still breathing

In late 2010 when I posed the question “What if you made the work you really wanted to make, instead of the work you think you should be making?” I did not know that I was closing a decade long chapter in my work. For the past 10 or so years I had been making work that was focused on the action of breathing – intense mark making that, to me, was the manifestation of breathing – mark making in a grid pattern; exchanging breath with the audience.   MARROW, the show that I did at Naropa University was the culmination of that work – in that show there were a few pieces that were alluding to my future direction.

That direction is now in full force.  The past works that I created  about mark making, breath and the grid were leading to what the breath is all about – vastness – the reason that I moved to the West was the vast, open, perpetual space –a place that our breath fills and is returned. Landscape – breathing into the landscape – that is basically what happened to my work.  It is now a manifestation of breathing in the landscape – experiencing the landscape – which I have been doing for quite some time.

The vision is bigger – one could say that I have “raised my gaze”.  The work will be challenge for some. I am not concerned at this point about that. The work is admittedly formal. Steeped in a Modernist tradition and facing Minimalism – as Frank Stella said, “What you see is what you see”.

Additional  notes on my new work will be under the “research, work and Southwest Abstraction: Santa Fe June – August 2012 page of the blog.

Jennie Kiessling on Neo Western Landscape

Excerpt from NWC-TV interview with Cassidy Velazquez and Jennie Kiessling on topic of defining “Neo West” in exhibition: Neo West: Two Voices

So you think you want to change the system?

Last year was a busy year of making and then showing work. There was time to reflect on intention and process. In some ways it was the end of an era for me – one of those things that you can’t exactly verbalize but you know it when you experience it. There has been a gentle seamlessness about it all and now I am in a changed place. I am grateful to and awed and inspired by the last year. This next year will be dedicated to one or two shows, much research and some teaching. A quieter time; a retreat of sorts.

ARTFORUM is my favorite source for immediate art world info. It still has some mind to it -glitzy- yes, but that is part of the market and time in which we live – we do not have to be “in it” if we do not want to. Looking at the latest issue I am struck by it sameness from month to month – a reflection on artists more than the publication. The market is overblown and we bow to it- – - -a waste of time. There is a genuineness of certain work and artists –however, the pressure is intense to produce what is expected. For my regular readers, you know that my steadfast belief is that you do not have to bow to the market – at all actually – just make the work.

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On Twitter I asked “Why do you really make work” only one response came, “To show my work”. This begs the question “Why do you show your work?”  We can see how out of control the market is. This is the time to be thinking clearly about the purpose of a creative life. The exchanges of our ideas and perceptions, beauty, tension, ugliness, etc. are all part – money in the long run – and even in the short run is not a determining factor to the making of genuine work. The system is mythic at this point in the 21^st Century and it is a cyber tiger.

Artists have the power to change all of this – but who wants to? It’s more fun to complain about it, strive for it, be disappointed by it – we are all too comfortable- if you really want to change the system – putting an ad in ARTFORUM, which reeks of elitism, to keep Cooper Union free is not going to make that happen. WAKE UP!

Think about your audience, where you choose to show – change your venue – change your method. It is true that to change the system you have to be in it – but no one is really working to change it- it is action not talk that will create a different market.

Instead of making art out of the boycott- which then becomes the art – Boycott the presenter in the system. (Or are we all too worried about our precious “careers” to really make the necessary move to create a more generous system? – Hell no, let someone else do it – I deserve my fame – Your what???)

Living the creative life is one of the most powerful tools we have. Sharing the numerous manifestations that come from those powerful tools is liberation.

Why do you show your work?

How do you make your studio work a priority?

This week I had conversations with three women artists-more than usual. Among our topics: Not getting to the studio.  After the day job ends with whatever additional obligations they have in their life, they are too tired.  Not physically tired; mentally/emotionally tired.  We discussed how i manage to keep my practice in the forefront of my life. I found the direct question “How do you do it?” a bit daunting. The answer calls for a specific honesty. I didn’t answer the question in the moment, muttering something about time management. I could not go deeper than that.

In the studio now, thinking of the conversations and what the honest answer is. (Before that answer comes the question; why don’t I ever hear men in this conversation?). My response and caveat: this is just my view and the way I have chosen to live my life.  I have been asked this question before. And have thought about it quite a bit actually. Apologies if any of you find that the truth for this painter hurts.

I decided when I was 12 that I was a painter. I made a space in the house; started painting. That space was dedicated to making work. It was not a place for my friends to hang out. No one was invited in – few are invited into my studio today.  At 16 I was at SAIC in the Saturday program.  All day there and in my painting space at home. This means I have had a steady studio practice for just short of 40 years.  Making art is like brushing my teeth, making tea, reading – breathing. It is what i do. I started the discipline early. Like dance I suppose. There is something to be said about muscle memory beyond intellectual commitment.

With the decision to be a painter came the realization that I was not interested in having children. I knew that would hold me back. They would take away from my work. I have never regretted that decision.  Same with marriage – I did marry young (not a wise decision) and then knew I needed to be in the world making art – uninterrupted. Result – divorce.  I always worked in my field. I refused to compromise on that. I was able to think about my work all the time. In conversation and surrounded by other dedicated, smart and often pioneers in the field. To this moment, I constantly am surrounded by artists.  I choose the ones I respect. This included romantic partnerships – i.e. not an artist – not interested.   I always lived in spaces where I could paint – would not live where I could not paint. This meant artists apartments/studios– you know what those are like. Having jobs in the arts meant little income.  Being single allowed for that. Here is the biggest point -it really comes down to knowing what you can live without.  In reality, I did then and continue to live without a lot. Perhaps that is the sacrifice. But if you want to be in the studio that is what is necessary.  A real hard look at what you have vs. what you need. I remember Michiko Itatani saying “The only thing you need to be a painter is a room and a hotplate”. You bet sister.  There are a lot of things you can do without. It is about priorities. This is not  a poverty mentality – it is understanding what it is to be committed to making work.

I did marry again later–Now, still working and married …. I need a wife. I need someone to clean and cook and take care of our little animals. My husband, Andrew, thinks having another wife would be great too (smile). He lives the creative life; writing a book currently. Common sense says he should not be doing all that house stuff, we share…. inevitably I do more of the every day things.  

I have chosen to teach in a very specific way. No  university, no tenure, no committees. You get the picture. Also, it is extremely helpful to not get caught in other people’s neurosis.  They love to invite you in. I drop folks like that very quickly.  You can spend hours on topics of no interest that vanish into thin air. I shut the studio door and do not come out. I do not return phone calls or pick up the phone (as many of you know). Email allows me to control my time.  I am not a social butterfly. You come into the world by yourself you leave by yourself. I am devoted to my teaching but can cut that off when I am not there or grading papers. My students teach me things; I cherish that – it is part of my practice. When I travel, 99%of the time it is with the intention of seeing an exhibition. If I am not seeing culture/art I am not interested, i.e. no beach vacations. I do not spend a lot of time with extended family who I love but… the career comes first.  In general, it is fruitless to explain to someone what you do and how you keep it together – if they are not in the arts they do not understand.  Another waste of time and energy.

 The women artists that I look to for inspiration were tough and very single minded. Most of an earlier generation when it was even tougher to be a woman artist. I have feet in both Modern and Post Modern mind sets  - O’Keeffe, Martin, Nevelson, Mendieta, Abramovic.

I feel as if I have sacrificed nothing. For others this may seem harsh. In the Buddhist tradition it is believed that you choose the family/parents that you enter the world with; you have a certain understanding of the type of place that will be what you need to fullfill your path.  In a nutshell -by the time I was 37 both of my parents had died ( the first parent when I was 3) . The house I grew up in was entirely gone and I had no siblings. I have been on my own for a very long time – this too has been very helpful in my work. I cherish this as well. There is a great difference between being lonely and being alone.  They are not the same thing in any manner or form. Isolation and austerity are great muses.  Less is more.  This is how my work remains a priority.

One painter’s view from the 51st year

A golden Santa Fe birthday - photo by Laura Brent

In February I will be 50. It’s been a fabulous ride. Wouldn’t change one thing. As my blog tag line indicates, if all goes well, I will be making work for another 60 years in the West.

It is early morning. New work on the studio walls with which I am content.  A fire going in the wood burning stove, tea is made, cats playing, dog lounging, husband sleeping. Planning my next semester. Sun rising. The 50^th year has passed actually, it was stellar. A benchmark in many ways. I am entering my 51^st year and this is what it looks like.

Random thoughts.

I have seen a lot of bitter folks in the field, particularly men. Brooding, bitter, f**ks (sorry but that’s how you act) because they did not “make it “. All between 50 and 60 yrs old. They bought the myth. It is a myth. The reality is making work is work. It is not glory. Few are recognized. Making work is not about being recognized.  Don’t blame your education for it. Blame yourself. And if you love the practice of making work go into the studio and stop griping.

Teaching art is a profound opportunity. You have the option to liberate those around you. Don’t make a mini me factory. Don’t attach your students to your apron string and don’t ride on their successes, and don’t hold back on the information. Give them everything you’ve got. Guess what? You will die one day. Your information is good for about 100 years max. “That was my student”. That’s crap. Teach everything you know and let ‘em go.

The young bucks and buck – ette artists are wonderful, just like they think they are but DON’T SPIT IN THE FACES OF THE MUSES – get a degree.  Understand the lineage from which you come and of which you are a part. The intensity of a professional art school is the only way that a particular type of study can occur.  Yes, it is expensive. But it also is a lot of work.  What you’re really fearing is the work. Not the money. Perhaps this is a good thing. What it points to is those who really want to be there will go at any cost. If you don’t have the drive, it wasn’t meant to be.  Like those jaded 50’s and 60′s…  “I could have been in NYC”, (or any other important art mecca, etc.) Well, they are not. If you really want to do it you can. You drop whatever you are doing and you go. It is that simple and that important. You must follow your heart – and be wise. In the long run you will be grateful for the formal education, it will provide you with a facile quality that will allow you to be flexible in your environment.

Also, be radical, but not for the sake of being radical – for the sake of innovation, new thinking and moving the world forward.  Remember cognitive development. We all repeat cognitive behavior (generally speaking). I am doing what 50 year old painters, etc. do and you are doing what 20 and 30 year old painters, etc. do.  Read Stella and Judd’s interview with Bruce Glaser (1966, September Art News) they were smart ass punks.  They sound like every smart ass artist at that age, breaking the world open. That’s how it should be… but remember you will be a 50 year old painter, sculptor, photographer, performance artist, and who knows what other form I will be privileged to see by the time I am 110…Like my great mentors who lived the creative life. I am planning on making work and teaching continuously. If you do not feel that this is the only thing you want to do. It is time to find another life path. If it is what you want to do, bypass the myths and continue on, it is worth every minute.

Reflections on Lucia

Santuario, 2011, 22"x 20" acrylic, earth on wood

This day starts. Struggling with my January post. Suffice it to say there are many plans for my work in 2012. Decisions about my path as a painter and teacher. A strong hard look over the last year about the relationship of sacrifice to perfection.

Santuario holds what i know most intimately in my quietest moments and what fills my veins while many  around me are unaware. Inevitably this all passes into emptiness.

“Good and bad, happy and sad, all thoughts vanish into emptiness like the print of a bird in the sky”

-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

compelled to write about Ana Mendieta

I‘m compelled to write about Ana Mendieta. In October I viewed her exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). This was a long awaited experience. Spending quite some time in the space, I viewed admired works that I knew only through texts.

In 1987, after Ana Mendieta’s death, I was fortunate to be sitting in on a class taught by Felipe Ehrenberg at SAIC. In one of the sessions Nerieda Garcia Ferraz presented her video Fuego de Tierra which became part of the renowned collection of the SAIC Video Data Bank. It is a valuable piece of documentation to see.

(Side bar) In general, I’m not a crier, nor one to sadden easily by learning of someone’s death (End). I hadn’t known of Mendieta’s work until Garcia Ferraz showed her video. To this very moment I recall the end of the video; an image of Mendieta’s silhouette in the dark, consumed by a linear flame of fireworks and music playing over the image. Mendieta’s work was monumental. The video was filled with many many layers of one’s existence.

As the video ended an incredible grief filled my body. The heat that you feel with embarrassment I felt with grief. It ran up my spine as my eyes filled with tears, a painful cry stuck in my throat, the lights went up in the room and there I was gulping madly to keep my composure. I had never responded like that to artwork and have never to this day. That moment remains etched in my cellular memory.  I was awestruck by the work of Mendieta and deeply felt that she was gone.

Some 25+ years later I include her in my art appreciation teaching for numerous reasons among them the ever increasing importance her work plays in the history of art. Just a few weeks ago, Tyler Green was walking through AIC about which he was tweeting; a great concept. I tweeted asking if he had seen the Mendietas yet. He made a less then snarky comment about not being part of the “Mendieta cult”. This comment unveiled with dramatic quickness his youth and his lack of recognition of the history of Mendieta’s work. I have been thinking about this comment alot. History is the real issue at hand. There is a younger generation that is not aware of, as well as dismissing historical contributions in the history of art (perhaps because it has not been taught). Mendieta’s work is a great connector and illuminator of works of the 70s’ to later works of the 80’s and 90‘s. AIC was at fault in their lack of information in the curation of the show. As I tweeted to Tyler Green, “No one knew what they were looking at.” This of course points to an increasingly dulled art viewing public as well as a less than invested curator i.e. a recipe for blank stares. It also points to a less than sincere investment in teaching about artists of color whose work is now historic. Goodness, how long has that been going on? It tires me. As did Tyler Green’s comment, it was the same old shit but a different generation.

Olga Viso’s Unseen Mendieta is an important reference in the sources of information that circulate about the life and work of Ana Mendieta. I can’t help but wonder if Tyler Green has seen it? It would demystify his fog of understanding the deeper meaning and relevance of Mendieta’s work.

In a political climate that is growing increasingly conservative. A more than superficial understanding of Mendieta’s work can play a role for an entire generation who was not a part of the intense energy of the 80’s and 90’s which produced monumentally important work about all cultural identities beyond the East Coast White Male Artist model.

only one great painter

Thinking of conversations with a great painter as i am driving home from an afternoon of teaching…..

If a painter is lucky, in their lifetime, they know one great painter. I suspect generations and individuals are skipped in some cases. One may question what is ” a great painter”?  I mean a  ”a painter’s painter”  one, who when a universe alignes the connection is made. The one that is inspired by the painter’s painter is never quite the same. The mind and heart of the great painter is shared with the other and influence is planted. It is a root of fire that supports the painter for the rest of their days. It is an essence that is always present.

Complete compositions are worked out in a great painters mind (minds eye). If you are fortunate to watch them work, you can see that they are following their own vision in sharp focus with blinders to the rest of the world. The image is in their mind, projected outward, you see it too and then it appears on the surface. It is magical, solid, fleeting, lyrical and energetic. It is of the body.There is no one there except the painter, material and surface. And in the most sublime moments that does not exist either.  They have no secrets, they tell you everything; understanding the way of creativity is one of growth so nothing can ever be duplicated. They are selfless. Knowing that if the intention of the work is not pure it fails.

The work of the great painter is timeless and takes your breath away.

The great painter’s life is the act of painting. Everything is secondary until their breath ceases.

Works of the great painter are connected but are autonomous. The work floats. Its power and energy leaps off the surface onto which it is painted. When the painter is met by the work of a great painter, the work is suspended in their mind. It stops time. Stops the mind of the painter. It weakens their knees and body, but strengthens their resolve to paint harder and with greater purpose, vision, energy and intellect.

The experience of knowing a great painter is whirlwind, intense, of the phenomenal world and cosmic, life changing and affirming and is the tissue and bone of the painter’s work for the rest of their days.

I am exceedingly fortunate to have known one great painter.

shift the landscape II

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 Seven, 2011, acrylic, earth, mica, on wood, 7″ x 109″

To be energized and inspired, again, by painting is a surprise to me. Some contributing factors : 1. A studio painting intensive I took last year at SAIC, 2. A conversation I was privy to between a museum director and New York gallerist indicating that there are “no serious Western landscape painters “(obviously someone with no Art History training) and finally 3. The recent O’Keeffe Research Center Symposium.

“Never say never”; sage advice to take seriously. I have said for a long time that painting is dead (me and many others in the lineage of painting). I didn’t say that I would never paint again. My love of painting has been responsible for my lament and search in recent years. Last summer, some of you know who follow this blog, my active rethinking of the status of painting occurred. Now it’s blooming. Not in full bloom, but re-investigation has begun with great energy and enthusiasm.

Deanna Petherbridge’s 2010 exhibition curated at the Clara Hatton Gallery, CSU; her lecture, our discussion and her extraordinary text The Primacy of Drawing (which everyone should have a copy of next to their copy of Kandinsky’s Concerning the Spiritual in Art) added to my thinking. Painting can be viewed with the same progressive lens through which Petherbridge has looked at and positioned drawing. This is what I’ve been thinking and saying about painting, I see little innovation. I saw no innovation for the short three week intensive at SAIC last year. That lack made me reconsider what was/was not happening in the field. Yes, the majority of students were very young and self conscious; their cognitive level, appropriation as form, is fine if it is profoundly and historically understood. This group was basically thoughtless in the historical sense. There time to originate will come (or not) as they get older. Innovation in the lineage of painting can and does happen but it comes with a deep degree of understanding what has come before, then zeroing in on a particular view from which to jump into your own aesthetic.

Having moved to the West, knowing the Eastern attitude and hearing it as it relates to the market fueled my fire regarding painting. But painting was too general of a focus; more specifically contemporary landscape painting.

In 2011, what is painting and how is it positioned historically, critically, and theoretically? What is Western Landscape or any landscape for that matter? How is it positioned in the history and theory of painting, and further, how is it positioned in the history of American Art and in Contemporary American Art? I am not thinking of market, that is always a factor in some way. Artist, artwork and history comes first. The market follows. What is relevant (or not) in the art market does not touch what I do in the studio. History touches what I do in the studio. That is where the understanding and power is. There are gallerists who do determine what some art makers do in their studio. That is not the gallerist’s fault. That is the weakness of mediocre artists (and the reason the market is such a mess. That’s another post).

Painting should not be what it was 100 years ago. Hell, it should not be what it was 10 years ago. Now is a fascinating time to be a painter. My next two shows will be “next store” in the great state of Wyoming. My landscapes, for some, will be a challenge.

shift the landscape I

Ancestor's Breath, Acrylic, muslin, osb, 15"x 45", 2011

Death is the great liberator. For both the person who passes and those left behind. In June my Aunt Rose died at 97. Years of Buddhist training illuminated our last days and hours together in remarkable ways.

Rosie was the true lineage holder of the family. She was the first born in the United States of five girls. Our ties were beyond words. We always had an understanding. Much of my view in life is related to her approach. Of course, i realize this more now.

In the last few months my thinking has changed about my work. I was thinking before June about what it really is to be genuine in making work – Rosie and I taking her last breaths together, witnessing her passing over the ancestor’s threshold and my sitting to watch at the door was the most profound moment of my life. My post just prior to this talked about the breath. It outlined what i knew before seeing the open door of the ancestors. Now that I have witnessed that space, much has come together; clarifying my thoughts related to genuineness.  A recent Tweet i sent asking if you are painting what you want to paint or what you think you should be painting is at the root of all of this. Agnes Martin addresses this when she talks about the development of an artist – making alot of derivative work and then meeting with the moment that is about who you are. Perhaps this is what she is referring to when she says “I turn my back to the world”. It points to a level of maturity that is about being on your own, beyond the trappings of  the “systems”of art. Being in the studio, being true to yourself, no bullshit.

Ask yourself, What do i really want to make work about? and perhaps even more important, Why?

My ten+years of work related to the breath are ever present. That time is now a layer. A newer more genuine layer is emerging.