The studio area at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops were open 24/7. While there, I was able to construct ten new pieces. It was especially fun to do because all around me were participants working on their workshop pieces. We all got to talk, share, and discuss art together. Since returning home, all ten pieces were stitched, melted, mounted, and framed. They are headed to this November's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.
I make my In Box series pieces in three sizes. Four of these are "medium" sized at 22" x 18" framed. Six of these are "small" sized at 19 1/4" x 15 1/4" framed. Currently, I've got five large ones in production and will share them once finished.
I'm actually quite able to make these pieces in any size at all, and I've been lucky enough to have accepted several commissions. I love this work and especially the conceptual story behind them.
These works are meant as an aerial view to an imaginary Freidensreich Hundertwasser city. Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist who architecture looks as if Dr. Seuss ought to live there. The Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna is a popular tourist attraction and has its own gift shop even though very ordinary people live in the units.
Hundertwasser's philosophy was based in the concept of individualism. He believed that "if you had to live in a box", you had not only the right but the responsibility to make that box your very own. He advocated decorating outside every window as far as one's arms would reach ... so that everyone in the outside world knew what sort of person lived there. Hundertwasser hated straight lines and saw no good reason for corners to all be ninety degrees or floors to be perfectly level and flat. He used bright colors and incorporated found materials, even broken ceramic shards.
His buildings have dozens of trees growing from all sorts of balconies. He wanted all roofs to be grass covered. Hundertwasser lectured about art and environment. He knew that the only way society could live in harmony with nature is if we first lived in harmony with our neighbors. As a painter, he used "all the colors all the time". Hence, my In Box pieces show an organic city, not one where buildings were laid out in a well established and regular grid. Each "box" includes a stitched motif to reflect the unique individuals who live there. The connecting threads represent the harmony in which such a community lives.
I don't think I'll ever tire of making these pieces. Please scroll down to enjoy the rest of the recently finished ones.
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