Ferris and I have the January show at 111 minna in san francisco in the front room- it opens January 4th (opening is 5-late. hope you can come!) , and we're just in the studio a lot these days- sorry for lack of posts. Anyways, the new works are my takes on religious imagery (there's really a lot of great symbology to play with. i have always been hugely fascinated by the drama and romance and glamour of catholicism- i was always jealous of those kids for getting to sit in those amazing cathedrals, youknow...)- i'm reinventing a few saints for the show, and ferris is taking on the seven deadly sins through the eyes of dante.
I've learned a lot while researching for this show- it seemed a strange theme to take on- i wouldn't necessarily call myself religious by any traditional means, though i was raised methodist.
it makes sense for many reasons- art is rooted in religion in so so many ways- the times in art that i like most are traditional tibetan work (it pretty much has stayed the same) and 1500 1600's european stuff . bosch, jan van eyck- back then if you had artwork, you were either a church or really really rich, or alternatly you were really rich and comissioned a piece for your local church or cathedral to atone for your sins, or to show devotion to a particular saint. in which case, the artist would represent you in some way in the piece. though it seems like a lot of the donors got painted out later down the line, for easier sale....
churches comissioned bigger altar pieces for mass contemplation, and smaller icons were for contemplation on a very personal scale, so i've kept the pieces pretty small for the most part. there are a few bigger ones, but i like having these on a smaller scale, so they're a little closer- i like the miniature nature of some russian icons, though the ones i am making are a little larger than those.
those are my thoughts for the moment, perhaps not so cohesive, but everything is coming together in the right ways. trust me!
-k