MICA interview

Here I am again, trying to write this entry under a very tight deadline. So much gets left out….The big story this week is my open house visit to MICA. I think that, based on the impressions I got over the event, that I might have a shot. I had a very positive interview, where I espoused my idea that performance art could be so much better if someone of my sensibilities could produce some. Never mind that I don’t have any real burning desire to do any performance art. But I can see how my tiki/lowbrow aesthetic could be married with performance. In fact, I am already doing that with some of the work I am producing with Trixie. My interviewer said that she would (probably) endorse me as a candidate because I have not only the technical skill, but a grasp of contemporary issues. She also said that I would “shake things up”….So, I think I will take the plunge. This program feels like the right fit at the right time.  Besides, who needs $60,000 laying around anyway….

The next step in the process is to get letters of recommendation, which is a dicey proposition (and a scary one, it has stopped me from even starting applications in the past) because I don’t have any good academic connections lately…I still have a letter from Tom Parish, but for all I know, he could be dead…(as it turns out, he’s not…just retired) I will have to go through my old files to find who else I have asked in the past.

Hearing the students and graduates give their slideshows really gave me a shot in the arm. I can really see penetrating deep into my work, but at the same time I am scared that the “rarefied air” has some poison in it. I like the idea of having a year to absorb the lessons learned from this six week immersion…I think it will keep me from drinking the kool-aid. (Unlike some of the conceptual art cult that seems to be there…) I must stay connected to object making.

The sketchbook has had nothing but words in it. This signals to me that there is a reformulation of strategy going on….Thoughts:

Perhaps a self-portrait with cut paper is the next big jump.

Rigged Carnival games…as performance? Paintings will get caught up in the figure running the game…how to avoid?

Interviewer suggested that I get deeper into research about performance art…is the convergence between my painting and lessons learned from theater really where I want to go?

The other problem is getting ones thoughts organized and in one format! (From sketchbook)

Hillary Spurling---Matisse Biography

…Till next week Cash…

Two days late

I have gotten behind on my weekly update. Here’s the chronology: Finished Trixie Valentines day flyer, finished Noises off set painting, saw Wicked, Lame party at Natasha’s, breakfast at Colorado café, buildings museum, Project Runway, Grocery Shopping, Installed Armoire, Project Runway, Started walking to work, Trixie stops design work on portal, French Indian war on PBS, Portfolio Redesign, Ritz Camera.

That, in a nutshell, are the highlights of my week. What I don’t seem to be able to convey are the profound moments that I had hoped this blog would help recount. I can say this, my upcoming MICA open house/portfolio review, has gotten me thinking about my work. More importantly, what trajectory my work needs to go in. My portfolio has two definite worlds represented. One theater, and one Painting. Most of the painting is not represented Pre-tiki.

Rarefied air

In Project Runway, one of the contestants was making a dowdy postal uniform, and Tim came in and said that it needed to be more fabulous because the judges are used to the “rarefied air” of the professional runway…Transpose this anecdote into the art world, and my “tiki” art, and you have a good idea of the anxiety that I am experiencing. You see, my work is more about seduction with comfortable images and themes. But underneath there is a color sensibility and a caustic subtext. But you have to break through that veneer first. The prejudices that these gatekeepers have against “kitsch” may prevent them from seeing the potential of this mode of artmaking. Additionally, I don’t want to change my work in order to please them, because that has led to a bad place for me in the past.

Time gets away from me again, see you next week…

New Sketchbook

New Sketchbook, blank pages

This week I started a new sketchbook. It is always a bit weird to start a new one, but it gives you a chance to get a fresh perspective on things. One of the first things that got into it is a diagram of the visible universe in relation to the size of the rest of the Universe, and a brief explanation of inflation theory. Which means that Ethan is in town for a conference. I have to report that this diagram (and the conversation that accompanied it) blew my mind…and not in the entirely positive way, either.

I have been busily working on the flyer for the Trixie Little show, a commission that I received on Thursday. I am enthusiastic about the prospects of having two established characters to create situations for, but it couldn’t come at a worse time…This is also the week that painting is moving forward on Noises Off….

New years resolution

New years resolutions have always been a motivator for me. I have resolved to start working out at the gym again. I have done so for the past two days, and I really feel my productivity and energy level increase.

The show at the Warehouse netted four sold paintings. Surprisingly, Lobsterboy bought two, and wants me to design T-shirts for him.

Got really drunk on new years. Realized how much I miss Shaun as a drinking buddy/male bondage monkey…

I sent out designs for the pink rocket to Trixie. She loves it, Ill just have to work out some details…

I am starting to get the itch again for a new set of paintings, but it will need to wait till Noises off finishes. This Saturday begins the painting hell for that show….