Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Interview: Lizz Aston






















I've posted yet another interview on the City of Craft blog, this time with fibre-based sculptor Lizz Aston. Her incredible work is simultaneously playful and austere...check out her interview here, which discusses her macrame fetish and the symbolism of knots, among other things....

Enjoy!

Pictured:  Decreasing Your Knot Vocabulary, collaged paper fibres, machine embroidery, burnout, 2009

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Interview: Jacinta Lodge





































I just posted the first of a series of interviews with this year's City of Craft installation artists on the City of Craft Blog.  The interview is with Berlin-based artist Jacinta Lodge, who does incredible and uber-contemporary embroidery work.  Her work will be up in the window of the Ontario Crafts Council during City of Craft, which runs over the weekend of December 12-13.

Take a look at the interview here.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

School Jerks EP Cover






















BEST GIRLFRIEND EVER.

That's what I am.  I did this drawing a few nights ago while in the throes of H1N1 for the cover of Ben's band's next 7".  As I drew this, I felt about as good as the girl on the top left of the drawing LOOKS. All in the name of what?  M&Ms.  Ben bought me a huge bag of M&Ms and that sealed the deal...

This drawing is based on a loose arrangement of 5 ripped fragments of photographs.  The elements are (from the top left) two of the girls from the Manson family, two British bikers from the 60s, a hippie draped in an American flag, and one of the victims of the Kent State shooting in 1970.  The rough concept is the "decline of the 60s counterculture."  

Ben said that certain aspects of the drawing sort of remind him of the cover of the Beatles' Revolver, which is a pretty huge compliment. All in all, I'm really happy with how it turned out...it's different from the last few pieces of record or poster art I've done, but in a good way.

"A photograph of Mary Vecchio, a fourteen year old runaway, screaming over the body of Jeffery Miller appeared on the front pages of newspapers and magazines throughout the country, and the photographer, John Filo, was to win a Pulitzer Prize for the picture. The photo has taken on a life and importance of its own. This analysis looks at the photo, the photographer, and the impact of the photo.

"The Mary Vecchio picture shows her on one knee screaming over Jeffrey Miller's body. Mary told one of us that she was calling for help because she felt she could do nothing (Personal Interview, 4/4/94). Miller is lying on the tarmac of the Prentice Hall parking lot. One student is standing near the Miller body closer than Vecchio. Four students are seen in the immediate background.

"John Filo, a Kent State photography major in 1970, continues to works as a professional newspaper photographer and editor. He was near the Prentice Hall parking lot when the Guard fired. He saw bullets hitting the ground, but he did not take cover because he thought the bullets were blanks. Of course, blanks cannot hit the ground."

(Source:  http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm)

Original photo of Kent state shooting by photographer John Filo.








Monday, November 02, 2009

City of Craft General Store






















Here is a small fraction of the plaster fingers I made for the City of Craft General Store at Canzine yesterday.  Sadly, I was forced to be a no-show because of...swine flu?!?!  I'm not 100% sure, but boy do I feel sick!  I'm sorry to anyone who dropped by to say hello, and sorry to the lovely organizers of the COC room installation who I flaked out on.  Don't be fooled by these sanitary looking fingers...I would have been a living germ bomb had I attended...

Next on deck for City of Craft:  the main event.  Scary, but exciting. Stay tuned for more posts about installation programming in particular, which I've been working my butt off organizing this year!