Saturday, 12 October 2013

Giving Art Wings...

Remember The Girl With the Two Different Coloured Eyes?
To me, all art is a form of communication. When I dance, I am in that moment. The music guides me and takes me to a place in my history, my life experiences,  I want to share.

So too with the Visual Arts. I can look over my past work and see the influences shaping the choices I made in media, technique, and style.

I heard about Memory: International Mail Art Exhibition and Swap exhibition scheduled to take place at the Richmond Art Gallery in the city of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. I have always loved getting mail...real, in your hands mail...so I thought I would give it a go.

The theme was "Memory" in all variations. The art could not be larger than a standard postcard. The concept of Mail Art is that it allows artists to share and swap art sent through the Postal system. I often wondered if any of the art catches the eye of the Postal workers here and abroad.

And so I began the project. Looking through vintage magazines I found a story about a girl with two different coloured eyes. My Dad was on a course at the Pentagon one Summer and we made it into a family vacation in Virginia. During the vacation I had met a girl with this, as I saw it, very exotic condition.

I flipped through a box of ephemera and found a map...a map of Richmond, Virginia. Coincidence..or Muse?

The rest seemed to fall into place quite quickly. The image of the woman is one I digitally altered some years ago for a book mark. I added the map, dictionary passages, art paper, art and coloured tissue paper, and a rubber stamped image on tissue.

Who knew I would be thinking of someone met so long ago...just a chance meeting. Memory and Muse now giving art wings.