Friendship: a work-in-progress
Studio day…. trying something a little different with this collage.
I deliberately misaligned the collage pieces again, but this time I’m “joining” the pieces kintsugi-style. Just using gold paint, though, with some guidance from my favorite stencils.
The idea of repairing a broken vessel with lacquered gold has always appealed to me; it’s just now that it means more when I look at my friendships through that lens.
Some relationships are worth saving, even if they’re a little banged up. They might even mean more to you after you’ve put in the work to repair them. Others just look sturdy until they’re tested. Can’t wait to see what else this collage reveals to me.
Motivation for artists: keep going
I knew I wanted to see “yəhaw̓: Together we lift the sky”; I just didn’t realize I needed to see it as well. Parts of my life have been pretty rough during the last month. So I was looking forward to a little distraction. Found it!
HollyAnna DeCoteau Littlebull made “Lifts the Sky” out of 15,190 pieces of upcycled plastic and about 150 cubic feet of Styrofoam. Stunning — but here’s the kicker. HollyAnna says she’s completely colorblind.
HollyAnna DeCoteau Littlebull (in red jacket) with an admirer of her work at “Together we lift the sky”
To her, the statue appears to be various shades of brown and gray.
Her friends helped make the Bigfoot statue possible by separating the plastics by color for her. Pretty cool metaphor: we can do Big Things Together. In fact, the metaphor’s right there in the exhibit name. The project’s website translates yəhaw̓ as “to proceed, to go forward, to do it.” I needed a reminder to keep going, and that my friends will come with me.
The exhibit at King Street Station features work from 200 Indigenous artists living in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana and British Columbia. That’s a lot of art to take in during one trip, which is why I’d suggest you visit at least two or three times to absorb everything. Good thing the exhibit will be open until mid-August 2019. That’ll give me time for more inspiration, and time to make more work of my own.
Liberty Bank Building: when worlds converge
My art planets must be aligned this weekend: two pieces of Seattle history are converging, and I’ve made art inspired by both!
When the Liberty Bank Building apartments open for Saturday afternoon’s grand opening party, you’ll get the chance to see the collage portraits I made of the bank’s founders. Those pieces are permanently installed in the Residents’ Lounge… and I just found out Miriam Pratt will be one of the people living here!
We met a few months ago at the exhibit opening of “Living the Dream, Dreaming the Life” which honored Miriam’s father Edwin Pratt. This year marks the 50th anniversary of his assassination., and honors his civil rights activism. At Shoreline City Hall, you can see artwork inspired by images from the Pratt family archives (now held by the Black Heritage Society of Washington) .
In a Seattle Medium interview , Miriam said her new home at Liberty Bank is just a few blocks away from where her parents lived before they moved to Shoreline. Talk about coming full-circle… this move sounds positively cinematic in its resolution.
Come help her (and us artists) celebrate!