Salon be DRAWING ON DREAMS
We had a wonderful discussion this past Sunday with Lynne Friedman and Ilka List. The artists spoke about the process and content of their work and there were enthusiastic and dyanmic responses from the fine group present for the occasion.
Discussion ranged from the technical aspects of casting in bronze, to the psychedelic properties of the “Reina de la Noche” or queen of the night, depicted in Friedman’s Costa Rica pen and ink. The current show at MOMA of Christine Dumas that was reviewed “warmly” in the preceding Friday’s New York Times, sparked quite a conversation about quality, fame and money as they relate to the art world.
Friedman shared a great deal of information about how she works, approaches the blank page and finds herself immersed in a series without really deciding to do so. With all of that, she hesitates to clearly identify what inspires her work, allowing the “mystery” that is the creative drive to remain somewhat in a mist. The series of pen and ink drawings are not “botanicals” in the strict sense to Friedman, but rather studies reflecting life and renewal through natural forms. A lifelong artist and teacher, she poses the idea that working itself is a major catalyst to discovery and, as part of that process she carries with her a small sketch pad at all times, saying, “One cannot really know something until one draws it.”
Ilka List recounted the original source of the imagery of her bronze wall sculptures - the Jungian process of dream interpretation. She read from her diaries of dreams that served as the well spring for the current body of work. The turtle as a Chinese symbol of feminine energy, the ocean as creativity, from which life comes, the character “Blind Beth Chip” and bread loaves that bake and never burn, speaking to the eternal nature of the self and, like Friedman, the idea of renewal. When speaking about transforming the dream imagery into the clay piece, List discussed the formal visual forces that come into play that do not exactly replicate the dream imagery. When asked what “wins out” over the battle between the original dream and the clay, her answer without hesitation: “the clay.”
As always, thanks to our attendees and the artists, the morning was stimulating and entertaining.
Stay tuned for upcoming events.
bobbi
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December 16th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Dear Barbara,
Your discussion last Sunday sounded so interesting. I wish that David and I could have been there. I hope that you relayed to the artist that we love the piece that we purchased. I would have loved the part of the disussion about the making of the bronzes. We hope that you and Bruce have a wonderful holiday. We will see you soon.
Sincerely,
Eddie Cobb and David Glaser