Visual Poetry and Colin Chase at #VermontStudioCenter

An awesome human being, Chase approaches his work and materials questioning each part- what it is, what it was, and what it could be. As a sculptor, he understands that materials all have a history and he hopes tap into that and at the same time to encourage new meaning. He can re-purpose four basketball hoops to become a mystical icon. By combining different objects into a new whole, the sculptures resonate with wit and spirit. His work is elegant and full of word play.

Elegy#2

Filter#3

Like my father, Chase equates living with learning. A lot of what he works with are games, codes, history, art history. He is a dumpster diver like the best of them, (including my father...) and I imagine he has warehouses full of collected parts that feeds his iconography in the right timing.
Living outside NYC, Colin teaches at City College and calls Home Depot and Lowes his jungle for roaming and attaining new ideas, resources, etc.
When he came to my studio to do the critique I found he was able to access the work, and understand what was missing and sense the trajectory I desired to be on. We had a great time and ideas soon flew back and forth between us. He talked about juxtapositions of different pieces that I have already made and that were hanging lifeless and isolated on their own. Together the works started to come together like poetry. It was all my language, I just hadn't put together the sentence. By stitching together smaller paintings I am able to create larger works. It is a method I used when the kids were little and I only had time to work small. I would create tiny paintings and put them in a shoe box until I had an evening when I could sew them together for a larger whole. They were fun to do, and held some dream like quality for me as they manifested themselves playfully.
It is all about showing up to do the work and then knowing when to play!

My work...Seeds: paint, embroidery, felt, plaster, burlap, paper, a found glove, plastic plants and apple on shelf

I hope this work of mine, SEEDS,  speaks tenderly of what it means to be human and cultivating a life of learning.