This is Alex (or Lexi) at ArtOMatic 08 discussing her creation, which I always thought of as a flower, made up of many (many!) used coffee filters sewn together.  Talk about recycling! (for some really lovely pictures of this piece back lit, click on her catalog page below).

 

Alex's work always presents itself as something other than what it is, at least to me, and her piece this year creates the same sense of wonder, a yearning to sit and contemplate and see where the communion between piece and mind might take you.  Mostly it's feelings and not words, a bodily reaction to something I don't quite understand but like a lot.

 

On her ArtOMatic 2009 catalog page Alex says:  I am inspired by the transformative process of massing, which causes 'gross trash' objects to become beautiful, dynamic scultpure when gathered together.  Through this transformation, I also explore our eternal quest to stop – or at least slow down – the ephemeral, fundamental nature of the organic:  to die."

 

Alex made an awesome video of her space at ArtOMatic this year, so I'm going to include that as well as my own static pictures. (here's the URL in case this html doesn't come up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkFro-44Bw4, you may have to type this in yourself.)

 

 

 

 

She is in a small enclosed space that I almost missed but has signs up to help those wandering through.  Although she described her work as a "cloud," first I saw rain, then harp strings and on a return visit:  birds flying.  Obviously it defies instant or continuous interpretation.  Which is absolutley delightful!  And why I would love to live with it. 

 

How many ArtOMatics have you done, and if more than 1, what keeps you coming back?

This is only my second – we moved to the area in 2006, and I didn't manage to see the 2007 one in

Crystal

City

(I had no idea what I was missing).

 

Where can one find you this year?

I'm on the third floor, in the tunnel – at the end closest to the stadium.

 

How did you choose what to show at ArtOMatic?

I've been working on and thinking about this piece for over 4 years – I started it when my son was about 8 months old. I was in love with the material – grapefruit pith dipped in wax – but just couldn't figure out what it should be doing. I completely put the material and piece aside almost a year ago when I started working more with coffee filtes, but this form has been bubbling in the back of my head for about 5 months.  I decided to put it up for Artomatic this year because this is the first time I've had this much space to work in since I moved here.  I was also feeling ready to throw the idea around again, and see how it came together.  I know it's still not done….

 

How long have you been making art?

I've been making art steadily since 1999, when I started grad school – before that I was doing theatre design.

 

What do you do when/if you hit a slump?

Walk away…. I have such a full life with my job and my family, that I have lots to distract me from getting too stressed out when I get stuck (which I do, regularly).  Also, I try to have at least 2 different pieces (often 3 or 4) developing at the same time, so that I always have something else to turn my attention to – my biggest danger is always overworking a piece.

 

Who are your favorite artists and what inspiration do you draw from them?

Ann Hamilton totally inspires me with her sense of materials, of movement, of objects in space and sensory experiences for the viewer.  Also, she's a mom and an artist, and not crazy, so she's a good role model.

    William Kentridge, the South African illustrator, etc, also has a sensibility of symbols and movement that is very powerful.

 

Have you had a chance to look around ArtOMatic yet this year?  Do you have any instant favorites?  any returning favorites?

I haven't been able to look around any where near as much as I'd like to, but I have found several pieces that I fell in love with immedeately – the 'cave' paintings by Soline Krug (what a fantastic use of orange), and the piece made of knotted/ripped sheets on the 7th floor, that's applied directly to the wall between the men's bathroom and the elevators.

 

Where else can we see your work?

I'm not up anywhere else at the moment, but you can see my work from recent past shows at the Target Gallery, the ArtDC gallery in Hyattsville, and on my website.

 

Anything else you'd like to add about yourself, your work, art in general?

I can't think of anything that doesn't sound pretentious ;]

 

thought for the day:  We can look for challenge and inspriation abroad or within our current work.  It's all bound to help in some way, even if that help is often mysterious.  What always helps, thought, is having a sense of ambition about our future work, wanrting it to be terrific in some way we only get hints of in the work of other artists.  Larry M. Brow, "The Piece you wish you made", Ceramics Monthly, December 2008 pg 80