Launching this artist blog, my ‘designer’ tendency is to make it all seem resolved, show only finished works and present the good ideas. However to get past that illusion I’m going to do a post once in a while – what I’m working on – with a snapshot of what is around me that week. I’ll include a few photos and some short explanations.
Things such as;
• what I’m experimenting with
• a new practice I’m trying
• a specific work I am stuck on or have had a breakthrough with
• objects or elements I have found foraging
• a spontaneous idea
Copper wire crochet
Incredible works have been done using copper wire by several artists and one in particular that inspires me was Italian artist and sculptor, Marisa Merz (Arte Povera movement in the 1960’s). I was drawn to work with this material because I saw some images in my mind. I then bought the copper wire and taught myself how to crochet from a few You Tube videos. Using various gauges of wire and sizes of crochet needles, my current idea is to create enough ‘copper material’ so that I can wrap or drape it over things.
Stick stuff on the wall
One thing I do that helps me alot is to put stuff on the wall (like a detective.) My notes, drawings, images of other art or research inspiration. It’s interesting to notice what I decide to put on the wall, how it grows or diminishes and what I see differently over time when I look at it everyday. I highly recommend doing this.
Sculpting wood
It is the first time I am working with wood in this way. I picked up a piece of wood called ‘cedro’ last week in Centro, at a store that has alot of demolition and junk timber. I am working on this project in my sculpture class at EAV Parque Lage (Escola das Artes Visuais) here in Rio.
Foraging embaúba leaves
I love these embaúba leaves but am yet to create a project with them (it’s in the pipeline). The Embaúba tree is native to Brazil and while the tree grows rapidly and has a thin trunk, the leaves can be enormous and when they dry they create many interesting contortions.
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