I’ve been up at Anderson Ranch for three weeks now, and have one week left. This place is amazing. It’s downtime for the Ranch and for me. They are in between their summer programs and winter residencies, and I am the only visiting artist up here.
The initial week was challenging as I adjusted to an empty studio and extremely solitary hours. I had some sort of existential crisis as I wondered for days about the meaning of art and of being an art-maker. It’s hard to find motivation for making a new body of work when you are confounded by your day to day movements and desires. I was struggling. I sought out Clarissa Pinkola Estes and Alan Watts. I took walks and processed.
Time progressed and I settled in, and then, art making became exciting once more, less cerebral and more active. I’ve compiled a ton of ideas, studies, prototypes, and should have a handful of finished pieces by the time’s end. I feel grateful to be up here, and after lots of tail spinning and questioning, re-invigorated to be an artist.
It’s been an amazing time to explore new ideas and to free myself from my intensive drawing practice. My drawings have always informed my sculptures, but it is seldom that I get to focus this much energy and time on the creation of the sculptures. The facilities here are mind blowing, and so I’ve tried to take advantage of them. Here are a few images of the sculptures in progress that I’ve been working on while here at Anderson Ranch:
Finger Boomerangs in progress
Relational Bonfire in progress
Relational Bonfire with Thoughts, detail
The Struggle of Multilateralism
Kindling for finger boomerang base, in progress
Diamond frame for weaving, in progress
I’ll be leaving soon, fueled by my new work and the experience here. It has been a gift. Genuinely. For those of you who don’t know about Anderson Ranch, please check it out. They have amazing summer workshops, a fabulous residency program, and many other noteworthy things. Also, the people up here are generous, kind, and awesome.
