V9 Exhibition: International House, Davis

Viewpoints 9 is proud to announce a special exhibition of contemporary fiber art selected from each of our original 2012 and 2013 challenges. The exhibit will be held at the International House in Davis, California, April 9 - May 6, 2015.  Viewpoints 9 members, Diane Wright and Martha Wolfe, invite you to join them for the Opening Reception on April 10, 2015 from 6 - 8PM.

The problem with being a literalist

This is literally what Mary Pal posed to the group on July 1:

For this final challenge in the first series, we will focus on the area of Naturalistic Intelligence (good at appreciating the world and nature).   

I was ruminating...for a couple of weeks when I read the following article on July 14th.

The Boston Globe

Should chimpanzees have legal rights? - The Boston Globe

In the next few months, an animal advocacy group called the Nonhuman Rights Project plans to file a case on behalf of its first animal client. It has already chosen the plaintiff, a captive chimp,...

The question asked in the first few sentences in the article by Chris Berdik, "Should dolphins, great apes, and elephants be granted rights of their own?", got me to thinking.  I have been periodically worried about the chimps aging in now underfunded and mostly forgotten science labs.  

It's In the DNA...Somewhere

I remember Dr. Sherer, a social anthropologist, lecturing about how man is differentiated from animals...one of those criteria was tool making.  Really.  I went to university that long ago.

Who can look in the eyes of a chimp and not see an intelligent being?

I decided to create a portrait of a chimp that reminded me of formal portraits (of important humans) progenitors, with a mottled background.  In this case I created the background by rubbing over stabilized black walnut shells...working toward the title of "It's Just Nuts...Not to"

First Draft:  It's Just Nuts

This is the way it stayed for a couple of weeks...more ruminating.  Questions occurred to me....mostly about how alike are we to our  anyway?  How much DNA do we really share?  Speaking of DNA...where on the DNA chain does "inalienable rights" get attached?  Just when is that that we 'inherit' our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Naturalistic Meanderings

Saturday I attended a quilt show looking for examples of Naturalistic Intelligence, our current challenge.  It was a fairly traditional show...but it was the only fiber thing going on locally.

(Besides there are always vendors and I knew two of my friends would be there:  Mickey Lawler (Skydyes) and Susan Ball Faeder, who had come from PA. We had fun catching up.)

The show was not very big...but still worth supporting...on the hunt for Naturalistic Intelligence :^)

Pat Ferguson's beautifully machine quilted whole cloth was very interesting...both sides.  You could choose your favorite.

Pat Ferguson's Zen Nosegay detail

Pat Ferguson's Zen Nosegay wholecloth

There were plenty of well executed quilts...many very artfully done.  The group quilt "A River Runs Through "it was noteworthy.

A River Runs Through It group quilt

But "Sexy Pixels: Gibbs Quilt" by Angelina Kendra won my total attention...and a grin.  To quote her: "I converted a low-resolution pixelated photo of Mark Harmon to two-inch squares in eight shades of grey.  Stand back (and maybe even remove your glasses) to really see this quilt.  No, that's not a hot flash you're feeling!"

Her 64"x64" work was my vote for Saturday's Naturalistic Intelligence Award!

Sexy Pixels: The Gibbs Quilt

God Forsaken

One half of my family has been farming and ranching for hundreds of years.  It's part of our DNA.  At some level, when we look at land, we think "grow" something.  It's always been there with me...what is growing on the land?  When we visited Zion National Park, for example, what trees and plants were growing there at that moment was of the greatest interest to me.

I'm absolutely sure that's one of the reasons I fell in love with Australia.  There were so many new-to-me plants to see/touch/smell.

Conversely, when I see arid, God forsaken expanses of 'wasteland' my bent is to shudder....avoid it.  "Nothing grows here."  Preconceived, on so many levels, is that it's a place to be avoided.

Until it rains!

The desert fairly bursts with life.  Now, even though, my visceral reaction is a shudder, I look at dry, arid lands and wonder what it must look like when it does rain.  What frogs unearth themselves for their brief meetings, matings and re-entry to the underground?  What seeds germinate?  What flowers burst open?  What critters' foot prints bake in the mud?

Because of the long held preconception, just under the surface, it is always a moment of surprised pleasure when I see arid, God forsaken, no-man's land, wasteland...... after a rain.

And Then It Rained!

And Then It Rained detail

S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G creatively

Lisa Marie, I have to say this is one tough challenge for me:  In the beginning of our Viewpoints9 Challenges, "exploring sources of inspiration and creativity" sounded like such fun, who knew it would be such w-o-r-k.

"Preconceptions" Hmmm, which modality to I switch on?  I have to thank you for the task....I think...it has been an interesting one.

I don't have a fun, poignant story like our Kate's last posting.  Being a concrete, non-abstract thinker, I've been racking my brain, digging into my past for something amusing.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending) the personal instances I can think of are largely rated non-PG, filled with tales revealing that my protagonist has to learn all her lessons the hard way.  While there are many funny, awkward, revealing, embarrassing tales, there are few I'd share here. Maybe told over a glass of wine sometime.

So, no good Kate tales.  I looked passed the personal to the political.  You remember:  the preconceived idea that the guy you voted for (and 85% or so ARE guys) would represent your district and it's interests.  Instead he somehow goes for some lobbyist's idea of 'greater good'.  Usually means someone other than the voter is getting greater.  However, I had explored this theme before when I vented about our Congress as it tumbled into a do-nothing house of words.

Yes, looking at political preconceived notions lead to severe cynicism.  To quote comedian Lily Tomlin "As cynical as I get, I can't keep up."

I then turned to much more general topics.  I can tell you this:  I'm done. (!)  The piece is completed and has been photographed.  And,  it is rated v-e-r-y G.  General audiences will not be offended and my cynicism will not show.


Here is a detail shot.

V9 Challenge 8 detail

Oh, and please celebrate with me that I completed this challenge a month early....as opposed to the last one that I finished one month late.  There:  balance reclaimed.  Noteworthy for me.

Delectable Mountains

Hueco Tanks pictograph

The earliest peoples present at Hueco Tanks TX, 10-11,000 years ago, were the peoples we refer to as Paleo-Indians and belonged to the Ice Age peoples that spread across North and South America at least 12,000years ago and possibly as long as 40,000 years ago.  Think mastodons, giant bison and other big grazers.

Hueco Tanks pictograph

Then 8,000 years ago, after the large animals had disappeared, the human population depended more on small game, such as sheep, deer, antelope and rodents...in addition to collection and processing grains, nuts, fruits and tubers.  The artwork painted on the cave walls depict what appears to be hunting scenes.

Pictograph: relative size

Lightning pictograph

Arriving about 2000 years ago where peoples who had domesticated corn, beans, chili peppers, squash, and wild grasses.

 The people are known to anthropologists as the Jornada Branch of the Mogollon who arrived sometime around 450AD.  Their paintings have a strong religious influence...that continued through the centuries in the Pueblo peoples of today.

This abstract painting has a strong resemblance to the Delectable Mountain quilt pattern...and to some of the cave paintings in Australia.  The Hueco Tanks' guide actually refers to these as quilt patterns.  What is not easily seen is that there is an abstracted face with huge eyes.  All symbols of rain and lightening.

I was thrilled with the day.  Hueco Tanks has one of the largest concentrations of Indian rock paintings in North  America.  Impressive arrays of prehistoric and historic Indians...designs that continue in today's Indian cultures.

Delectable Mountains: 1800's quilt

Red Gum Maggie

My first attempt at Sue's challenge was miserable at being ordinary.  Not that the piece was so extraordinary, by any means...but rather..I created a piece depicting an extraordinary place, missing Sue's point entirely.

It did get me thinking.  And I never mentally left Australia.  When I think of what I miss.  What ordinary thing I miss most....it's the magpies.  I love their songs. I also love that they are very plain looking in their black and white suits and that they are collectors.  Gosh, it's amazing how much you can have in common with a bird ;^)  Except I can't sing.

Pardon the my amateurish camera-work in the video.

It all started with a photograph

I actually think my love of travel began with this photograph.  The man on the camel on the left is my Dad, who joined the Army Air Force (when it was still part of the US Army) before 1940.  After the war my brothers and I heard his stories about people and places all over the world.  

While my father never spoke of war, he told us incredible stories about Hindu dress in India, eating habits of Bedouin in North Africa, words of greeting from Tagalog speakers in the Philippines, how to say "more pasta, please" in Italian and on and on.  We have no idea what he did during the war...it's still classified...but we learned to love the people he met

and the places he visited.

Adding to the mix of my love of travel, were the years we spent in Japan.  Again, it was my father's job in the military that sent us there.  But it was his encouragement to explore that biased us in favor of foreign adventure of the everyday life in another country.  

Another tourist in Beijing at the Summer Palace

Bungle Bungle

 Granted, exploring the Kimberly's Bungle Bungle ranges in Western Australia in a little helicopter is not everyday, by any stretch of the imagination....our love of travel has always been a fascination with place and people....and whilst visiting there last year we met a charming young man who will be coming to visit us this next month.  Boy, it just doesn't get better than that.  We will get to show him our territory.  Full circle.

Oh, the memories.  Over the years, whenever an opportunity was available for travel, I jumped for my toothbrush.  This challenge posed by Sue will be very interesting...remembering past travels is the best.  The dilemma may be where to alight.  Which place?  Which story?  What people?  Just makes me smile thinking about it.  Perhaps the real problem will be for me to stop with the reminiscing and get to work.

Masks

The challenge seemed so interesting in the beginning...then as I studied on what...oh, what...would I do, I became quite flummoxed.  It became an un-welcomed assignment for me.  I avoid introspection.  Self-revelations are not sought.  

Then, the Studio Art Quilters Association's newest edition of it's journal was released.  Thumbing through...looking at the pictures first, of course...otherwise it's just words, words, words...when I was surprised to see an article written by our Kate Themel.  Had to read that first.  Her article is about the skills and requirements needed to be a SAQA co-rep.  I was stunned (!) to read her descriptions of me.  No one had ever, ever described me as charismatic or an extrovert or much of her other adjectives.  There, indeed, was a mask.

I wear many masks.  Okay, one at a time...but still...there are many.  I decided to limit this to three:  Asian, Aboriginal and Co-Rep.

The background?  Well, that IS me:  woven, stitched together from fabrics that all my friends would readily describe as "oh, Diane, that is so you".  And for me, it gently reminds me of my checkered past. Enough of the self-revelations.

Behind the Mask Tradition

I think Kate's challenge is going to be a more difficult assignment for me.  First, I've been exploring other people's use of masks to establish a foundation.  I think I'll postpone looking at my own personal use of masks until I'm a bit better grounded in masks in general.

Shinja (True Snake) horrific and powerful serpent-woman

I started with Noh to which I was introduced as a teenager living in Japan.  In Noh, the classical Japanese theater, the many characters are usually masked, with men playing both the male and female roles.

I didn't 'get' it then apparently, because as I research it now, there's much that is dazzling.  Well, it would have been dazzling to a teen, had that teen been paying better attention:  Who knew that Shinja (above) was a WOMAN!  Yikes, that put a whole different spin on the performances I remember.

I understood that Ko-omote was a beautiful young woman.  

Ko-omote ('Cute' young woman)

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Okina in full costume: Dance begins with recitation of a poem celebrating erotic love

I'm sure I rolled my eyes when someone informed me that the poem and dance by the Okina character was erotic.

Decades later, I became interested in Australian Aboriginal art where body painting and decoration has deep spiritual significance.

Contemporary Aboriginal woman in ceremony

Usually the designs, painted with ground ochres and pipeclay and, sometimes accentuated with feathers, are motifs used to denote social position and relationships to family, totem, ancestor and land.  The individual can become totally transformed in the process and actually 'become' their ancestor spirit.

Tiwi man ready for ceremony

In both Aboriginal and Noh masking forms, the traditions are rather rigidly codified and regulated by the institutions, with innovation being disapproved of.

After this research, I might be ready to proceed to 'masks' as they apply to me on a more personal, and complicated, level.  Thanks, Kate...I think.

Rain Dancer

Rain Dancer

I bounced around several ideas for this challenge.  Each time I remembered more and more details surrounding my memories of the scent of rain.  Two of my most distinct occurred in desert climes after long dry spells.  As rain was so desperately needed in both regions (Los Angeles and Fort Worth), I'm sure it was not too far from my consciousness.

Rain Dancer is inspired by a childhood memory when our family lived in Texas.  I'm the eldest child and I was charged with the care and, particularly, the good behavior of my youngest brother, David.  And, he was a challenge for his sister!  One morning a peculiar colored light filled our living room.  We stopped our play and looked out.  Simultaneously, I smelled and blurted "Rain!"  With that, David ran out the screen door like a thing possessed.  Had he forgotten what rain was?  It had been a very long time since he'd seen it.

He was a wonder dancing on the sidewalk, face up and mouth open.

Challenge 4: The Scent of a Memory

From the beginning of our Viewpoint9 adventure, I’ve been more aware of just where our/my inspirations come from.  Being, perhaps, too much, reliant on my visual world, this new awareness has taken me down several paths.  But that was the whole idea to start with, wasn’t it!?

Interesting to me is that one of the paths that keeps re-inserting itself, when I’m at a crossroad, is the physical experience modality of intelligence, and the sense of smell in particular.

I imagine that part of this fascination is due to the fact that, because of allergies and various medical conditions, I have largely lost my sense of smell.  However, I haven’t lost the memory of that sense.  Interesting, no? 

I’ve read that the sense of smell is the last to leave a person prior to death.  I also read that the imagery sparked by the sense of smell is the most vibrant.  Wishful thinking on my part, perhaps.

Contemplate past memories of scents, like the smell of burning leaves in the autumn, the scent of your newborn held to your breast, the lilac eau de toilette in a hug from Great-aunt Edith, the rotting decay in the muck and mud after a hurricane, the pungent wafts of incense burning in a shrine.

I pose this to you:  Do you remember a scent that evokes vivid imagery?  Share that memory with us.

The Details: 
The orientation for this challenge is PORTRAIT.
The Virtual Gallery Opening will be on October 26th, 2012 

Seven Sisters

I started with ‘horizon’.  I didn’t get too much farther in my thinking with ‘line’.  As I began thinking about horizon, with ‘lines’ in the back of my brain, I began looking at the heavens.  In my research the words Astronomical horizon had captured my imagination.

I’ve always been intrigued with instances of groups of people, quite separate geographically and culturally, coming to very similar places in their descriptions of their environment, their explanations of the outside world and their mythologies.  While I was looking heavenward metaphorically, I remembered that many peoples have similar stories of the spirits and deities that reside in the heavens.

Pleiades, for example, is know as “seven sisters” to Australian Aboriginal communities and the Nez Perce of North America, “daughters of the night” to the Berber, and “seven sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law” for the Ben Raji of Nepal.

We are all similarly hard-wired with a need to survive.  To survive we must understand our environment and, sometimes, that means we impose meaning on natural phenomena.

Across the world peoples have drawn imaginary lines in the sky, describing creation tales of morality and explanations for earthly people, and, of course, those that navigate the globe.  

Seven Sisters: 18”x24” artist dyed, painted and stitched

Back Away from the Moms

  Are you Mom Enough!!??Really??? 


Just when did being a mom become a competitive sport?  This magazine cover followed on the heels of  

Amy Chua's book....which was then followed by a New York Times article about Wendy Murdoch (yep, Rupert's wife) consulting Chua on child rearing.  It was several columns with photos..really, like this is news.  This simply feeds the insecurity of mothers.

I have met mothers on five of seven continents, and I can say with some confidence that they all want to be the best moms they can be...even those who are poorly prepared and poorly supported.  We all want the best for our babies.  

Now everyone ELSE (not experts by any means) has an opinion that they feel obliged to put forth.  It was one thing when your mother or your great-aunt felt entitled to give her advice...now it's everyone. 

Breastfeed.  Breastfeed for three months.  Don't breastfeed.  Solid food.  No solid food.  Circumcise.  Do not circumcise.  Juice.  No Juice.  Sleep in your bed.  Do not sleep in your bed.  Inoculate.  Do not inoculate.  Spank.  Don't you dare spank.  Get a job.  Stay at home.  Daycare.  No daycare.  Sports.  No contact sports.   

It's time to step back.  Support, inform mothers....don't harass them.  This is NOT a competition.

This simple symbol can indicate a safe zone.  "It's okay to nurse your baby here.  Or not.  We respect your desire to nurture your baby."

Grappling with a Challenge

I am feeling Sue Dennis' use of the word "grapple" rather than Kate's word "enlightened"in their previous posts in exploring this newest challenge.  I honed in upon the idea of something that couldn't be described easily in words, rather than numbers and I have ricocheted all over.  I trailed "road hogs"  for a nano-second, discarding road signs...probably there are enough of them.  Besides, knowing the composite of the group, I thought I should try to pick my game up a bit and go for something more profound.

Then a recent magazine cover (and I won't disclose which at this point) produced yammering talking-heads on TV and radio...the cover image was also a bit disquieting to me, but not for the same reasons the media jumped on it.  And, it coincided with another book and article I had recently read describing the challenges of being a mother.  Okay, there is a big hint.

Having already, without knowing it, informed myself and developed an opinion, actually creating the piece came very quickly.  It's done.

What's interesting about this challenge for me is that, having created this piece, I now realize how passionate I am about the cause.  I don't think that would have sunk in to my conscious without my having thought it through and then gone the extra mile in creating the concept visually.  And, now that I'm finished, when I look at it .... it does symbolize my concept that takes WAY too many words to explain.  Mission accomplished, at least for me.

I can hardly wait until D (disclose) -Day and see what tack others in the group have taken.  Sometimes there is commonality, but this time, I have a feeling the group is going to show its diversity.

Where Has Summer Gone?

Viewpoints9

First challenge

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: Summer

Music does not ordinarily translate to visual imagery for me.  So, Martha’s challenge was a big one.  After listening my favorite, Aaron Copland, just to get in the mood, I left my mental pictures of Shakers and cowboys and focused on Vivaldi’s” The Four Seasons: Summer”.  Indeed, I had to revert to the music class directions and write down my impressions:  Tension, Urgency, Strings, Pitch, Dark, Bright flashes, Structure and Rigor.

 And this is Summer?!

What happened to Summer?  Why the urgency?  Why the tension?  Need another layer of fat for the winter?  Not enough nuts and seeds stored away?  Still have that off-spring to fledge?

“End of Summer” is made from kimono silk and cottons.  Machine stitched and hand painted.  I found a hand dyed cotton with dark parts that I thought might connote an end of summer evening.  Just next to it, out of place, was a dark, lightly lined piece of vintage kimono silk that immediately reminded me of strings.  The two were meant to be together. 

The Challenge surprised me.  I was able to connect in unexpected ways.  And, it was fun, also an important element.

Diane Wright

The Deep End

I think I might have jumped into the deep end of the pool here.  Our first challenge was a stumper for me, which I didn't consider propitious.

Because I will be leaving April 9 for six weeks in Australia (and some of this time we definitely will not have internet capability), I was under real pressure to have work done well before the deadline.  I think if I had had the luxury of time and trial, my piece would have been very different. Since that wasn't the case, I took the first impulse I had and went with it.  No looking back.

Reflecting on it, post April 26, will interesting.

Viewpoints 9: The Artists

Diane Wright

Martha Wolfe

Lisa-Marie Sanders

Lin Hsin-Chen

Sue Dennis

As we countdown the days until we go live with our first challenge on March 1st, there's time to meet the artists of Viewpoints 9.

Kate Themel

Since sources of inspiration are to be the focus our group, each artist provided an image that reflects something that currently inspires their work, one they are using or intend to use or a theme that runs through their work.

Mary Pal

Follow the link beneath each photo to learn more about the artist.

Misik Kim

Our art, our lives, our world, all influence our Viewpoints! Please, join us and share yours....
Your comments are always welcome here, or join us on our facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/Viewpoints9

Betty Busby
photo courtesy of NASA