Decisions, An Installation in the Making

(Above: Decisions, An Installation as seen from the doorway into my studio. Below: Details. Click on images to enlarge.)

My installation is growing. It is difficult to photograph. I cannot back away from it for a good shot. It will be part of the annual spring art event in Columbia called Artista Vista. The thirteen artists with studio space at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios always participate with an exhibition. This year, we are calling the show "Personal Grounds".

For me, "personal grounds" is the place each one inhabits as a result of the decisions one makes, the paths one takes, the doors one opens, the keys one turns, and the options one exercises. Some of my keys are accessible; some are not. (The Key to Failure is easy to pick up!) Some are labeled; some are not. I've been asked where I got many of them. I bought many of them last January in Murphys, California. The store has an on-line catalog with a page of antique keys.

Nails are among my favorite symbols. Nails represent sacrifice but also unity. They pierce but also join. Hitting the nail on the head means accuracy, precision; but, if one is "nailed" there is a problem. For me, nails are bittersweet...one of my favorite words. My wrapped, rusted nails
in this installation are for regret, grievances, loss, childhood, nostalgia, and other bittersweet memories....gone but not forgotten, equal measures of happiness and sadnesses.

Rust is among my favorite textures, colors, and compositions. It implies time and an ability to weather a harsh world. My Dad fished out the rusted chain from his lake. I artificially created the patina on the roofing nails hammered into the ends of the door by spraying them with galvanizing compound, painting them with Modern Option's "copper topper", and staining them with Modern Option's blue patina. I did the same to the pipe vent, but the saw blades and most of the other pieces are naturally rusted.

I've also added wooden spools and plan to add many other things...more intuitively than with solid symbolic meaning. I quite enjoy just working...not really thinking. I still need to wrap lots and lots of nails! I will "think about things" then.

I've got a long way to go with this project....and then the doors will be unscrewed from one another so that it can be installed in the gallery! Steve continues to visit the studio....he knows he'll be the one to help me move all this!