Sweet & Simple
This series was created in collaboration with Lindsay Oesterritter during a residency at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Lindsay and I were studio neighbors and thought it would be fun and challenging to share our studio practice with each other. Although we both work in clay, our techniques, firings and surfaces could not be more different from each other. These works were exhibited in Roswell Art Center West Gallery, Roswell, Georgia in 2009.
Impact
This installation was made in collaboration with multimedia artist, Estephania Gonzalez for the 2023 ArtLink Artist Gala at Park Central, Phoenix, AZ.
As artists, we both work in various different media and forms of expression, but through this collaboration, quickly found that we share a lot of conceptual common ground. Both of us have a love and appreciation for wilderness and find a sense of peace and healing in nature. Our artistic practices are very influenced by environment and a specific sense of place. And, like many artists, we have a deep concern for the undeniable human impact on our environment as well as the process for accepting that responsibility and moving forward in the world.
We began our collaborative process for this installation by meeting at a trailhead northeast of Phoenix, in a part of the desert that had been scarred by the Bush Fire of 2020. As we moved through the landscape, we noted how fire had traveled through wilderness, leaving skeletons, scars and surprising areas of untouched thriving life. The experience of the hike itself echoed this variety with steep rocky ascents, stunning views, pummeling wind and the relief of running water. As is typical of experiences in the natural world, it was a mix of the uncomfortable and the sublime. Our conversation circled around the increasing sense of importance for humans to connect with wilderness on a personal and physical level, our participation in a society that continually steers us further from that connection, and a sense of helplessness around our ability to make a positive environmental impact, or at least less of a negative one.
In response, our video, performance and installation capture the contradictions of living in a world that we love deeply, but will always impact, sometimes irreparably. We question how nature can be upheld as sacred and simultaneously be burned and riddled with the marks of violence. What expectations, goals, anxieties or fears do we take to natural spaces, and how do those energies translate into the marks we leave behind?
Acceptance
This installation was made in collaboration with photographer, Cyd Peroni for the 2022 ArtLink Artist Gala at Park Central, Phoenix, AZ. Cyd and I spent several months discussing commonalities between our artistic interests and concepts. We landed on the theme of “acceptance” as a concept that we both struggle with and aspire to in our own separate ways.
Our thoughts on Acceptance:
”Maybe acceptance is like breathing, a flow of energy like rising and retreating tides. I inhale through my nose, gathering myself and my thoughts. Then come the in-between beats of acceptance where I hold the breath somewhere in my chest and throat. I exhale an audible sigh through my mouth to release frustration and negativity, making room for the next breath in and the possibility of …”
-Cyd Peroni
”To me, acceptance is maintaining an openness in the face of situations that make me want to curl up in a ball and close myself off. It's a challenging position, both physically and mentally. Acceptance is an action, not an acquiescence. It takes strength to make the choice to accept. It's an action that is complex because it it's not about fighting or defending, both typical reactions to provocation. It's about making the decision to live in the moment, the situation that is presented to us. Only after accepting that moment can we move forward with clarity.”
- Magda Gluszek
In response to these conversations, I built a life-sized figure from clay in an expressive yoga pose. This yoga pose ( dhanurasana - bow pose) kept coming to my mind because it is challenging. It pushes your body open, creating a circular shape, which reminds me of cycles. Acceptance is cyclical, a process that I find myself faced with over and over again as situations and my reactions to them, change. This pose brings attention to the physical body. It makes you aware of your breath, which is difficult in this position, restricted, restrained. Breathing deeply and noticing your breath is advice that is often given when a situation feels overwhelming. It's a way to focus on the present moment, on this life-giving action, instead of the situation which provoked our anxiety, fear or anger. The breath can cleanse us by allowing us to release some of that tension, let go of those emotions. It can refresh us by allowing us to take in fresh air, fresh input, a refreshed perspective on the situation. Is she breathing to release a stream of toxic thought, a reaction to whatever caused her emotions to bubble up in her gut and burn within her chest? Or, is she breathing in the freshness of a new perspective?
To represent breath, Cyd created a lumen image that was scanned, digitized and printed on Habotai Silk. Lumens are made by placing plants, non-organic material and/or liquids in contact with gelatin-silver photo paper, covering with glass to create a good contact, and then exposing to the UV light of the sun. The process required Cyd to collaborate with disparate elements, to accept an outcome largely out of her control, and find the beauty that a collaboration with chance can create.