Artist of the Week Redux: Stacy Scibelli

So good we had to feature her twice (!), Stacy Scibelli The Wundermaker is at it again. This time she's working on a most interesting project titled Suit Yourself wherein the artist has undertaken the Herculean task of designing, cutting, sewing, and wearing a new outfit—down to the underwear!—every day for 30 days. And not only that, but she also arranges and displays each piece of clothing as a wall sculpture that she then photographs. But wait, there's more! Stacy is also documenting her process everyday on her website where you can see each piece she's created, on her person and on the wall, and read her thoughtful commentary on her sometimes frustrating but always revelatory creative process. It's all super inspiring. 

This one goes two ways!

Among her daily expositions, she also talks about what audio books she's listening to while she works and what she's eating for lunch, mundane details to many perhaps, but I for one love peeking inside the artist's studio to get a closer look at who they are behind the grand explanation of what the work MEANS. I often find my eye wandering away from what's on display towards the shelf where they stash their favorite tea and the table where pencil cups brim with their best pens. An aside, I know, but getting to see the personal details makes the whole professional picture so much rounder and fuller, don't you think?

Stacy's only eleven days deep right now and I'm already hooked. 

You would be too! Check out her daily posts on stacyascibelli.com

- Cathleen 

  

[All images courtesy of the artist.]

Artist of the Week: Diane Savona

Domestic Armor 

Diane Savona is a textile and fiber artist who uncovers and exalts the domestic handiwork of the past in her own soft sculpture and 2 dimensional work. People don't mend things anymore, they don't learn complicated embroidery techniques from their mothers, or lacemaking at their grandmothers' knees. Diane exhumes these forgotten practices and artifacts,  garments that were made to last and be passed down from generation to generation, and reemphasizes their worth by deconstructing and repurposing the pieces into something that a new generation can relate to. You can see her hand in every scrap she sews together, and the hands of every woman who darned before her, as if she is holding a magnifying glass up to each French knot and split stitch detail. I especially appreciate the idea of pot holders and aprons as protection and armor. She takes these kitchen garments and tools and elevates them to the level of self-defense for women in the face of their always challenging everyday battles.

Overgrown Fossil, 68"x 49"

Domestic Markings, 32.5"x 20"

Preserved corsets and girdles from Soft-Bodied Specimens

First Apron Excavation, 50"x 33"

Exhibition photograph from her solo show Closet Archeology at The Hermitage Museum in 2010

All images courtesy of the artist's website: www.dianesavonaart.com

- Cathleen 

Can't Be Killed

Plaster Succulent Sculpture, 3-4" tall x 3-3.5" wide

$18 from Waterstone Succulents on Etsy

Try as I may, I am not the best at keeping plants alive in our non-temperature controlled apartment. So I've decided to investigate some artificial greenery that will liven up the place without the yucky silk flower look of most grandmotherly arrangements. These beauties will survive FOREVER without water and sunlight! AND they are all made of totally different materials! 

Brass Spring Onion Vase, 13.25" tall

$29 from Harmonicajane on Etsy

Fabric Terrarium in Ball Jar, 4" tall x 2.5" wide

$47 from Crystalistic on Etsy

Glass Venus Flytrap, 4" tall x 2" wide

$45 from Emergent Glassworks on Etsy

- Cathleen 

Drawn in Fabric

Even though I am a self-professed art lover, I am often loath to go see gallery shows. I have a lot of issues with the art industry and the commodification of art in general. Seriously, don’t get me started. Admittedly, my prejudices often get in the way of me seeing some truly incredible stuff, but more often than not, I resign myself to reading about shows rather than experiencing them in person, and often these exhibitions are long gone by the time I get the chance to read about them anyway. Case in point, I am still kicking myself over having missed this one. Gallery Cheim & Read recently put on a show of fabric drawings by one of my all-time favorite artists, Louise Bourgeois.

During her life, Louise Bourgeois created a vast body of work that included drawings, paintings, sculpture, installation, and assemblages of found objects, but she only received the critical recognition she deserved when she had her first retrospective at MoMA at the age of 71. Her work dealt with the psychological themes of family, home, childhood, as well as the body, sexuality, and pain. Her art is deeply personal, yet it always deeply resonates with something inside me. I am constantly surprised by how fresh and contemporary her work feels, consistently in touch with the current climate of what's happening in art today. These fabric drawings were made from old clothes that belonged to the artist and her family. 

I had the great honor of being invited to one of her famous salons before she passed away last year at the age of 98. Being granted an audience with one of the grande dames of the art world will always be one of the greatest experiences of my life. Before she joined the small coterie of artists who had gathered in her sitting room that Sunday, the tension in the air was palpable. Even after Louise took her seat behind the small table set up for people to spread out their drawings and photographs for her to see, every person in the room seemed to hold their breath until they were called. I was one of the last to go, my hands shaking as I untied the strings on my portfolio to show her some of my hair drawings and photographs of recent installations. She didn’t speak much at all that day, but looked with a quick concentration at every piece I pulled out and nodded her approval at each one I presented. After I‘d shown her everything I’d brought, I thanked her profusely for the opportunity and reached out and shook her hand, only remembering later with a knot of regret in my stomach that she didn’t like when people touched her, as she was a known germophobe and rarely left her house for fear of getting sick. Other things I’d heard before my appointment that day were that she wouldn’t hesitate to eviscerate an artist if she didn’t like their work. So I guess I didn’t do too bad, all things considered.


- Cathleen 


[All photos via Cheim & Read]