Personal Grounds, Salisbury's Waterworks Visual Arts Center

Yesterday was INSTALLATION DAY at Waterworks Visual Arts Center, an art museum in Salisbury, North Carolina. Everything went smoothly....from picking up the Penske rental truck, collecting the four doors from storage at the Tapps Center for the Arts, loading the artwork back at Mouse House, driving to the location, unloading.....and finally hanging all the work.


(Above: Entrance from central hallway into the Osbourne Gallery at Waterworks Visual Arts Center. Click on image to enlarge.)

Unfortunately, the photos aren't the best. This is due to the fact that I'm using my "old camera".....the one with which I rolled down a giant sand dune in Oregon. Sand in the shutters eliminates fine focus capabilities. My newer camera has been sent for repairs at the Canon location in Newport News, VA. I miss it! Hopefully, it will be returned soon. Thankfully, I also have Steve's camera....and even older model that replaced the camera I broke four years ago in California by slamming the rental car door on my coat pocket! I'm hard on cameras and other small devices. (My cell phone no longer has a back cover....moped accident!)



These images can, however, be clicked upon for enlargement in order to see the exhibition. It's called "Personal Grounds", just like my show last fall in Charleston. (Blog post for this show is HERE.) The statement for the show is:

Personal Grounds is a location in life determined by the doors opened, the keys turned and the decisions made.



This exhibit in Salisbury includes only a selection of the Decision Portraits, less than a third of the finished work. Yet, the balance between the "doors", "keys", and "decisions" is much, much better and clearer. One of the reasons for this is the fact that I included a variation of the statement as a piece of machine embroidery on Peltex. It is display in an old-fashioned typewriter. (This is only the second time I've ever programed my Berina 1630 to "write" words. I usually only "free motion" text!)



Also, I was able to draw attention to the "keys" by suspending them on #4 fishing line hung from a ceiling mounted grid. My studio assistant Olivia helped tie all the monofilament to the grid last Sunday. Thus, I only had to tie the keys to the other end of each thin line....saving lots of time!



They look GREAT and the fishing line is so thin as to be nearly invisible! My husband Steve made the wooden and chicken wire grid....and painted it white to match the ceiling.


The last thing I did before leaving the museum was to touch up all the frames. They are all intentionally "crackled" with white paint.....to match the four old doors covered with tagged keys (framed and unframed)....and easy to "touch up".

The rest of the photos show other angles in the two spaces: The Osbourne and the Woodson Galleries. The long, curved wall links the two areas. The public reception is on Friday, February 25 from 6 - 8. I'll be taking more photos....maybe with my repaired camera if it has been returned by then! My fingers are crossed!



The portraits included in this exhibition:

Bald is Beautiful
Behind in the Mortgage
Boomerang Child
Broken Nest
Cold Turkey
College Student
Dealing With Alzheimer's
Death Wish
Drag Queen
DUI I
Expatriate
Fighting Illiteracy
First Love
Graffiti Artist
Happy Family
Hitch Hiker
Leukemia Decision
Mackenzie at 15
Mother's Milk
Muslim
On Making Decisions, Learning Disabled
Organic Farmers
Overcoming Ovarian Caner
Poet
Pro Choice
Public Servant
Pulling the Plug
Runaway
Self Portrait
Sister Support
Someone Else's Miracle
Soul Mates
Tattoo Artist
Voter
Tattoo



Later during the week the staff at the Waterworks Visual Arts Center will be installing "wall text" in the space above. The pedestal will remain where it is place beneath this "signage". On it sits another "book" that includes all 107 Decision Portraits....along with edited blog posts/stories about each piece. In a sense, all the work is there....at least in the book!