The Octopus Swims in All Directions at Once

Couch Update: 12/14/2013

Original post: 

Plugging forward with all my projects. Drawing from life, building from trash, and composing from my head. Is it silly to hope that all these projects will magically converge and present me with a glittering, glorious thesis topic sometime in the next few weeks?

Anyway. UPDATES:

1. COUCH: Here is my cat having some real-life interaction with the couch drawing.

2. BABY COUCH: Annoyed at how fussy the big couch drawing is getting, I painted this, in a few hours, in my studio. I like the feeling of it, even though it's not from a photo.

3. RECYCLING: from the art room

items from the floor at the end of the day

Elementary school + November = Hand Turkey Overload

4. More recycling: Art studio

Little dudes sitting on mountains of debris

Self evident, I think.

Bosch-Style Monster Mash

Update: 12/10/2013 (kitty is not impressed)

Original Post:

I am constantly overwhelmed. Sometimes the multitudes of thoughts and responsibilities swirling around in my head are manageable, but often they come close to reducing me to a quivering ball of goo. Rather than staying in goo-form, I want to express these feelings with my work. So--

I chose Heironymous Bosch's triptych "The Temptation of St Anthony" as compositional inspiration for this new painting. Like Bosch's picture, it will be a triptych, with doors that open to reveal a chaotic and fantastical scene. I made it out of a large piece of chipboard, scored with a knife to fold in the right places. Saint Anthony is shown three times (an example of continuous narrative), tortured by a crowd of monstrous beasts. I am drawing my own fears (and first-world worries such as Pinterest feed updates and Brunch With Friends) in monster form. I'm no saint for sure, but I'm the only protagonist I've got, so I will be shown three places in his stead, surrounded by Creatures Moste Foul:

the inspiration: Bosch's wildly imaginative, hellish landscape 

Part of my interpretation so far. 

close-up of one of the panels

the "doors" of the triptych

One couch. Muchos pastabilities!

Monkeycat weekend

Taking a break from Highbrowishness, I did some old-fashioned Art-For-Enjoyment, inspired by the realization that:

THIS MONKEY LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE MY CAT.

It's called a Diana Monkey. 

Therefore:

Content Crisis

I'm all over the place. That's hardly something new, but halfway into what's supposed to be our last big artmakin' semester before writing a graduate thesis, I wish things felt like they were coming together. I've got autobiographical paintings, monsters, elementary school stuff, recycled experiments... and none of it's working yet. I need to decide what I want to say, what I want to make art about... and in the absence of any certainty there, I ought at least to STICK TO A PLAN!

Artroom culture

kid leftovers

instagrammed!

Chris Ware's Sketchbook

Chris Ware is pretty much the king of exquisite, heart-crunching loneliness. It's even more amazing that he does it with the simplest lines, using a format once widely dismissed as childish and escapist (comic books). I borrowed one of his sketchbooks from the AIB library and the depth of his talent and imagination and his fierce self-loathing resounded like an elephant hitting a gong in my soul...

One piece of Ware's new book, Building Stories. THE COLORS! and he even drew the crumbs...

Adventures in Painting pt.3: canvas time

Update: (August 20th). I probably killed it. Erm...never fear, though! I'm going to make it work... Just trying to figure out what it needs.

Update: Aiming to be braver about color. Looked at Alice Neel for inspiration on painting skin.

Paintings Part 3 (August 8) Acrylic on Canvas: SKA-DOOSH!! Bought some canvas! A punch to the spleen of my gnawing artsnob-insecurity. It's just a beginning-- but hey, a step.

Jon balancing tiger on head while texting after work. Yes, yes I did train my boyfriend to do tricks with stuffed animals.

Adventures in Painting pt.2: acrylic on board

Paintings PHASE 2 (August 6) Acrylic on Chipboard: I wimped out and bought large chipboard rather than canvas. Painting on them was satisfying, though! Unfortunately I didn't prime the surface and they might decompose instantly. Sigh. Les whoops.

(in progress)

(in progress)

Update: blech. I totally ruined the second one. Too fussy and too timid at the same time... Time to put it away for a while and try the canvas. Nope, you're not allowed to see it.

Meetings with Hannah Barrett and David Curcio

First Mentor Meeting (August 5) NYC: Hannah took a look at my stuff and saw humor and melancholy, discomfort with the things I'm drawn to, and an ambivalence/struggle with the isolation of the art world. (She's got me pegged. Simultaneously RESISTING and EMBRACING the art world has been a source of angst lately).

Adventures in Painting pt.1- gouache on paper

Kitty again! In an ugly phase right now.
 I'm thinking about light...

Update: More paintings on paper:

After ComicCon at the ICA

Paintings PHASE 1 (July) Gouache on paper: The idea was to paint scenes from my iphone. Just ordinary moments. Truthfully I'm not wild about 'em. Hoping that Hannah Barrett, my new Mentor, will have some advice!

Antidepressant Robots

Antidepressant Robots:
A.K.A.HAPPYBOTS!

Inspired by the Foldout History of Antidepressants, this little book on the left, I started this series. I'm a grateful consumer of Prozac, with plenty of ambivalent feelings about 'needing' it, and I've often thought that the names for these medications (Xanax, Fluoxitine, Wellbutrin) sound like robots. Therefore:

Lithium and Librium

Nardil and Valium

Prozac and Zoloft

I've made eight so far. The robot design reflects the decade that the drug was released. Made some stamps to look like specific pills, which look okay, but then I ruined it with these over-elaborate label/tags at the bottom.

I'm into the idea, but something's missing in the execution... I'm not happy with them. They need to be either simpler or grungier. I was advised to leave them for a while and think on it. Roger that!