Print that!

Heyyyy! How’re you?

This last term of grad school had been so crazy fun! A million things at a million miles an hour. A million! Yep.

Through all the other good stuff I’ve been working in a group printing an edition of fancy prints for awesome artist Nicola Lopez. Its part of a cool program at city college called City Editions led by masterprintmaker genius Megan Foster. Nicola Lopez has a fantastic show up at Pace Prints right now which you should see if you can! Wonderful prints that push the media in exciting directions. Look her up! The project I’ve been working on combines woodblocks, etching, collage and embossing, and will culminate in 2 prints, in editions. It’s been really fun and a great experience to learn how printshops produce editions with artists. A totally different methodology than just printing for oneself. But the efficiency I’ve honed through this certainly crosses over into the prints I am making in my own practice. Also I have made some really good friends! And will help more artists print because of this! So it’s like the best thing ever.

I’ve been really excited about printmaking lately! I got to TA a great relief (lino mostly) class for Carl Fudge who’s paintings and prints you need to look up! He and the class were wonderful! I loved working with those people, lots of great prints came out if that class and the smart students! Also I’ve been pulling 2×4 prints! What I mean by that is I carve and print 2×4 boards. I also have done large plywood, and am working on another board (the dimensions of which is around 1x12x40). I have to hand print them, so they take a while, and muscle, and its been awesome. I use the print shop at City when no one else is around and listen to loud music, it’s really fun!!!

In fact I just finished another 2×4 print today! This one is called ‘The roadtrip we’ll take’. It’s 4 layer combo of reduction and multiple block goodness.

Rad!

I am so tired and need to finish up one of the last assignments I will have in this school. I really want to go to the beach soon, so I need to finish up a bunch of things! Also graduating, ummm, yeah.

Oh my broccoli is ready! You take care alright!

Katie

Sashes and baby plants

Heyyy!

Here are some new pics!
Stay tuned for more!

K

Chipping away.

Hey there.
I am just chipping away at this thesis show, one thing at a time. Yes.
So here are some new in process pictures!
Yay! K

PS Looking forward to ‘recreation’, march 18-22 @ Compton-Goethals Gallery on w 140th & Amsterdam, nyc. Reception weds mar 20th, 5-8. Thesis!

Fall Update Thing

I just woke from a dream about a teaching relay race type course, where I was running through the dark with some people I know. Right before I woke up I had aced the competition involving catching, cooking and eating a rattlesnake, and was moving on to the part with jumproping over big metal pieces tall as bike racks. The idea behind the relay course was to prove that you were good enough to be a professor, and prove that you’d do specific things even if they were dangerous or self destructive – for the sake of something bigger than you. This made me realize that I should check in on this blog, and relate my actual life to that dreamworld – as I keep up this educational journey, which is fun, and dangerous to my bank and relationships. Yay!!! Rattlesnakes!!!

My first week of school was great. The new year of students started, and they seem nice, interesting and variously talented (there are just 6, like my year). I have some awesome professors, and I am thankful for them. And am doing some more screen printing, and less sculpture – but still some of course. And I’m still working on video and books. I’ll show you when I get something finished… almost done with a new book. I’m going over to the studio pretty soon – even though it’s my last saturday off until it’s snowy and I’m living in my parka. I need to make stuff! And start working on my thesis!

And yeah, what I said is true, today is my last saturday off until December. I’m starting an internship next week! At the awesome AIR Gallery, which is now located in DUMBO (that’s ‘down under manhattan bridge overpass’, kind of far from here, but the first stop into brooklyn – which is kitty-corner and down more from west harlem). I’ll be there on fridays and saturdays working on exhibition stuff. I’ll be a point person for artists and I’ll help organize exhibition related information. I’ll learn all kinds of stuff about gallery management and I am excited! Also I will be at the openings, which will totally be fun. Come over!

AIR is super rad! It’s a feminist gallery, with a membership, but I don’t think it’s run like a co-op. I actually need to start before I really know about it’s mechanics. So I will update soon with more! The gallery started just about 40 years ago, a group venture of and for women artists. There wasn’t (still isn’t but it’s way way better) equal representation or opportunity in the art world for women artists so they made that happen themselves. This is totally my kind of thing! I’m super excited.

This is the AIR website, check it out! If you study feminist art you will find many familiar names who have been involved with the gallery through the years. Pretty revolutionary. And I am honored to be able to help out this coming term. And to learn how to be that kind of awesome as I shape my artworld career.

I will be very busy. And I will be at the studio most of my evenings and early mornings, and some daytimes without classes. I will try to figure out the internet there, but mostly I will be offline. Another change I’m looking forward to, though I do really like the internet. It’s time to focus again. Summer is over.

Take good care, you!

Love, K

PS Here are a few pictures of the studio, as it changes…

New Studio! (& New Museum.)

Hello!

Well I’m all moved into my new studio!

I am in love with it. Yesterday I was there for 9 hours and feel like I got pretty settled. Today I was there for another few and I actually got to work on art! It feels really different, more calm, more light (vs heavy, as well as more direct morning sun), and honestly its more fun (so far i want to be there in my every waking moment, that’s a good sign). It’s also a better shape for me, it has nooks, which i LOVE and feels more magical somehow. The windows are so dreamy. I have 3! They open so I get breeze!

The new space is going to help me start my last year of grad school in a more kickass way, instead of being overwhelmed by moving across the country I am going to make so much true awesome work and intern in a revolutionary oldschool feminist gallery (more on that later) and learn about teaching. And I am going to win!

Today (before the bulk of the thunderstorm which is rattling my windows now) I went to the studio in the morning then down to the New Museum in the early afternoon to see Nathalie Djurberg‘s show – and also saw a group show called Ghosts in the Machine (arts relationship to technology w psychological/edelic surprises) and Carlos Motta‘s work, which were all also very good. That link stuff will help you see more, very worth it! Click!

I went to the museum with Gayla Martin and Shannon McBride, who are super awesome artists that go to school with me. We got to visit with Peter Fankhauser, who is a City College MFA alumni one of the best artists I have met. I am really lucky to be here now, I’ve been able to study with some phenomenal artists (as professors and peers). And I’m only halfway done! There’s more to come…

But for now here are some pictures of my new studio! I will update soon again, because you will notice my empty walls in these pictures – and they will be full of artwork very soon!

Love,
Katie

i found this cicada in the studio the day i moved in, so put it on the sill and away it flew.

this was before i got organized. Hmm.

look at that dreamy light! and the windows! swoon! I wish I was there not at home procrastinating scrubbing the floors.

workstations, with future work on paper and stop motion action planned.

empty walls. drawing station.

more empty walls, with some mossy fun in the works. i have a nice plant station finally. i blame my mom for my wanting things to always be so organized. thank you sweet mom!

moving studios

Hi there!

Um, so I’m moving my studio from CCNY’s Shepard Hall to Compton-Goethals Hall. Across Convent Avenue, into the heart of the old schools small art department. Very different feelings in the different spaces. Before I finish moving over I wanted to post a few pictures of Shepard.

I really will miss it, but I am excited to move as well. I’m moving into a huge divided up room, so it will have more of a community feeling. My studio will be about the same size. Shepard Hall was a little lonely, and I have enough of that already, so it was time for a change. I’ll still be a lone wolf, just in a new way. Though, if you know me you’ll remember my years in faux co-op studios. I do well with community, it’s what I like.

From these pictures you’ll see, the building is just gorgeous. My studio was a little haunted, but not in a bad way. I will miss the skylight and the green tiles. It was like working in a turret. I’ll post pictures of my new space soon. It is awesome in a different way. Very exciting.

Shepard Hall!

short spring

hi!!!

so, here i am, after not being very bloggy for a while. sorry about that friends. it’s been pretty nice out here, warm already, sunny, humid and dry (that’s an oxymoron, what i mean is it hasn’t rained much). so i’ve been trying to get out and see this new york thing as much as i can.
mostly though, i’ve been woking on a lot of stuff in school. school school school school school school.

i just got out of a fun and busy spring break, with some wonderful house guests, my parents visiting, and a couple of friends coming through new york (well more than that but 2 that i got to see). and making stuff and writing papers.

ahh, the papers. they’re kind of long. i am looking forward to being done with those. so i can research other things and work on the labor and time intensive art that i like to make. i love school, but it’s a lot of talk, and that is great, but i miss being in the studio all day. class is fun but very distracting from studio or other things.

speaking of that, i’ve been in the studio growing plants and working on how to combine this with my art! very exciting! i wish i had time to go see the art of people who are also doing this, because it is out there right now. i want to kick myself in the face because i mostly just do school work. but i’m doing everything i can do every day, so i will reserve the injuring myself for the art making process. thank you very much.

so, i’m still working on that stop motion animation that has completely taken over my life. i’ve had some completely awesome studio visits lately, from professors, visiting artists and other folks in my program. i am looking forward to taking 10000 more pictures, editing and finishing that thing (should refer to it as ‘the monster’). i’m getting there. slowly. and i need to start working on the soundtrack! anyone want to contribute? it’s a monster movie so i need anticipatory violins.

i’m thinking about noise, but structured music will creep in too. i’ve never used sound in art before. but i’d never made movies just 2 months ago, so here we are. well, actually i made a few as a teenager. hmmm. well, i don’t know if that applies to this project but it will probably apply to the next one. i am really enjoying using technologies i employed as a young person. like sewing. but hell i’d hardly used sewing in art before 9 months ago. so that’s a whole other ball of wax there, right. new new new.

other than that i am still working with plants. i got really excited to do some gardening in the city, and tried to figure out how to do that within my school or nearby, but have been having trouble getting in touch with the right people, or active people, or people who are working in this way already, or people who know what i’m talking about. gardening. like food plants. the days pass, and we get further into garden season… so i’m not sure that will fully happen this year. but hopefully i can just help a few people who are already doing it. also there’s the part about new york’s humidity and heat. so i’m not sure how practical my desire to work hard out in the wet heat is. so i am looking for some part time work indoors actually.

there are lots of people with little urban farms, in abandoned lots, and on rooftops, and there is a huge network of community gardens all over the city. i’m sure i’ll find something. so much already exists so i don’t have to worry as much as i do about soil toxins or revolution. i just want to help. in a broad and also specific way. new york was farmland once, like all of the other cities, and it is interesting to try to find a balance within modern and traditional food growing ideas. here are some awesome links, if you are interested in this too:

http://bronxfarmers.blogspot.com/, http://brooklyn.ny1.com/content/top_stories/158005/urban-farm-effort-helps-sprout-hunger-awareness, http://grist.org/urban-agriculture/peebottle-farms-the-dirt-on-the-dirt/ (i have a lot more links, so let me know if you want them, then i will post more about this thing more).

i wish i had a video to show you, but i will soon. i will get some good stuff to you soon though, give me a few weeks. i’m approaching finals now and getting ready for some excitement, like an open studio that i will post more about soon (i think it’s on may 11th and 12th, friday evening and saturday in the day). and i am looking forward to summer, camping, work, as will many long hours of quiet studio time, all of which i need. hopefully i will get a residency too. fingers crossed, but i haven’t heard back from one yet, and the other i didn’t get. got to keep on keeping on!

hey, you know that photo of rats above, well a bigger and differently arranged version of my rat pack will be in the ccny sculpture show that is opening next thursday. come to the compton goethals gallery to see the pack all next week,  the opening is thursday evening, the 27th!

cool, i’m going to go work on my papers now.

love, katie

ps i will post about the upcoming open studio more soon!

Winter? Are you over yet?

Hey~

I am sad to have not posted for so long. I’ve been having health problems and being distracted by school. I should be writing a paper! HA!

I just wanted to drop a line to say that I just wanted to drop a line. Mostly hello, you world out there.

I’m here in New York and homesick for the other side of the continent. Or some wooded areas even. But school is going well. And I’ve been making so much artwork! And I’ve been reading about and seeing a lot of art too.

Last weekend I went to 3 museums in 2 days, then had a headache for 4 days… the headache part totally derailed my week, but I’m mostly better and have discovered that excedrin and mountain dew can help (thanks Heather and Axel for these suggestions)! I also moved my desk at home around. And am attempting to work at the desk, which is difficult, as I want to sit in a squishy chair and do my homework (not so good for the old posture). The desk used to be my sewing area, but I need to use it for studying too. So I will make it do both. And I’ll get some new glasses pretty soon here… that will help. Especially since I do not like the style of my current glasses. So I will be able to see better and feel better about myself at the same time. Oh the miracle of science and fashion’s collision.

Otherwise I’m just plugging along with grad school and trying to work out how to make some money. I think I’m going to sell my hair, but that’s a one time thing, not so sustainable. I’d like to work on play sets too. Fingers crossed.

I’ve been doing some basic stop motion. It’s very exciting, but I don’t have much yet. The headache took the wind out of me, right after I got started learning the process. And it got me nice and behind on homework, so I’ve been mostly catching up instead of photographing. But I’ve got most of a new set done, and the good part of another. I think I’m going to get some dirt in there. I really miss dirt, so I might as well put it in my work.

I’ll post a link to it on youtube when it’s done.

Ooo I made a nice salt scrub earlier, you might like it! It was just sea salt (2 tsp), rose oil (a drop), coconut oil (1 tsp), and aloe gel (like 1/4 tsp). You could make more if you wanted to scale it up, and if you have a spare jar to store it in for later. I have a tendency to just make stuff up as I go along, but I’d tried recipes before, and they’re all basically similar. Add the salt to the oil and scrub your face and limbs! I’ve read that you should leave the scrub on for a few minutes too, let it do it’s magic, then wash it off gently with warm water and a wash cloth, then splash on some cold water! The salt draws out toxins and scrubs really well, and the oil is moisturizing. Coconut oil is good for sensitive skin like mine too. And it’s been so dry here my skin is not loving me, as well as the fact that I’ve had the major blas lately, so doing some good smelling self care felt really nice and important. I recommend it!!!! It’s good!!!!

Alright, friends, I leave you with a couple of pictures. Then it’s off to feed the cat, vacuum, clean the bathroom and kitchen, make diner, and do my homework. I’m writing a paper about how Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook’s show, at Tyler Rollins, relates to postmodern ideas about simulacra and simulation and stuff! Whooohoo!!!!! You’re excited for me aren’t you.

xoxok

fishy

fly

bone-egg (video still)

open studio fun!

Hi!

Please excuse the late posting of this – the event was like a month ago! Whoops! I forgot. Huh. This grad school thing is distracting.

Open Studio was fun. It was kind of weird, and I have had crowd/people anxiety for a long time, so it can get pretty intense now that I’ve moved here and barely hang out with anyone. There were a ton of people there (the eye twitch that I developed as soon as we decided to move finally stopped! I don’t recommend 4 months of eye twitch, fyi, yikes). Anyhow, the studio is usually very quiet, if you saw those photos of the space in earlier posts you can imagine… not so much traffic up there. I usually only see a few people in my program, mostly my studio mate, and professors up there.

Anyhow, it was really fun, through whatever personal weirdness that I have.

Lots of people came, many of my awesome professors were there, and my friends Mark and Lauren came all the way from different parts of Queens. THANK YOU GUYS! It was fun to hang out with people from the school some more too. I feel like I am a little too focused on working sometimes, and don’t get to hang out with many of the awesome people I am going to school with.

It was good, overall. It’s always great to hear feedback from the public. And I met some wonderful people, and I got some ideas. And it was really fun to hear how people interacted and reacted to my new work. It is always good to talk about the work, or try to explain it. It really helps me, it seems like I am always figuring out what the heck I’m doing through talking about it. Grad school is great for that. I am learning a lot about myself and the work I do. Opening up the studio to people I don’t know helps me get a fresh perspective too. I’ve had a great studio visit and some wonderful critiques since then, but that open studio really opened up my studio heart.

Awesome! Love, Katie

one of the guys in my program said he was glad there were girls around to do stuff like this! yay girls!

New Studio

Hi!!!!!!!

I have a new studio, at school.

It’s kind of magical and haunted looking. I love it. Its on the top of a gothic building with curved green tiled hallways. I have a studio mate who I haven’t met yet. But otherwise it’s just 2 of us in a big divided room. I have my own skylight.

It has kind of a funny story. We had a lottery, drawing numbers from an envelope, to chose studios. Before this we went around to 10 different studios to see them before we had to decide. Most of them are in the main art area, pretty much in the middle of stuff. They’re in a big room with lots of studios off a central chill area. They have windows and are modern looking. The other studios are in a different building. Up several flights of steps (unless you take the elevator). They are down a narrow curved hallway. There were only a few available up there. One of them was locked and the person with the key wasn’t there. But it was touted to be pretty much the same as the other ones in that area – but with one studio mate instead of two like the other ones, which also had either no skylight and no windows. Well one of them had a skylight.

So we went and drew numbers. I got #1! And I weighed my options. For years I’ve worked in big communal type studios. I love it, but I felt like trying something different for a bit. And sometimes being friendly and in an area with cool people who are making interesting things is distracting. Even though I couldn’t see the studio with a skylight and only one studiomate – I really liked the area it was in. So I chose it! It took me too long. I wasn’t ready to decide, and I drew #1 somehow. But I think I made a good choice.

Then when I finally got the key it turned out that people had been using the room for storage for almost a year. There was so much stuff in there! Lots of stuff! And it was very dusty. And there was so much mouse poop, since someone a long time ago had used the space to make art out of food, and left the art when they left.

So I cleaned a little, then there was a hurricane. So the school was closed, as was the public transportation, and it was a weekend. Then this morning I got there right before someone who had been charged with cleaning the space out. I began to organize the piles and he got there. Actually 2 people, who the bulk of the stuff belonged to. The guy who came to help knew who’s stuff was who’s and saved some in case people wanted to use it. And left some of it for me, because I wanted it. I thought I’d be able to use more of it – but lots of it belonged to people. He took it outside and dealt with it while I swept and “mopped” using plain water and a papertowels (with my foot). Anyhow, it’s all cleaned out now – I was there most of the day working on it. I’m glad to have had so much time to do that today, since classes were canceled because of hurricane aftermath stuff. Tomorrow I will have my first class.

The studio feels like a castle turret. It’s pretty private, although there are people from my program working nearby. One of them, who helped remove the storage situation, helped me get a chair in a crazy room full of stuff. Like Hogwarts “Room of Requirement”, but with half broken furniture, big rat footprints and mold.

Here are some pictures.

personal skylight

shadow of skylight

pile of mouse poop during cleanup

looking out my studio door

the stairway to the tower

the other skylight, the flying buttress

dustscape

cleaning 100 year old dust off my new throne