Art-less In The City



I saw this on our Saturday walk from Brooklyn to the lower east side. Not the best looking sculpture but honestly seeing it made me really miss the sculpture studio I had back in Virginia. (For a while I was making these terra cotta sculptures that I'd pitfire using sawdust, pine needles, and twigs. I sold them under the auspices of a company I set up called MinervaJane Earthworks.)

Here's an example.



I was also making some masks at the time that sort of looked like a cross between Monk's The Scream and a traditional western african mask. The lighting isn't so great in this picture but you can sort of see what I mean.



Those didn't sell all that well--too intense, I think. Weird, huh? When a white middle class girl from the suburbs closes her eyes and lets her soul pour out, that's what appears. But these nudes I made? Like fucking hotcakes. And everytime I'd work one of the craft fairs that pepper the midatlantic during the summer months, I'd sell out my entire stock to a series of middle aged men. One time, a guy came back the second day of the crafts fair to return one because his wife didn't like it.

So why haven't I pursued finding a studio space here in NYC? Well, cost was a huge factor. I couldn't really justify spending $500-$800 for a studio, plus the cost of the materials. Back in Virginia I just used our huge basement and back yard. But you know each Spring when the flowers come out and the world reawakens I just miss it all over again...