The clarity and motivation that I experience here is unparalleled, and it stems from a variety of factors including the idiosyncratic environment of Santa Fe and New Mexico in general, the welcoming community, the way the residency program is managed, and the beautiful and unusual architecture that houses the Santa Fe Art Institute. This is my second residency at SFAI. I’ve only been here for 10 days, and I’ve already gone hiking, been on live radio, touched holy dirt, gone to a house party, driven down into the Rio Grande gorge, watched Linda Montano break a piñata, had a margarita at Maria’s, visited a bunch of galleries, seen a film festival, visited Taos Pueblo, and completed a work of art, among other things…
Although it’s still early in my residency, I’m experiencing some pretty interesting developments in the studio. I carried out some experiments within the usual parameters that I enjoy: paper, spontaneous inkblots, careful drawing, and anatomy. Within these fixed variables, I tried several new methods and tests, including the use of stencils and more tests with polypropylene (Yupo). In the week of playing with a couple of new materials, I discovered that acrylic medium only works as glue when porous papers are involved – in other words, Yupo on Yupo doesn’t work. I also tried using inkblot cutout stencils to spray ink instead of spilling it on paper. I’ll probably keep playing with this method in the coming months. Translucent polypropylene has some interesting properties, especially when combined with other papers. These ideas and discoveries are still in the early stages as I haven’t developed a relationship with the new materials and methods, but I am curious to see how they will enter into my work. So far I finished one piece that is based on photos I took at the Echo Amphitheater near Abiquiu in 2011, which I combined with the anatomy that surrounds the human ear. It involved taking pictures of my own ear in direct sunlight at just the right angle as a reference for drawing.
We had our May open studios a couple of evenings ago. I am really impressed and inspired by the range of ideas and approaches that my colleagues at SFAI are working with. Several residents were already here for weeks, some of them months before I arrived. I really enjoy visiting their studios and seeing the diversity of practices. The best way to introduce all of the artists here is probably through the radio show ArtBeat on KVSF 101.5, where we talked about our work and the residency experience.
Emily Davis Adams, Chelsey Tyler Wood, and Sal Strom in their SFAI studios.
This residency was partially supported by an Individual Artist Support grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.