Kindred Spirit: Kathy Prendergast
I have been told, "So and so is making work "like that" - you might want to watch out, people will get mad." Mad at what?
I get mad if the work is disingenuous and not of ones own voice. If so and so and I are in some similar realm, it is because, there may be a similarity in the objects, but the execution, intent and stories are different. Each person brings their own to the work.
I am annoyed and at once puzzled by the phenomenon of individuality, or lack of it, and couple that with superstition, the joy in serendipity, the weirdness of the collective consciousness and the fact that there is really no such thing as coincidence.
Ultimately I love the connectedness between artists, but dislike the favoritism in cliques. Make up your mind folks - are we on the same page or are we all derivative?
Here is a kindred spirit I found just last night - in the contemporary artist, Kathy Prendergast.
Making lists - Making Atlas Lists - Using Atlas Lists - Using Maps
In describing “Lost Map” Prendergast writes: “For the last few years I have been researching place-names with the idea of producing an “Emotional Atlas of the World.” This atlas would show all the places in the world which have names connected with emotions, i.e., Lost Bay, Lonely Island, Hearts Desire, etc., rather than the conventional atlas which shows places of importance. “Lost Map” is a variation on this theme. Through Prendergast’s work, we may come to know every “lost” place in North America.
In my Flight Path paintings, I think of
Emotive words that relate to the Landscape, then translated into Atlas Lists that determine the Flight Path from the first location to the last, reading left to right, top to bottom. Currently the series is entitled "Apparent Journeys"...or Elusive?? It's still moving.
"Harmonic Landscape" was the first piece I used the Atlas Lists. This one begins with the location Harmony from page 295 of an Atlas. In the left corner is a song writing sheet with words for landscape scripted in by hand.
KPs Black Map Series - Ink on Map.
My "Insinuated Map" 1, bullet holes on paper.
Aesthetically our voices are quite different. My use of color is much brighter, and my voice is a lot louder in a a way....more political and emotionally blatant, mirror like. I also paint, and have not found flat-out emotional paintings by KP - mostly sculpture and works on paper. KP's emotive subjects/objects are bittersweet.
Many of us (women artists) are working with mediums that are inherently, through history, (for simplicity sake) female.
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A fellow-artist female friend mentioned to me that her "hand" is not as delicate as other women's.
Neither is mine. But that is a Good Thing.
The more positive way to say that is, "My hand is aggressive, or my hand is pointed, or my hand is rapid."
The other day I said this: "I choose simple, fat stitches because I want the work to be done at a rapid pace, and I want my message read fast and gratifying for the viewer, up close and far away."
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The moment that a female artist is upheld or chosen BECAUSE
of her delicate nature or artistic style, well, We have a problem.
(OK, it is not all about the work, that is what I always say.)
It feels so Victorian - to be judged by the delicacy of their work, whilst others whose stitches were sloppy were held in lower esteem, less viable, with the matchmakers or the hens of the neighborhood. I have a background in design, but my work has always been about content, before execution - ultimately more inspired by the combination of things rather than the didactic delicacy and fortitude of perfection.
(Now if I could just whisper instead of scream??....)
Our stories are the same, our delivery is different.
These differences make us the individuals within the context of the greater whole.
I get mad if the work is disingenuous and not of ones own voice. If so and so and I are in some similar realm, it is because, there may be a similarity in the objects, but the execution, intent and stories are different. Each person brings their own to the work.
I am annoyed and at once puzzled by the phenomenon of individuality, or lack of it, and couple that with superstition, the joy in serendipity, the weirdness of the collective consciousness and the fact that there is really no such thing as coincidence.
Ultimately I love the connectedness between artists, but dislike the favoritism in cliques. Make up your mind folks - are we on the same page or are we all derivative?
Here is a kindred spirit I found just last night - in the contemporary artist, Kathy Prendergast.
Making lists - Making Atlas Lists - Using Atlas Lists - Using Maps
In describing “Lost Map” Prendergast writes: “For the last few years I have been researching place-names with the idea of producing an “Emotional Atlas of the World.” This atlas would show all the places in the world which have names connected with emotions, i.e., Lost Bay, Lonely Island, Hearts Desire, etc., rather than the conventional atlas which shows places of importance. “Lost Map” is a variation on this theme. Through Prendergast’s work, we may come to know every “lost” place in North America.
"Lost Map" by KP eliminates all locations except those with the word Lost in their name.
Emotive words that relate to the Landscape, then translated into Atlas Lists that determine the Flight Path from the first location to the last, reading left to right, top to bottom. Currently the series is entitled "Apparent Journeys"...or Elusive?? It's still moving.
"Eco Emergency" is in my series Eliminated Letters - the letters for the word Eco-Emergency have been eliminated from the map using embroidery knots.
Aesthetically our voices are quite different. My use of color is much brighter, and my voice is a lot louder in a a way....more political and emotionally blatant, mirror like. I also paint, and have not found flat-out emotional paintings by KP - mostly sculpture and works on paper. KP's emotive subjects/objects are bittersweet.
Many of us (women artists) are working with mediums that are inherently, through history, (for simplicity sake) female.
-------------
A fellow-artist female friend mentioned to me that her "hand" is not as delicate as other women's.
Neither is mine. But that is a Good Thing.
The more positive way to say that is, "My hand is aggressive, or my hand is pointed, or my hand is rapid."
The other day I said this: "I choose simple, fat stitches because I want the work to be done at a rapid pace, and I want my message read fast and gratifying for the viewer, up close and far away."
--------------
The moment that a female artist is upheld or chosen BECAUSE
of her delicate nature or artistic style, well, We have a problem.
(OK, it is not all about the work, that is what I always say.)
It feels so Victorian - to be judged by the delicacy of their work, whilst others whose stitches were sloppy were held in lower esteem, less viable, with the matchmakers or the hens of the neighborhood. I have a background in design, but my work has always been about content, before execution - ultimately more inspired by the combination of things rather than the didactic delicacy and fortitude of perfection.
(Now if I could just whisper instead of scream??....)
Our stories are the same, our delivery is different.
These differences make us the individuals within the context of the greater whole.
posted by blog revisited at
11:57 AM
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4 Comments:
We (artists) all start somewhere.
In 2001, when I really started to dig into my visual expressions, I refused to visit museums or galleries for a couple of years. I didn't want to be influenced by what was on those walls.
I've found various starting points, often it is words and word play. Therefore I enjoy other artists who do the same. I would not use their combinations knowingly.
Here's a recent story that brought me much joy. Last Sunday I was working on the Art House Coop sketchbook project. I decided to incorporate a bit on Ray Johnson. Because I'd seen a photo of him, sitting on top of a huge pile of telephone books (used to press his collages) I randomly tore a page out of a telephone book to use as a basis for the page. Happily there was a large ad with the words "Tow Jam" an ad for a towing service. Knowing that Ray played with words I thought it the perfect page to use. I added an image from an old national geographic of a woman using a rotary dial payphone, and an image of Ray J on the phone along with one of what I suppose were college students jamming themselves into a phone booth.
The very next day I saw a reference to a piece by Ray J called "Toejam".
That's the flow of making art that makes it such a pleasure. I felt connected to Ray, I think he helped me pick the page to tear out.
Do I make are "like" Ray J? No, on a good day I make art in concert with him.
It's rather like playing jazz, each note or stroke is spontaneous and of the moment.
Dear mythmara,
Thank you so much for sharing your process story.
What you describe is a chain of events that happen in all artists brains, I think.
I have my "solids" that I will always love and spiritually refer to when I make work, but there are no homage or direct references to my influences. Like Beckett or Faulkner, Richter or Freidrich...love, but not quoted or emulated.
Stumbling upon Kathy's work last night Online actually was a Relief to the "people will be mad" thing that I mentioned in the beginning.
Especially locally, since there are overlapping audiences and artists within clusters of galleries.
She is in the UK. She just had a show in Nov, and one in '07 of prior related themes.
But one just has to put it out there anyway...it is You and your brain after all.
Interesting how we speak the same language to communicate, yet we can get mad with other artists who work with similar forms/contents.
Move to the Moon, I say, and stop all human contacts; or alternatively, develop wild hallucinations to make something truely Original:)
as for the delicate hands... When a female artist stitches, it is considered Craft. While when a male artist stitches, it is considered Innovative Art. A man cooks well is a Chef; a woman cooks well is a good wife material. This is our world with double visions.
well, i'm not mad - i'm glad.
The male and female divide with craft is true, but changing...over time the term Crafts is being segmented into other craft genres/aesthetics, hobby, DIY, indie, buy hand-made etc.
Traditional Craft (textile, wood, glass, ceramic, furniture) as a High Art form (yes, i said high) - is now being called Design.
California College of Arts and Crafts is now called California College of the Arts.
The stigma has been there, but it is slowly being elevated, widespread and used more so the definitions are slowly changing. I knew something like this would happen and wrote about it in '92 for my final paper.
I still draw from the arts and crafts movement, from my own up-bringing being around women who sew and such, from bauhaus, mackintosh and many many other influences...and so do a lot of men.
I'm happy to see it coming back with such flurry..my only regret is that I walked away from it for a while, to only walk back to it again. I wish I had not walked away. I am glad that I am back.
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