Studio Visit with Seattle paper artist, Patty Grazini

Today, I took my freshmen class for a trip to Seattle to visit with paper artist extraordinaire, Patty Grazini. Patty comes from a costume background. You can see her interest in costumes in the characters that she creates. (Watch her presentation on the link above.) Everything she makes is from paper down to the last minute detail. Patty collects paper from all over the world, mostly Japan and Europe. She has files and files of paper just waiting for the right project. 

What I find fascinating about Patty's work is the research behind her pieces. She collects old news articles and develops characters from them. When you purchase one of her pieces it comes with the original news article from the 1800's-to early 1900's. Every element of the sculpture is lovingly hand crafted from paper that has a history. Patty rarely uses new paper. The image below was taken from her Instagram account.  With this piece she has created a bug using old currency. Fabulous!

 

Studio Visit with Photographer, Andrea Davis Kronlund, in Sweden

Today, I took my photography class to visit a photographer friend who I had recently reconnected with, Andrea Davis Kronlund.

Jamaica series

When I first met Andrea in grad school at NYU/ICP,  Andrea had been working on a project about Jamaica. Her early years were spent in Jamaica.  At the age of 14 Andrea moved to be with her father in New York.  While we were both students she modeled for me and one of the shots was later used on a CD cover for the band MC 900ft Jesus. The photo was shot with infra red film then painted with watercolors.

Hillary & Andrea 1992, NYC

Portrait of Andrea/Hillary Younglove 1991

Hairpiece/ Andrea David Kronlund

Hairpiece, Self-portrait, china bumps 2

While in NYC,  Andrea started working on a hair series. Originally, the work was done using liquid light and printed on canvas. When Andrea revisited the project in the 2000's she used an inkjet printer and printed on book binding cloth to make her work more accessible.  By that time I had moved to California and lost touch. Oddly enough, I also did a hair series in the 1990's without knowing she had done one! Mine were shot with black and white film then hand colored using watercolors. I also did a series of large scale oil paintings. You may recognize Andrea's face in one of them.

African & African American Hair as Sculpture/Hillary Younglove

Fashion Shoot for Krull Magazine/Andrea David Kronlund

Here is a link to the hour long interview with Andrea.  Andrea Davis Kronlund is currently working on a new series which is influenced by her past photographic work and her job at the National Museums for World Culture in Stockholm, Sweden. Recently,  Andrea established Krull Magazine. "Krull Magazine is a creative digital platform and the preeminent, lifestyle publication for black culture in Stockholm, Sweden. Krull brings together alternative perspectives of black culture to change perceptions, break stereotypes and include a diversity of voices." 

Andrea's work will soon be on billboards in LA through Billboard Creative. 

Studio Visits with Mosaicists, Pippa Murray in Northern California and Carrie Reichardt in London

Pippa Murray is a local mosaicist who works on commissions around the world. You can see her work in Spain, Greece and throughout the Bay Area. Pippa was classically trained and is fascinated with traditional mosaic techniques based off of her studies of ancient Greece and Rome. She works with traditional materials and tools. 

Pippa with her daughter, Ithaka

A work in progress

We learned a lot about ancient techniques and design through Pippa's engaging lecture. 

CARRIE REICHARDT

Today we visited with artist, Carrie Reichardt, who lives in the suburbs of London in Chiswick. Carrie is a contemporary mosaicist as you can see from her methods of cutting, use of color, mixed media and design. Reichardt gave a talk on how she became a mosaic artist, ceramicist and activist. Her friendships forged with inmates on death row in Texas influenced her development as an activist artist and led to a 20 year long project, mosaicing the facade of her house.

Take a tour with the BBC below.

Today, Carrie is working on a number of public art projects such as the Elm Tree of Life, which incorporates stories from the local area with the urban environment and its natural past. Carrie collects historical imagery and embeds the images in the tile, a modern technique often used in public art.

Her talk to the students was powerful. (Click on the link for the entire lecture. One hour long. ) Carrie deals with personal trauma through her artwork. It's always inspiring to see artists who use their creations to move out of dark places. Carrie's artwork is anything but dark. It is colorful, playful, uplifting to view and loaded with personal symbolism.