Jaime Lyerly Art : Segment Collaboration

Showing posts with label Segment Collaboration. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Segment Collaboration with Sunshine Vekas – Part 3 – Process: Embroidery and Exchange

In Progress, detail of SC #5d (in the mess of my studio area) © 2010 Sunshine Vekas and Jaime Lyerly

Are you enjoying the step by step process of this? Because I am enjoying writing about it!

Just found out about this collaboration? Here are links to catch you up.
Part 1: Establish your System
Part 2: Process: Nomenclature and Waxing

Segment Collaboration with Sunshine Vekas – Part 3 – Process: Embroidery and Exchange

The image above is where we are starting today's post. We left off at me letting the encaustic wax to cool for the day.

Later that night and the next day, I used my new skill that I learned in my Fiber Surface Design class to enhance the piece - embroidery.

Embroidery on sculpture you say? I know. It is different. But if you have not seen all the super cool things being done with contemporary embroidery, check out the art show "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery". It is not your grandmother's sampler.

Also on the subject of embroidery as/on fine art, there is a great book called By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art that I suggest. It notes that with our very technical, computer-driven life, people are turning to hand work to connect with something personal. I concur.

Back to the process: I hand embroidery with white floss intuitively on the segment tufts. I don't follow patterns or do particularly fancy stitching. I just make it up as I go along. Surprised? I didn't think so.

However, my new found knowledge of embroidery stitches influence what I do with the floss. For example, this piece of embroidery is based on the traditional Cretan Stitch. Here is a video on how to do it.

The waxed fabric was surprising easy to hand embroider, although like leather, it leaves a permanent hole. Taking this to my advantage and poked holes through some of the tufts without embroidering through it.

I worked with the segments that had disconnected and rearranged them again.

Finally, I took a photograph of the work and put it away to be exchanged the next day.

On Friday, I brought SC #5d in a humble plastic Vons grocery bag and waited for Sunshine to show up to our classroom. She never showed.

I finally asked our instructor if he had heard from her and found out that she had hurt her ankle and wasn't coming to class. It would be another week until I could exchange it. Rather than work on it anymore, I worked on my Fibrous Waximus project.

When we exchanged the pieces next week, I was delighted that she loved it. There was no "you ruined it!" moment that I had anticipated.

She especially liked the rose madder "mistake" that if I had an "undo" button on my encautic, I wouldn't have done. How's that for trusting the process?

Sunshine said that pieces had a different feel separated from the rubber holders. So my mistake began a start of a new direction for her piece.

Here is a sneak preview of SC #5e-1, which is Sunshine's modification on the piece.

Summary:

This process has been so exciting to share with you! From my self-doubt, working intuitively, to trusting the process, to watching the piece unfold in a whole new direction -- it is all about process. In that process, and sharing it with you, we all learn.

Want Sunshine's side of the story and her process? ME TOO!

Sunshine's documents her process via pictures and text. We are figuring out a way to have her process to fit the formatting of this blog, and when I do, you will get to see more of this project.

Thanks for sharing in this journey with us! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Segment Collaboration with Sunshine Vekas – Part 2 – Process: Waxing

Did I hook you yesterday with this picture or my list? I do hope so!

If not, that is okay. Here is more to whet your appetite for process art.

As I said in Segment Collaboration - Part 1 – Establish your system, my cohort Sunshine Vekas and I are doing a unique art experiment where we work separately on each other’s art pieces therefore making it a collaborative art piece without actually working together in person.

We are both process-oriented artists, so this leads to exploration with materials that we normally wouldn’t chose for ourselves.

In this post, you get to peek into inside my head and my studio to see how I changed Sunshine’s piece above “SC #5c” into Fiber, Rubber and Encaustic sculpture “SC #5d.” This post is part one of the process.
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Before we jump into the process, I need to make a note about the naming system of this collaboration.

Sunshine has developed a system to track the progress of these process pieces. She assigns each piece Segment Collaboration with a number and a letter.

This piece as started in her possession as SC #5a. Each major modification has been assigned with the next letter.

When I received the piece, it was entitled SC #5c. My modification will change it to SC #5d.

I love scientific nomenclature.

The nerd in me cannot resist the twist of taking this fiber and rubber piece, and assigning it a technical, scientific name. It expands it from the realm of art into art as exploration. Onto the process...

Segment Collaboration with Sunshine Vekas – Part 2 – Process: Waxing

After much fighting with my inner critic and self-doubt about myself as an artist, I finally got started on my half of the collaborative project, SC #5d.

The piece has a history before I got to it that (if I can convince her that you readers are interested in it) Sunshine has documented via personal logs and photo documentation.

For now, this post will consider the pictures above and the beginning of this project.

As with many of the fiber creations I make on my own, the first thought for this piece was that it "needed some wax." On a Wednesday afternoon, I heated up my griddle and set up my video camera and camera to document the process.

My encaustic griddle was melting two loaf-sized containers of mixed natural yellow and white beeswax, R&F's transparent Rose Madder, Indian Yellow and Sap Green encaustic paints, all undiluted with medium, so that they are in their richest, creamiest, most potent state.

This photo is not exactly the same palette I used, but it is similar enough to give you an idea of my set-up.

I dipped the first little tuft of fabric. I loved the way the beeswax clung to the transparent cloth, making it more and less transparent at the same time.

I dipped the second tuft into Rose Madder encaustic paint. It was so thick it looked shocking on the transparent cloth. "Oh no, I ruined it!," I gasped.

But I let it stay and trusted in the process to develop.

After dipping each piece in beeswax, I was enjoying the process. However that blood red piece needed to be connected to the rest of the segment. I lightly brushed the Rose Madder encaustic paint, catching only the tips of some of the pieces.

I used my heat gun to soften the edges of the red color, fuse the wax, and shape the tufts. The heat helped to melt the wax which had covered the rubber at the base which looked sloppy compared to the tufts.

Excessive manipulation of the piece with my hands and the heat led to a few tufts at the end of the segment to loosen from their glued rubber holders. What to do now?

The removed the loose tufts from their rubber gaskets, and rearranged them on the segment. I connected the ends together which formed a traditional feminist icon of the V shape.

At this point, I took some photographs and let the piece cool for the day.

Waxed! Want to see what happens to it next? Come back for Part 3 next time!

Your turn:
Am I being a tease by only showing part of the process? Maybe, but the posts are detailed which should make up for it. The process of documenting while it is being made and blogging with critical thought is exciting for me. But I have to ask you...what do you think of the process so far? I would love to hear your comments!

Happy Collaborating! ~ Jaime Lyerly

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Art Experiment - Segment Collaboration with Sunshine Vekas - Part 1 - Establish Your System

For the past month, I have been doing an "Art Experiment." A collaborative art project which has made me question how I work, and work with others.

In my blog post, The Psychology of Collaboration, I rant about my prior collaboration, and a list of my thoughts while even starting this collaborative art project with artist, Sunshine Vekas, who attends my sculpture class as an aide.

The project turned up the volume on my inner critic to almost a deafening tone. I have found a way to turn the volume down - writing.

Now that we are a month into the process, I am ready to share our collaboration so that you can get a glimpse into the process.

This will be a multi-part blogging adventure, so I hope to hook you in so that you can experience it with me. Here we go...

Segment Collaboration - Part 1 - Establish Your System

Every artist has a different way of working.

Sketching; working intuitively; following a pattern; research; find objects; read books; listen to your dreams; make a schedule; document with photographs; critique your work... and on

Each of these (and more) establish a way of making the art you do.

So, if you decide to collaborate with another artist, how do you do it?

You have to establish your own system.

Here is the current system that has been defined (and modified along the way) to make this artistic collaboration work.

These are my rules, and ways of working, so Sunshine will have a whole different way of seeing this process. But the skeleton of the system is the same.

Segment Collaboration

Take a piece of art or material that we believe has potential to become something more.
Gather any photographs or documents on the original piece, if available.
Exchange pieces with partner. You have two weeks to work on it.
Release control of the process of your piece.
Photograph your partner's piece and think about it.
Acknowledge insecurities, doubts and inner critic's rants as you think about the piece. - IMPORTANT step for ME!
Gather supplies and get to work.
Document process via photographs or video.
Again acknowledge inner critic and write about it to get it out.
Establish a naming system to label pieces as they are expanded upon.
Photograph piece before exchange.
Email pictures to partner (optional).
In two weeks, exchange pieces with partner and discuss process.
Chose to work on your piece again, or start another piece for exchange.
Repeat! Ta da! Collaborative art piece!

That is the system we developed as this art experiment continues.

As a teaser and thank you for reading this far, here is a photograph of Sunshine Vekas' SC #5c before I started my modifications.

Want to see more? Come back next time for Part 2!

Your Turn:
Do you develop systems to make your work? Are you rigid (not that it's a bad thing!) and have sketch, plan, follow plan, finish or do you work more organically? Have you done a similar collaboration? I would love to hear more about your artistic process!

Art making is a journey, share yours with me! ~ Jaime Lyerly