Girl With Red Skirt

Persephone has mounted her gentle elephant, on the trail to rescue pure hope, navigating away from naysayers. It all comes down to uncurling that toe.

SHE_or 10,000 Birds Die Each Year From Smashing Into Windows

10,000 Birds Die Each Year From Smashing Into Windows.

I am the bird.
I fly into glass all the time.
I am wrong to think there is no glass, no barriers.
I close my eyes
And need to rest.

I only see free.
And worms.
Didn’t see it coming.
Am I a fool or is the glass no barrier at all but presentiment
Of my soul.

Oh, God it hurts to think I
Entered the wrong way.
And met the wrong fates.
Afraid to jump into your arms.
Afraid to spread my own.
Eyes clasping reality.
But my heart soars without sturdy caution.
I, too, fly. Am bird.
j. sigunick March, 2009

"She" was installed on the campus of SUNY Ulster, May 18th - an invitational: STEPPING OUTdoors2. Other artists include Martin Olstad, Woody Pirtle, Tim Rowan and Ed Smith. Opening reception is at the Stone Ridge Campus on September 11th, 2009.

ART MATTERS: Grace Knowlton

Why do you want to draw what you already know? The best you can get, that way, is accuracy, which is boring. Allow yourself to be surprised; risk learning something. If you get too good at this technique, switch to your left (or other) hand and/or put a paper bag over your head, and turn around 3 times before you start. (Excerpted from “How to Draw Wrong” by Grace Knowlton)


How do you dare to rethink what you already, positively, know? When you encounter piles of dirt on your morning pooch walk, why not just walk on by? It’s dirt. Well, if you are Grace Knowlton, there is no way you could contain the gasp while intrigued by the mound of earthy stuff most likely destined for a cement mixer towards construction of the foundation of a new (people) home. No matter that the destruction of trees will disturb a vital ecological system. (And the seed munching birds who will have difficulty adapting to other flavored seeds of the neighboring trees will slowly disappear) For now, never mind to that tragedy. Here, I only speak about Art.
Grace Knowlton came home from her walk that day and set about creating a body of work that lasted for years. Drawings, paintings, ceramic sculptures got created – all representing, from her unique mind’s eye perspective, dirt piles! Intrigued by unconstrained possibilities – the imagery of “mound–iness” which emerged from a practically reverential escapade of accomplishments in her studio – Grace set about ascribing all sorts of meaning to her one time encounter along a Hudson River path in Palisades, New York.
“I thought I’d seen God in that pile of dirt”, she told writer Anna Hammond. “ Either that or I lost my cotton-picking mind”. Even if she did lose her mind, she earned it back in a relentless pursuit of finding meaning (possibly enlightenment) in dirt mounds.

First there are the things we know and can see and touch and when it comes to construct this reality, it’s straight thinking or sequential. Then there is nature –“where things do not happen in sequences, but all together….transcends intellectual thinking…
Excerpted from “The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism” by Fritjof Capra.

Frankly, I think Grace did see something mystical in that dirt pile. It’s clear when you walk into her home and studio (one of several on her grounds), full of work on the walls, floors, shelves, stairs, even (or maybe especially) her guest bathroom. Inside/ outside merge, in a natural way, through large windows framing enormous to smaller spheres rigorously incorporated within rolling grassy fields.
Wait! What about the birds?
To experience Knowlton’s work is to enter a realm of simultaneity and infinite potential: such as, the unity of all opposites, the exceptions to traditional thinking and protocol, the binding of three dimensional surfaces with two dimensional concepts, and the memorable images of every place she has visited.
Metaphorically speaking, Grace gives us an eyeful of ideas regarding all manners of orderly and disorderly life and a bank of architectural constructs to consider– like photographs of wooden chairs for example.(exhibited 2007 in the Ellenville Regional Hospital) What is she talking about in her closed spherical forms (exhibited 2006 in the 10x10x10 Ellenville Storefront Exhibition) whose footprints are a mere tap on the ground? Or what of the humpy mounded shapes, chock full of weight, unashamedly sprawled on shelves? Are these visual reminders of our fragile birth, or suggestion of safe haven for birds, our babies, our memories and dreams, our anythings? Sometimes we make things out of wood because that is the way it’s done, because it’s beautiful and strong and plentiful, for the moment. Sometimes we refer to wood in art because it’s either endangered or connected to something broader than it’s mere singularity. I think all of Grace’s work does this. It is never just itself. It’s us and the birds and the fragile sounds of many voices saying different and important things. It’s the sky and the earth squeezing us together, like maybe inside one of those 4 ‘ spheres Storm King Art Center commissioned in the ‘70’s. And there is Grace, considering it all and continuously developing an artistic language telling us what she thinks.
Outside of her art, Grace’s daily life gets woven into her work and vice versa. (While traveling cross country with her daughter, she collected dirt and other detritus in plastic baggies) Inside of her studio, is a palpable regard for harmonious-ness and while putting precious decay together within a well tuned, vastly rehearsed, formalistic art practice, we, the audience, get to go our own interpretive way while fused to her intense collection of memory and abstraction.
Grace Knowlton lives and works in Snedens Landing, Palisades, NY. Besides teaching at the Art Students League, exhibiting widely, her works are in collections such as
Yale University Art Gallery, Storm King Art Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Omi, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Mobil Corporation and much more. Check out her website: www.graceknowltonart.com. It is well worth the trip to a solo exhibition of her sculpture, drawings and photography at the Lesley Heller Gallery 16 East 77th Street in Manhattan through February 9th. Call 212 410 6120 for gallery hours.

ART MATTERS: Tim Rowan

Rowan is a ceramic artist of distinction. His devotion to finding local clays and arduous firing techniques and the way he approaches life give a depth of integrity to his work not often found in ceramics today….(Ceramics: Art and Perception, Chris Staley)

I drive down a ridiculously long driveway in Stone Ridge, far from the world of galleries, dealers, art fairs and money exchanges to a place of trees, rocky fields, snowy paths and suspended time. Nothing fake or pretentious, so there are no surprises when Tim declares a personal disconnect from a theory-centric contemporary art world. His overriding desire to stay connected to his land, his own fertile imagination and creative processes is non-negotiable to anyone, but himself.
Altogether, his land in Stone Ridge resonates with a bee- like focused production: Randomly scattered about his studio and kiln area are boldly carved, heavy wood fired ceramic sculptures with surfaces reminiscent of mountains wanting to be scaled (if you are quite tiny and curious, like an insect). The pithiest of his abstract works resemble industrial tools and parts of excavation equipment that converts dirt into useable resources for architectural and cultural development.
Entering a cottage sized studio, warm, quiet and cozy, settling next to his well mannered cat, one sweeping glance of his work reminds me of a highly charged incubation chamber with works full of promise and much more to come. Plainly, his coaxing and carving from blocks of clay, with a unique archaeological appearance, implies remarkable devotion to his work , to the principles of regeneration , and ultimately, I suspect, to natural cycles and sustainable living on planet Earth. Mostly his clay is dug in New Jersey, chosen for it’s firing tolerance at mid range, unlike the low range earthenware of Hudson Valley clay. He collects and stacks local wood for firing his Japanese style anagama kiln one year prior to his “big deal” semi annual event.

What I love about Tim’s work is the non-persuasiveness of it – no annoying necessity to be smarter than nature, or me. It’s not trying to teach, cajole or trick. His imagination is powerful and the rich textures and relics imbedded from earth, ash and who knows what puts our own imaginative powers to task.
Process is essential to my work and begins with…clay…using clays from the local area locates me in a specific place……serves to keep me in tune with an earth centered and geological time. The forming process, working on multiples and repetitively is not unlike growth in nature.
( Tim Rowan)

But wait! What about a theme. Shouldn’t this work be about something –a (restrictive) narrative or an (unwelcome) intellectual game? Well, obviously I don’t think so. I mean, look at whale skin and see the history of the sea and the goings on of the giant squid evidenced by repetitive sucker marks – or an elephant’s cracked hide and see the rhythms of extreme weather conditions in the African savannahs– or antiquities frozen in limestone, the remarkable fingerprints and paintings on prehistoric cave walls. Look at Tim Rowans work. They could be relics or shed light on some revelatory events back in 21st century: our very local Vly – an especially beautiful place in the back woods of Stone Ridge. These sculptures bear witness to a seven day drama – a collaboration of artist, fire and ceramic ware and we get to remember, as if we were there.

In life, the visible surface of the Sperm Whale is not the least among the many marvels he presents….I should say that those New England rocks on the sea coast, which Agassiz (1837 scientist) imagines to bear the marks of violent scraping contact with vast floating icebergs….such scratches in the whale are probably made by hostile contact with other whales….. (Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”)

On your way to Cohen’s Bakery, you will probably see Tim working at 10 Market Street on a new body of work, as our first resident artist at our new art center, and later this month he will demonstrate his process and present a slide show as an open studio event – free to the public. Look for an announcement.


Tim Rowan received a B.F.A. from SUNY New Paltz, in 1992, then studied with Bizen potter, Ryuichi Kakurezaki,in Japan, returning in 1994 to the U.S He earned his MFA at Penn State in 1999, and was an artist in residence at the Archie Bray Foundation. Currently, he exhibits widely across the country and is represented by 4 galleries. Upcoming exhibition of his work can be seen at SOFA Chicago, May 29th 2008. Visit his website at www.timrowan.com for work samples and updates of shows.

Judy Sigunick
Feb. 2, 2008


.

ART MATTERS: Apexart Welcomes Dorothy Amenuke

What fascinates me most is the way people move brusquely, as though being chased by an unknown force. Probably they are really being chased; but by what? Work? Job? But they seem to be moving forward, probably towards Work or Job. so where stands the work or job to be chasing them? So does this situation leave individuals unconcerned about what goes on around them? (Artist Dorothy Amenuke, Apexart blog)

Apexart is not an ordinary gallery. First, it’s non profit. Second, artists from around the globe are invited to engage in a sort of “seek and you shall find” experience, generously supported by gallery owner, Steven Rand. International artists are selected through recommendation, arrive in a time lapsed sort of experiential tailspin where the stated hope is about stimulating public dialogue about contemporary art and “enriching the cultural landscape of New York City” (www.artingeneral.org). Through Apexart Director of Operations, Kerri Schlottman and assistant, Matt Hackett (Vassar Alumni) the program’s Oct. 07 artist found her way to Upstate New York.

What’s this about - discouraging the promotion of your work in NYC, I wondered, and “oh well” for Dorothy Amenuke that a residency explicitly supports neither work nor it’s promotion, yet brings you into the art hot spot of the world. Moreover how absurd to find on her resume something like:

• Hopelessly isolated, out of sorts at JFK airport without direction or a guide. Leads to profound shift in (assumed) personal strength and cultural boundaries. 11/2007.

• Collided, in Manhattan street, with a moveable rack of clothing in the garment district when ideas of floating textiles, women’s issues and contemporary manufacture practices sparked internal dialogue, informing next body of work. 11/2007.

Dorothy Amenuke is an accomplished artist from Ghana and until October 2007 had never been outside of her home country. She was selected as an Apexart International Resident; broadly, the intention being “to experience the activities and individuals who are both relatable and doing substantial work in an effort to inform their (her) work rather than promote it.” Hence forward she sets about to “inform” herself: Museums, NYC subways and restaurants, galleries and continual string of happenstances, and then - travel to the Midwest. Dorothy finds her way Upstate NY and into my Cragsmoor home searching for camaraderie of fellow artists, visits to studios, art’s organizations and galleries up the Hudson.

We had two days.
Off we went to meet artists, because, in New York City, where could you possibly find them? Firstly, we were led on a guided tour of Women’s Studio Workshop and their artist book production facilities and ceramics studios (including lunch). Next stop was stimulating conversation and tea with Jeff Shapiro, ceramic artist in Accord, a tour of his Japanese style anagama kiln, studio and work. We then traveled South on 209, ending up in the studio/ foundry of local Ellenville artist Matt Pozorski with a generous and frank discussion developed amongst the two artists, including low cost and efficient metal casting techniques, angels, women in art and more. A brief stroll through Ellenville and the upcoming MarketStreet Art Center, exchanges of visions for innovative teaching strategies, community life and the arts, and up to Cragsmoor we went.

Here is where we relax, meander through the Cragsmoor Bleakley house/ hotel, a.k.a. my family home, visits to our painting, sculpture and photo studios. Offering her encaustic wax for experimenting in Ghana, as many issues of Sculpture Magazine as manageable on a plane, she later gifted me the beaded necklace around her neck. Perfect.

The next morning and a speeding ticket later (Dorothy and Judy talking non-stop) we walked into Pollich-Tallix Foundry in Beacon, not simply a fabrication facility, but more resembles a laboratory with shelves and floor space crowded by artists’ work in varying stages of the casting and fabrication process – out of context, gallery-speaking - asking nothing uncomfortable or demanding of the viewer – a situation of pure inspiration for Dorothy. Before leaving, the foundry happened to do a small bronze pour. Perfect. No less perfect was breakfast at Homespun in Beacon, with it’s perfect coffee, delicious home made granola parfaits and ginger scones, where we met up with Jill Reynolds (Ellenvlle's 10x10x10 artist). In the evening, Second Saturday Beacon was full up of opportunities to meet other artists and gallery openings.

We talked endlessly.

Ghanaian artist, educator, and current Apexart resident Dorothy Akpene Amenuke will discuss her work and its cultural context with Judy Sigunick, artist and arts community organizer in the Hudson Valley. The discussion will explore the boundaries between art and life, women's art, and the distinct contemporary art communities of Ghana and New York. (www.apexart.org)

And the talk continued in Manhattan.

Time is an essential component in my work, she states. Because my process is laborious, my sculptures…embody the time taken to create them…and the act of making art painstakingly every day is important to my practice, stemming from my interest in devotion to everyday responsibilities. (D. Amenuke)

She boarded a plane the day after our gallery talk, back to her husband and two children, and her newly appointed faculty position (first woman in Ghana) where she will teach contemporary and fiber art. Next stop for Dorothy was Egypt, Dwayer’s International Workshop for Women that month. Continuing the relation between textiles, Ghanaian culture and women’s issues and it seems that hers’ is not merely a lifestyle of making art, teaching and raising a family, but of detangling complex ideas and social networking, as well.

ART MATTERS:Steve Rossi and the Power of Standing Still

Some think that if we stand still long enough, history will eventually revisit us, and , barely, will we need to revise anything. Well, maybe the conclusions and some of the codes change, for example, the military updating of it’s targets and capabilities, predictable “fashion” shifts, the nutritional benefits of coffee now geared towards cancer prevention with free radical additives. At times, scientific inquiry is not impressively reassuring when certain discoveries rock back and forth like a wooden horse.

Here they come again: world wars and religious conflicts , short skirts, the human figure as a popular image in art, the strength of family and community concepts, possibly cave dwelling and horse and buggy if oil prices rise beyond $4.00 per gallon. We validate time honored homeopathy, acupuncture and herbal treatments and consider their inclusion into medical benefits.

Time certainly doesn’t stand still, so, away we go, making new (better) money, new (better) forms of art, new (better) wild grown herbal remedies, new (you get the idea) hybrids of just about everything, new wars, new sciences, coffee with added antioxidants so that it looks like it’s honestly healthy and new devices to connect to email. (which is where you discover this health packed coffee formula) Even new ways to tell about the same old thing, but better.

So when I walked up the stairs on Main Street in Beacon, NY to the spacious artist loft of Steve Rossi and his partner, Sue Rossi, also an artist, it was deja vu over clothed mannequins in the corner of his studio – a family of three – standing still. Powerfully standing still. Hints of post war America: army style clothing sold in Target Stores, storefront mannequins right out of a 50’s TV screen- frozen American dreams, promising to always be there for us, just for the asking. Exhibited in other parts of his studio was a “carpet” style Islam mosaic pattern composed of Fruit Loops (yummy stuff forbidden in the artist’s household by a cautious and protective mom). Suspended from the ceiling was a piece titled 46 Degrees, consisting of a bunch of View-Master toys, through which the audience can see broadcast news and advertising images.

Where am I? Toy store? Peter’s Market cereal section? Dominican Republic sweat shop? Back in Vietnam? A childhood full of pretend war games or Chuck Norris films? Is this a fashion show or a portentous display, warning us that we best be hiding from – who? – ourselves? Is it a display of optimism: war struggles evolving into entertainment, fashion and economic gain? Rossi demonstrates a perplexing and provocative style, while creating a common childhood story through his grown up awareness. If only we could all go back and rethink everything we were taught- before we went to art school. Steve’s studio is a gently poignant reminder to think and re-think with your whole being. And not just that, but to step outside of your ego by incorporating photos of neighbors, fabricating for other artists, inviting other local artists to exhibit in your studio (gulp), teach workshops and to embrace multiple identities within the scope of your work. He does all this. It’s a rich experience of potential discovery.

Okay I’m getting a bit carried away, but Steve Rossi’s art shakes the ideas supporting an American “dream” of personal and political freedoms. He speaks in icons: camouflage, children’s war games, Andy Warhol and popular consumerism. His use of humor to talk about political covert subversive strategy on the part of political leaders, intends, I imagine to pry open a dialogue about how to stop killing each other. Or at least, bring attention to the fact that we still are.

Rossi’s work is neither utilitarian nor is it consumer oriented. It is thoughtful, somewhat labyrinthian in concept, and moderately obscure (unless you grew up in Pennsylvania in the mid to late 80’s etc.).

In support of his desire to be a resident artist in Ellenville , Steve has proposed a 5 day workshop project for the MarketStreet Art Center. His subject is a 1955 automobile hood ornament which “bears a striking resemblance to a fighter jet, creating connections between automobiles, oil consumption, consumerism and military mite.” He continues his proposal concept:

I'm interested in creating a mobile sculpture out of slip-cast
porcelain automobile hood ornaments… For me, using porcelain
to recreate this object speaks to the vulnerabilities many feel,
especially in this Hudson Valley area, where the manufacturing base
has collapsed and people still living in this area are wondering what
sort of economic systems will be coming in to replace the industry
base, if any.

Steve grew up in Pittsburgh, was a young, avid skateboarder, and discovered an art talent while designing T-shirts for his athletic team. Meanwhile his dad’s employment as a general contractor offered him a working knowledge of construction and materials. An excellent high school art program pointed him to the Corcoran School of Art where he studied painting., before he went on to Pratt and, finally SUNY New Paltz to earn an MFA.

“Dad didn’t quite understand the non-utilitarian aspect of art making” claimed Steve. But validation went hand in hand with his Masters of Fine Arts show and a solo at the
Carbon14 Gallery in Philadelphia a few years later. You will find him, these days, at the Pollich-Tallix Foundry in Newburgh where he is involved in the fabrication and assembly of castings for well known artists including Tom Otterness and Louise Bourgeois.

ART MATTERS: Carla Aumick C

Carla B. Aumick: 1988 - 2007

Growing up I learned to convert abstract ideas into pictures as a way to understand them. I visualized concepts such as peace or honesty with symbolic images…peace as a dove, an Indian peace pipe, or TV ….footage of the signing of a peace agreement. (Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures)


Temple Grandin, PhD, animal scientist, designer of one third of the livestock-handling facilities in the United States wrote a remarkable book in which she closes a gap between humans and animals, describing her ability to identify problems and come up with solutions by “Thinking in Pictures - the title of her book. In her wisdom as a knowledgeable scientist and autistic person, Grandin’s research towards humane practices for farm animals coupled with an ability to solve problems of cattle behavior parallels a similar approach artists take towards solving problems of complex thoughts and emotions, design and communication strategies. Describing herself as a “visual thinker” Grandin says, “I could only understand the world in that way ."


This is not a story about Temple Grandin, but about a young 19 year old adult, Carla Aumick. Although she was not autistic, Carla developed her own visual vocabulary exposing a long, detailed, sometimes dark thread of personal and social inquiry. Her drawings and paintings have been aptly recognized for their excellence by teachers, parents and friends. She was on a road to accomplishment amongst the world of artists, but more then that, like Temple Grandin, her imagery was informed by a unique vision while resolving ideas and problems into pictures. We all know this: Adolescence is an intriguing, albeit conflicted time of life – more in some and less in others. But whether or not we are children, whether or not we can associate with the root source of a painting, whether or not we support or even value art in it’s highest manner of expression, it’s hard to look away from heartfelt work influenced by its maker’s poignant search for life’s meanings. Like the art work of Carla Aumick.

To tell the truth she was just a little kid, tirelessly making images on paper, creating things as personal expression, exploring her relationships in the world without getting entirely tangled up in a “norm”. Such is the challenge for many art students. My guess is Carla was trying, the best way she had learned, to narrow the gap between worlds: cultural worlds, imaginary worlds, hers and parental worlds, individuality and the world of her schools and, cruelest of all, the rigid social world of all manners and expectations of conformity.

She was one of our hopefuls, weaving art work, culture and personal matters through a steady support (thanks to her parents) of private art tutoring. How was young Carla so strong to rock the boat of mediocrity? Carla was a student of art at our time of global, corporate driven mass production which (ridiculously) values and pays out handsomely for each of us (artists), if we actually become art stars and can manage to be “marketed” as “secure investments”. This is what is ‘hot’ in art: wars, cultural divides, endangerments of our planet and all species thereof, gender issues, economic debates, questions of beauty, and, the historically recurring debate of “what is art?”.

In Carla meets the World on Her Own Terms, an exhibition I would vote to produce in the future, why would these rules even matter? It was, and still is, a gift to me, an artist who didn’t spend enough time with Carla, to draw inspiration from her creative fortitude and self –invention.

And, speaking of gifts, my husband recently hands me a book titled “Early Christian Art” -a compilation of works produced in the first two centuries along with the conversion of Constantine the Great…paintings and sculptures “destined to inspire the artists of all lands of Europe and the Near East for nearly 2000 years to come:”. Many names of the artists of these paintings, sculptures and architectural reliefs are unknown or not recorded, but the works bear information typical of a social or religious group. They tell stories. Mostly about God. From the stories, we understand pieces of our history and better yet, we can make it up and be a human link to that history and walk back in time to “greet” our ancestors. As a contemporary “artist-in-the-making”, Carla Aumick”s student art works will some day offer us a “step back” to an important life of beauty and love, conflict and distress, visual maps of a Hudson Valley adolescent remaking a world that (typically, I suppose) never quite fits (unless, of course, you Make It Fit) She was triumphant in closely guarding personal viewpoints, clinging to her rights to think independently, and forming her visions, as a young adult, into paintings. (How young were those widely admired Cave Painters or Aboriginal artists luring a world of artists to come see?)
As a high school student, Carla Aumick’s work was honored through a selection process, by the Bertoni Gallery in Sugar Loaf, NY for inclusion in their 7th Annual Small Works Exhibition in 2006. Her work was also included in the book “The Day Our World Changed: Children’s art of 9/11, a production of NYU Child Study Center and the Museum of the City of New York, published by Harry Abrams.

Carla was killed in an automobile accident, Nov 1st, 2007 in Wallkill, NY, headed towards her nearby home in Pine Bush, NY.