The Wall of Ancestors and Buttons, Two Solo Shows at USC-Aiken

 (Above:  The Wall of Ancestors, a solo show at USC-Aiken. Click on any image to enlarge.)

Yesterday was grand! I got to tackle another gigantic space with The Wall of Ancestors. This show is inside the Etherredge Art Center on the University of South Carolina-Aiken's campus.  I brought all 275+ framed images, placed several of the largest ones in the center of the four large sections, and started arranging enormous vignettes.  There are twenty-two 8' x 4' panels along this wall.  That's a total of 88 linear feet.  It took six hours to unload into the elevator, haul the work to the space, and hang everything.  Yet, this is what I imagined back in 2014 when my obsession started.  (I blogged at The Wall of Ancestors HERE ... when there were only 127 total pieces).  I knew I wanted to have more pieces, more work from which to select, and not have to hang every single one!
     

 (Above:  Buttons!, my other solo show hanging in the lower level of the Etherredge Art Center.)

I didn't hang my other solo show, Buttons!  Ann Bliss, the gallery director, hung the twenty-three pieces in this simultaneously running exhibit.  This wall is on the lower level of the Etherredge Art Center.  It consists of thirteen 4' x 8' panels for a total of fifty-two linear feet.  It is also the first time I've mounted my button inspired work. 

 (Above:  Most of the first section of The Wall of Ancestors.  The total number of framed photos in this section is seventy-seven.)

Hopefully, lots of people will see the shows.  This weekend is student orientation.  The place should be crowded.  I came home with a total of thirty-one pieces that didn't find a place on the wall.  If I counted correctly, 246 pieces were hung.  It is nice to have "more than enough".  It makes the job of composing a nice arrangement so much easier. 

 (Above:  The second section of The Wall of Ancestors.  There are forty-five framed pieces.)

The press release covers both exhibits, but the paragraph on The Wall of Ancestors reads:

The Wall of Ancestors, a collection of anonymous photographs, is the centerpiece of Susan's larger installation, Anonymous Ancestors. Each image has been altered with letters clipped from vintage ephemera. The selected phrases suggest a fictional narrative. An image of an early 20th century infant propped up on a fancy wicker chair reads, "I didn't live to adulthood". Another snapshot of a feisty bathing beauty reads, "I never wore a seat belt". A couple staring blankly out of their antique frame has the caption "Virgins on our Honeymoon Night". There's "Pillar of the Community" and "Spinster Sisters" and "Home Sweet Home: Address Unknown". There are over two-hundred individual works in Lenz's collection. Together, these closely hung, framed works encourage viewers' minds to wander, envisioning forgotten friends, past holidays, ancient occasions, former cars, and hilarious fashion trends.

 (Above:  The third section of The Wall of Ancestors.  There are thirty-nine framed pictures.)

The press release paragraphs for Buttons! reads:

Buttons! is a brand new exhibition. The mixed media work is Lenz's response to an art administrator's harsh criticism of her "Button" art residency proposal. Told that her work romanticized materials and didn't push boundaries as a professional studio artist, Lenz fought back in the only manner she could. She made art. She also got a 2017 summer art residency at Homestead National Monument in Nebraska where much of the work was created. "I am indebted to the criticism. It forced me to go beyond the scope of my initial proposal. It made me admit that I do romanticize my materials. In fact, I count on the public's nostalgic association with this humble object. There's nothing wrong with this. Also, I do push boundaries, but this time I pushed a lot harder and the effort paid off," says Lenz.

Since her National Park residency, Lenz has continued to use the seemingly insignificant clothing button to communicate issues of gender, race, politics, relationships, and personal narratives. "My work explores the many functions and possibilities of these ordinary objects while challenging viewers to see buttons as more than utilitarian fasteners". Included in this exhibition are several vintage typewriter advertisement and xylene photo transfers of cemetery angels surrounded by hand-stitched buttons. His Secrets and Her Secrets each feature forty, crowd-sourced, close-up snapshots of mouths on which large red and pink buttons are stitched.

 (Above:  This is the fourth section of The Wall of Ancestors.  It is also the secondary entry point for the massive wall and thus includes another framed artist statement in the middle on the far left.  There are eighty-five individual pieces in this section.)

 Now, please scroll down for a few photos from the lower level at the Etherredge Art Center.

 (Above:  Buttons!, including His Secrets and Her Secrets, a button covered vintage typewriter advertisement, and three from the series "The Button as Art", altered antique images from the 1893 Columbian Exposition ... the latter of which I blogged about HERE.)

 (Above:  Buttons!, including The Virgin of Gone and Forgotten plus four pieces from the series Waste Not Fresh Tears ... which were created during my art residency at Homestead National Monument in Nebraska.)

(Above:  Buttons!, including Silence is Golden I and II, four of the Buttons as Art series pieces, and other work.)

I am linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a site for sharing fiber arts.