a piece where you walked up to a hole in the wall, looked in, and discovered a magical wonderland on the other side.



One whole room was taken up by "Portrait of Mae West," and you had to climb up this small staircase to get in the right place to view it. Coming in, it looks like this, and from the staircase, you see...



I was also excited to see a lot of prints and drawings, which aren't usually featured, seems like the curators pass over them in favor of melting clocks.



I also loved this drawing of his wife, Gala, who features prominently in his work. It looked also to me like some of the signatures on the pieces said both Gala and Salvador Dali. I wondered if she assisted in his pieces or if some of them were hers and she didn't get any credit.

After the museum, we went to this restaurant i had found online the night before, the only vegetarian restaurant in Figueres, El Cafe del Barri Vell. It was AMAZING. A tiny little restaurant with a funky exposed-beam ceiling and warm red walls with creative but simple food that was clearly prepared with a lot of care.



We had this sampler of guacamole, hummus, and baba ganoush, and all three were some of the best examples of each. I also had a salad with avocado, fresh soft cheese, peanuts, and a mint-orange vinaigrette. Here's the best part - it was cheap!

Then we walked around a little while longer, and came home on the train. DEFINITELY worth the travel time.

It's Been A While...

So! It's been a while since i've updated, and there's been a lot going on. The Expressa't exhibition opened with my installation in it, and an image of it was used on one of the promotional postcards, so that was really exciting. I presented my minimalism project, which went over very, very well - some people really loved it and some people were really offended. I don't have any images of it yet, but i am cleaning it up and adding to it to hang in the exhibition. I've been working on a bunch of sewing projects, i've finished a very fancy dress and a bag using materials i salvaged from a dumpster, finally got the hems done on the first pair of pants that i made, and am planning on working on a couple more things before i lose access to the sewing machine. My classes are over now, and i have my "exit interview" tomorrow, then we set up for the exhibition which opens on Friday.

Ethan got here about ten days ago, and i am so, so glad he is finally here! We have been hanging out at home a lot but also have been to two art exhibits and the beach, and have walked around the city a bunch. We have been through the Gracia neighborhood, where much of Gaudi's work is, and to Santa Maria del Mar, a gothic cathedral that is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. We also saw a great collective street art project. Pax and Hawina and their son Willow (who's almost 7) got to Barcelona last Tuesday, followed closely by Sky and Kassia, ex-members of Twin Oaks and good friends. So, this group that we are calling "Framily" (friend-family, as opposed to biological family) is almost complete - Angie gets here on Wednesday!! We are all orbiting around Willow to some extent, though i am pulled away by school. Last night we all piled into the big bed in the room that Pax and Hawina are staying in and watched "Stardust", this great kids' movie with Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer. Loved it, and loved the feeling of all being together, much better than being on my own all the time.

However, Pax, Willow, and i all have colds. Sick again! Hopefully it is something in the air in Barcelona and it will get better once i leave... one good thing to look forward to about leaving.

Ethan and i are hoping to go to the Dali museum in Figueres, but it is a good train ride away, almost to France, so maybe we will do that this coming weekend, or sometime in the week between the exhibition and when we leave for Amsterdam, on the 21st. My time in Barcelona is winding down quickly!

Mara, a classmate of mine, took this picture of the opening of Expressa't.



Here's Ethan looking at some boats. We thought they were - or at least one of them was - battleships.



When we went to the beach, we sat by the sea for quite some time, and Ethan made this nice sand sculpture:



This is my favorite painting from the street art thing we saw, though there was lots of really amazing work out there:



Sunday we all went to Can Mas Deu, the community nearby that i've been to many times. This is where Sky and Kassia are staying:

Work, work, work!

Another post about two kinds of work, art and kids.

Yesterday was my weekly gig with Alexandra and Arthur, with whom i play and speak English for two and a half hours. Alexandra and i are like two peas in a pod, and we get along famously even when we don't understand each other. Although, when i tell her i don't understand her, she often says with frustration, "Jopé!" (DARN it) with LOTS of emphasis on the "h" sounding j. She is charming. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for me to understand her brother, with his 3-year-old's version of Spanish, but Alex "translates" (from Spanish to Spanish). Arthur is usually with his mom or at a playgroup for at least part of the time, so often it is just me with Alex, much to my relief. Arthur is a volatile child who likes to be at the center of attention all the time, and when he's not he can react quite violently, throwing things with wild abandon and biting. Luckily i have started to figure out how to handle the two of them together. Yesterday the solution was two harmonicas. I will miss these kiddos a lot when i go.

Today i finished my project for the Expressa't exhibition. This is an annual exhibition that Metafora participates in, in conjunction with the Ambit Dona resource centre, for World Aids Day. The title of the exhibition means express yourself, in Catalan. All of the works are a response to or a commentary on HIV/AIDS, and i'm really excited to be a part of this. Here's the piece i'm submitting, minus the installation component (yes, i, the painting snob, have made an installation piece):



And here's what i wrote about it:

I chose to focus on joy. Though my project began with a very important element of collective oppression, as my paper people came to life, they were undeniably dancing. So i decided to liberate them instead and let them wind their way freely through the space. Though i also experimented with a mulitcolored set of figures, i chose to make all the silhouettes red, to more intentionally represent the HIV/AIDS community. As i finished the piece, i worked more deliberately to let the figures dance, and i based many of the images on forms from dance around the world, as well as trying to capture casual movements that the average person makes during the day. Some of the figures are very sensitive and emotionally expressive, others are more still, and each one genuinely seems to have an individual personality! The message has become one of hope, a celebration of the resilience of humanity in the face of whatever we may face. Suspended in the air on a lightweight thread, they are always slightly moving, and always connected to each other.

My plan is to install this piece in a spiral or circular manner. I'm quite excited about it, people really respond to them, though i wonder if the response will be different in a gallery setting.

And here's a painting i finished today:



The photo doesn't represent the color very well, it's represented better in this slightly out of focus detail.

Tomorrow i am hoping to go to the nearby community to work in the garden, and then i have my second and likely final acupuncture appointment, which i am very excited about. Our next round of projects is due next week, so i need to get cracking on that, and we will be installing and opening Expressa't. All my "to-do" stuff wraps up next Friday, which is good timing, because that's the night that Ethan arrives!

Images from My Project

So i heard complaints that the images on the .pdf weren't visible enough, and that the .pdf was inaccessible. So here is a .jpg of the statement, and here are the three images discussed therein.

First Critique at Metafora

Yesterday i gave my first presentation for critique at Metafora. It was a little nerve-wracking! We were given the theme of "The Tower of Babel (Culture and Identity)" as the basis for these projects.

My statement, with images included, is here (the link is to download a .pdf file). I got decent responses, there wasn't lavish praise, but nobody trashed me either or asked what the heck i was thinking. I wasn't totally happy with my project - what i said in my presentation was that the anger piece was particularly hard for me to work on, because i'm not angry much these days and it's hard for me to access that emotional place, not to mention that i don't really want to. I feel like in a way i've been there, done that, and to force myself back to it now, without a genuine impetus, would be artificial. I'm happy with the sculpture, which is shown in my statement in full, and the painting, also in the statement, but the collage piece (only a section is shown), i could toss. I like the approach i've taken with the painting, which is the same as a couple of other pieces i've done this semester. Using organic matter to "stamp" onto the page, using cutouts to work with negative space, etc. I really want to keep working with that type of imagery.

However, the next theme coming up is minimalism, and while usually, minimalism does not interest me in the least, i think it will be an excellent vehicle for a certain project that i started conceptually in August. I plan on working with the body casting technique - maybe some projection, too.

I got some very plush corduroy fabric yesterday, to make another pair of pants, and my plan was to cut and pin this weekend so i could jump straight to sewing on Monday, but i brought the wrong pattern home. Boo! I'm so very into the clothes designing at the moment, i hope i continue to have success and inspiration. There is a very upscale fabric store here in Barcelona and going in there is so exciting. They have so much beautiful, lush fabric - i want to pull everything off the shelves and roll around in it. The sequins! The silk! The lace! The pants i already made, while the hem needs to be let down, fit me perfectly and are exactly what i wanted, which i can never find in stores. Very pleased.

Aaaand tomorrow i think i'm going to Segur de Calafell, south of the city, to nanny for a few hours. Yay euros!

Work: Art and Otherwise

(Sigh, this should have been two entries. I'm verbose - where on earth did i get *that* from??)

So, i have a strong desire to not spend *all* of my money in Spain. I'd like to have enough to go to India and Bali and then a little to get set up in Charlottesville for a few months. Jette is the funky way cool director of the art school i'm attending, and after meeting her children i offered her my babysitting services. She immediately said she could send my information to a list of "mummies" that she's connected to in the area, and shortly after she did that, i was flooded with job offers. Hooray! I've taken two; i need time to work in the studio and do yoga and enjoy the city, and with two i'm making 60+ euro a week, which makes my life much more comfortable.

One family lives on the edge of the city. They have two children, and i work with their daughter, Alexandra, primarily. She's five, and precocious and adorable. Her favorite movie is the Little Mermaid. We get along famously. Their mother is very insistent that i only and always speak English. The first day i was working with Alex, she was tenaciously trying to teach me Spanish, asking me to say names of colors and animals - the same approach i was using in English! It's hard, using only English when she doesn't always understand (sometimes i cheat and whisper to her in Spanish if i really need to). Her little brother, Arthur, is terribly rambunctious and i can't possibly teach Alex any English if i'm having to wrangle him too, so he stays with his mom while i'm there, mercifully. The first day i was there, she did have me with both of them, and afterwards i thought, "What have i gotten myself into?!?"

The second family i only started with yesterday. They live in Segur de Calafell, which is a 45-minute train ride out of the city. It's kind of a long way, but i like the train, and the air is cleaner there. They also have a daughter and a son, 4 years and 20 months respectively. It was a huge hassle to get there yesterday, with confusion on my part due to omission of detail on the mother's part. Whoops. But i did arrive, and went from the train station to pick up the daughter at a friend's house, where we lingered and lingered while the girls played. The friend's house was up on a hill with an incredible view of sea in the distance - the town is smallish, and tucked in around mountains on the shore, like Barcelona, but without the large valley that Barcelona occupies. At their house, the mother and i sat at the kitchen table and got to know each other. She spoke to me in rapid fire Spanish, and after a while i realized i'd spent the entire day speaking Spanish and that i was understanding and responding well. In other words, having real, adult conversations in Spanish about things other than, how much does this cost? and where is the train station? She's more interested in straight forward childcare than formal teaching English. She said she wants someone with fresh energy and a different cultural background to spend time with her kids, and "if you want to speak some English, great." The town where they live, curiously, is five minutes from Sitges, which is where the Spanish foreign exchange student we had when i was five (i think?) is from.

Here's what i've been working on in the studio. More cutouts, more collage, but evolving. Metafora students are invited every year to participate in an AIDS exhibition in the city. Initially i was not planning on submitting a piece, but i've since had an idea (inspired by my chicken-wire collage!) and so i'm currently researching and sketching. I've got a pretty good visual brainstorm going. I think.

Here's the final (ha) version of the dancing ladies:



This piece directly inspired by my yoga teacher, likely not the final version. I was so excited about the yellow paper and now i'm that i'm using i'm less than enthused about the results.



Same deal with this one, the yellow paper cut-outs, i believe, have got to go. I've pulled them off since this picture:



Oh yeah, ick. Those should not come back. Anyway, moving on...



No idea what will go between the trees.

I'm quite excited about this painting below. I used a hand-printing technique that didn't go quite as i'd planned, but i liked the way it turned out anyway. I used the sheela-na-gig pattern from the other piece to create negative space, as well as leaves and organic material collected from a nearby park. After the printing part, i used the leaves as a stamp. To take care of my aversion to white paper these days, i brushed over the whole thing with a tint when i was finished.



This one i made with a similar hand-printing technique, but i used a jar, and then more leaf-stamps afterwards. I am soooo rebelling against what i learned in painting class at Centre. Or maybe i'm building on it. Yeah, that's it, evolving... Whatever, i like it quite a lot, maybe even enough to let the paper around it stay white.



I'm floating the idea of the sheela cut out on this one, too. I just love her! Though maybe the dancing lady would be better on that one...



And here's my latest effort. The leaves i used to "stamp" onto the pages with looked so pretty i couldn't just toss them, so they became this:



I'm still figuring out how to get the wire to stay. Sew it to the paper, probably.

Don't worry, i can still draw people.

Finding a Routine

School has started in earnest now, we're through the introductory phase and workshops began this week. I'm sitting in on the figure drawing workshop, so i can take it or leave it as i please, since i already have a lot of experience with it. Yesterday i took body casting, which was absolutely incredible! Today i took welding, which i stayed for about a third of and then got too freaked out to stay. Did you know that the mask you have to wear when you weld doesn't allow you to see anything but the light from the welding machine? I had no idea. Noooo thank you. Cutting the steel was bad enough, sparks flying everywhere and crazy noise... I think that part of the call of art for me is the kinesthetic sense i get of putting pencil to paper, paintbrush to pain, and, though i've mostly avoided 3-D art, even fingers to clay (or plaster, these days).

So i fled the welding shop to the safety of my own studio, and continued working on the stuff i already had started. I've loved working with collage so far, and i did more of it today. As i've mentioned, i'm working with the theme of the body. I thought i'd posted some pieces already, but i realize i haven't! Ah yes, i said the next entry was going to be about the art exhibits i've seen. Oops, oh well. So -

This is the first shape i worked with, a dancing lady. I love this figure, it's joyful, sensual, and unabashed. Originally this lady was part of a whole row on white paper, but the others got altered:



For some reason i've gotten quite averse to working on stark white paper, and i've been using a lot of brown paper bags, of all things. Here's the rest of the dancing ladies, which where originally on white:



I got really annoyed with the white and filled the space quickly and without thinking too hard about it, and really screwed it up, so i cut out the parts i liked and put it on the brown paper. Since that photo, other elements have been added and it looks more finished, but i don't seem to have a photo of it.

This piece is yoga-inspired. It began as this and evolved to this:



The text around the figures in the original is a sutra from a yogic text, the Vijnana Bhairava, that i study as part of my teacher training. It says:

"The flowers, the candles, the honey
that are offered in worship are
made out of the same divine stuff as you.
Who then is worshipped?"

I haven't added it back into the second version, but i will.

This little piece was inspired by the pre-Christian figure of Sheela-Na-Gig, predominately found in Ireland:



It was quite an evolution, getting the composition right. It started here, then i tried this. Neither of those worked for me, so i moved on, and ended up with the one you see above. Actually, looking at the four versions, i'm not sure which i like better. The figures aren't glued down yet, so i can still change my mind. Suggestions?

This piece is less related directly to the body theme, but i love it:



After the body casting workshop, i did a cast of my own torso, which was an amazing experience. I love the way it turned out, but, um, it's kind of like me naked from the waist to collarbone, so i'm just going to link it instead of posting the image. This is what the texture of the surface is like:



I have very exciting plans for that one, though.

So i've been buzzing along and working a lot, i'm very excited about my cut-outs and collages, though they're very, very different from anything i've ever worked on before. Because of the training i've had, i have this concept that art should be hard and should take a long time to realize. Most of these pieces have taken a couple of sessions of two hours or so, but i'm really happy with them and would put them under glass as they are, and feel good about showing them. That's a very radical feeling for me!

Also, feedback is very welcome.

A Spanish Sunday

Left to my own devices, with no work schedule or meetings on the weekends, it amazes me how fast i'll switch to a nocturnal rhythm. Friday night i was up until 4 AM, Saturday until 5 AM. This isn't helped by the fact that the people i really miss and want to talk online with are around, because it's a reasonable hour for them. Anyway, despite my late night last night, i was able to get up by 1 PM and out of the house to do something by 3ish.

The first Sunday of every month, the Picasso museum is free, so i went there. I loved it last time i was in Barcelona, but this round, i was rather disappointed. As a general rule, i think Picasso is overrated, but i love the Blue Period stuff, and he was quite a skilled portraitist, before he got into Cubism. And of course, it's flooring that he produced so much exhibition worthy work before he was 15. I love Cézanne's version of Cubism, but Picasso's is so flat, it's like looking at a math problem. Which, of course, works for some people. Anyway, i think they rotate their permanent collection, because i didn't see any of the portraits that bowled me over before, and their representation of the Blue Period was quite small. That's not how i remembered it, i wonder if they have stuff out on loan as well. Anyway, i'm glad i went, and i'm glad i went on a free admission day!

The museum is in one of the oldest parts of the city, in the area of the Barri Gótic and El Born. It's extremely intriguing there. The streets are impossibly narrow and the buildings are tall, so it gives a real sense of being in a maze. I even passed some frustrated American exclaiming, "How do we get out of this rat trap?!" I spent a couple of hours wandering pleasantly around, enjoying first an espresso, then a peach twice the size of my fist, and then vegan gelato. I sat on a corner on Via Laietana, between El Born and La Rambla, enjoying my ice "cream" and watching people and pigeons. Then i hopped on the metro and went to the beach :)

It just hit me today that i can go to the ocean whenever i want to, and how good for me that is. I spent most of Saturday sleeping or online, and when i did go out late in the afternoon, i felt tired and lost. I was missing Ethan and Angie in particular and woke up in a funk today also. The caffeine, the sugar, and the wandering helped a lot, but as soon as i put my toes in the ocean and felt the pull and release of the tides, i really felt myself relax. It's still warm enough to swim, and will be for a while, so i intend on making the most of it while i can. I went to a different beach today, not far from the one i visited before, just on the other side of the port, Port Vell. It wasn't far, but it was a lot different! The sand was coarser and had more rocks, and the water was cloudier. After i swam, i sat there, listening to the seas around me - one (obviously) of water, the other of myriad languages and voices. Sometimes it amazes me that i made it here. It seems almost like a dream that i sat for hours and hours in JFK and flew to Iceland and was in Paris - yet here i am. I'm quite proud of myself!

I'm not doing a very good job of keeping a consistent practice. My yoga practice flares up every now and then, i'm eating kind of erratically, sleeping odd hours. I know good and well that it's important for me to have a consistent schedule, and that it's probably the most important thing for me to take time every day to get into my body, whatever form that may take - yoga, dance, poi, and to meditate regularly and eat mindfully, and i'm just not doing it, and it's showing in my volatile moods. I know my art will be better, too, if i can keep a consistent practice. Hopefully it will be easier with only a 15 minute commute to school.

Which i'll be making again tomorrow! They're introducing the first theme - The Tower of Babel - though i've already decided what theme i'm working with, which is fine they said for "more mature" artists. Tuesday i have my welcome interview, when i'll get assigned my personal tutor.

Someday i'll write about the art exhibits i saw at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Also, interior apartment pictures coming soon, as soon as i clean my room. Er...

School!

It's great! I'm so delighted. There seems to be a fantastic balance between guided work and free studio time. OH. And.

I HAVE MY OWN STUDIO I HAVE MY OWN STUDIO I HAVE MY OWN STUDIO

I am already putting up a mural of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of creativity, water, the arts, and flow. And really, i've taken pictures now, so i'll post them tomorrow or later tonight.

I really like the people in my class so far, there are a few who seem like possibly good close friends, especially the guy whose studio is right next to mine. There are a few burners here, too, which i was stunned and pleased to discover. There are about 15 nationalities among ~35 people, not including the teachers.

The teachers seem fantastic, and really set on treating us like adults (Jette, the director of the school was describing their non-vertical philosophy of students and teachers). Piotr, a Polish painter (say that three times fast), is likely to be my individual tutor.

The educational structure is a module format. There are different workshops on different days. There are 132 hours of workshops offered, and they ask us to choose 40-60. They offer everything from basic welding and clothing design to introductory figure drawing. I'm currently planning on taking Body Molding, Basic Welding, Screen Printing, Textiles/Introduction to Fibres, Basic Clothes-Making, Molding/Casting, Graphic Design, Textures in Painting, Painting the Human Figure, and Portfolios/Grants/Sponsorships. I'm also planning on doing a project with Polaroid emulsion, which i did in high school and loved and haven't made the time or opportunity to do again. I'll probably also sit in on the basic figure drawing workshop, to get a review and re-teach my hands.

Yesterday i was feeling purposeless and bored and homesick. Now i'm excited and while i still miss folks back home, i'm sure this was the right decision. Looking at the spring curriculum, i'm somewhat disappointed that i'm not staying the whole year.

Now i'm off to the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, to see the Nancy Spero exhibit. Nancy Spero was a pioneer of feminist art, and while i often don't like art with a specific political agenda, i saw some of her work at the MoMA New York, and it positively stunned me. So i'm looking forward to it!

On My Way

On Wednesday, i left Twin Oaks, where i've lived since May of last year, to go to Cleveland with my boyfriend Ethan to meet his family. After three lovely days there, i'm currently on the train to New York City, where i'll languish in JFK International Airport for hopefully not more than a couple of days while i'm waiting to get a standby flight to somewhere in Europe. I'm embarking on this endeavor on a shoestring, so i'm stretching my money as far as I can – and a standby ticket, roundtrip, is only $550! This girl can sit in an airport. I'm good at amusing myself. Just another part of the adventure...

When I get to Barcelona, i'll be living with an ex-member of Twin Oaks. I'm so grateful for the world-wide network that community creates; all I have to do is ask a few people, “Hey, who do we know in... Barcelona? New Zealand? Germany? Africa?” and i'll get answers! She technically lives in Sant Boi, which is somewhat outside the city, about 6.5 miles (time to start thinking in kilometers!) from Metafora. I'm hoping to get a bike or figure out how to jump the turnstiles, because Barcelona's metro system, while very clean, safe, and efficient, is quite expensive.

I'll be in Barcelona for the fall semester, which ends on December 11th. I'll spend the rest of that month in Barcelona with some friends from Twin Oaks (members of my “framily” - Angie, Paxus, Hawina, Willow, maybe Sky and Kassia, hopefully Ethan). Angie and I will spend Christmas with one of her dearest friends, either in Belfast or in Morocco if we're lucky. After that, i'll go to France to stay near Paris with some family friends, doing English tutoring to replenish my funds and increase my fluency in French.

In March, my brilliant and amazing yoga teacher, Shiva Rea, will be teaching classes on yoga and Ayurveda in India, and further yoga and philosophy classes in Bali at this amazing sustainable Waldorf/Steiner school, the Green School, so if I can stretch my cash far enough, i'll be joining her there. The Green School has a volunteer program, so if I like it there I may stay for a month or so.

I'm nervous and excited. I'm sad to be leaving Ethan and Angie, other friends and a beloved and stable home at Twin Oaks. I'm excited to live in a city, and meet new people and get back in touch with my spontaneous creativity, which i nearly lost all sight of in the midst of the more formal art education of Centre (which i value tremendously). I'm thrilled at the idea of experiencing India and a whole 'nother continent that i've only dreamed about.

My goals are to be as open as i can to the experience as a whole, the people i'll encounter and the new opportunities that will arise, while at the same time honoring and holding space in my heart for what's already there. This semester is like test-driving graduate school, to find out if it's something I want to pursue more seriously, and to find my own rhythm as an artist. I'm looking down other paths and places and seeing if there are other directions that fit me better. After i come back to the US, i'm hoping to explore the West Coast and see what's there. Hey, if i get to Bali, i might as well just come on around the whole thing, right?

Let the adventure begin!