ZOËLAB: THE LIFE AS ART BLOG
To Do Collage
Indirectly inspired by assignment #56 from Learning to Love You More, mentioned in art world post, I made a collage. It started out free style--I leafed through some old magazines, cutting out images that had significance to me, but instead of being a portrait of my friend’s desires (assignment #56), it ended up being a visual to do list.
another museum adventure
The museum allows photography, the general admission is free, and it also offers many interactive resources as a way to engage in the art. Though out the time I was in the museum, I periodically welled up with emotion because I was so inspired by the space and the art, and after two years of motherhood, it felt like the beginning of my return to art.
museum adventures
To continue with my insider/outsider perspective of the art world theme, and to honor the photo from yesterday’s post, (which was taken at Mass MoCA) I want to share some photographs that I have taken in some of my favorite places to photograph: museums. There are not very many museums in the world that will let you take photographs inside them. But there are a few. Taking pictures is is a way to have a more interactive experience when I go into a museum. Instead of just being an observer, I become participant. I go from outsider to insider. But, in the end, I feel even more like an outsider.
Art World: Outsider/Insider, Part Two
Making art was no longer about ego gratification and being clever, but it became a soul need. It became a way of living. A way of making meaning out of life, so that I could have a more playful, creative relationship with myself, and with others. It was a way to take myself less seriously, but at the same time take my feelings more seriously. I found something I really believed in. Making art in this way is magical, deep and satisfying.
Art World: Outsider/Insider, Part One
I have always had an ambivalent relationship with the visual Art World. Even though my mother is a painter, with an MFA in art, and I was a Studio Art major in college and grew up in New York City, getting to go to some of the finest museums and galleries in the world and I have dedicated to my life to the study, practice and teaching of the arts, there was a clear moment when I decided that I would not become a professional visual artist in the traditional sense. I knew, somehow, that I did not want to make art to sell in museums or galleries. I have had a few pieces in shows here and there, but really, it has not been my goal. This project ZOELAB is the most I’ve put myself out there as an artist in my life.
Turning Against The Self
Sometimes we get what we want, and we rejoice.
Sometimes we get what we want, and fear makes us recoil.
Sometimes we don’t get what we want, and we learn and grow.
Sometimes we don’t get what we want, and we turn against ourselves.
GeGe & MeiMei, Part Two
The other lessons that came from Alexander were cultural. One day, sometime in the mid eighties, while waiting for the bus in Brooklyn, Alexander turned to me and gravely stated: “Promise me, Zoë, that you will never wear designer jeans.” I asked him why, and he said, “just promise me.” So I promised him.
GeGe & MeiMei, Part One
In honor of his visit, I want to write a post about the person who had the biggest idealogical influence on me during my coming of age--my older brother, Alexander. Just last night, we were having an intense conversation about how freeand authentic I feel in our new life in the desert, and how strange and surprising it is that my life has taken this direction. I found myself confessing how deeply anti-capitalist I’ve become. At first, I sensed a hint of defensiveness on his part--as he had just confessed to his recent shopping spree in LA.
Dia de los Muertos
It’s the first day of November. It’s also Dia de los Muertos. A day whereMexicans honor the dead. The two most recently deceased beings I know are Bashi, our friend Bruce’s white german shepard, and Da Sol, our friend Omar’s blue healer.
Links to Poetic Truths of Animals, Communication & Health
In writing classes that I’ve taught and taken, we have sometimes used prompts, small pieces of writing by others to get the juices flowing. In this case, I am offering pieces of random news as possible prompts for ideas and for interest. Many of these were found on a blog called shines like gold by Imp Kerr, “an insightful fiend living in New York City” that compiles interesting news on the new inquiry.
This is what we touched or where we stood and when
It’s so difficult to draw hands and feet, yet so easy to photograph them.
How did it get this way?
The freedom is inside, the outside is a mess. The life I see before me is not the life I ever imagined. It surprises me daily with its fiction, its ability to tell stories.
Inspiration from Children's Books
Aesthetics are the language of our soul. When we are children, we are living closest to our souls. I think this is why books or music from our childhood continues to have such a powerful impact on who we are as adults.
Eleven Years
The faces show that our hearts have expanded to show how death has always been part of us.
On Inspiration
To be an artist one needs to have courage, discipline and an ability to express truth. But to be able to continue to be an artist, one needs to be inspired.