Don't Fail Me Now.

Well, kids, I did it today. Or yesterday technically. I broke my blue funk that I have been in for the last week.

At least for now. I find that sometimes, and often it seems, in the art world that you (and your creative friends might suffer at the same time as you sometimes) will hit bottom and go up, then down, then up, and down again. This is just the creative cross we bear. Some days you will feel like you are on top of the whole world with your work, then the next day you feel completely cliche and lame. It totally happens to all of us. Don't fret though! I find that putting on a good record and working (usually by yourself is best - i get distracted by other people because i love talking so much) through those dark thoughts and eventually you will find what you need or where you needed to be.

Brick City is MSU's modest art department (I say modest because some rooms lack curtains and we are without air conditioning right now - the main campus does all but ignore us. I'm not bitter about it. At. All. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, they can't even keep a president for more than a year. ZING.) so if you ever hear me say "I was at Brick" or "I'm headed to Brick City," it's not just some fancy fantasy place I made up. It's a real place (downtown off of Boonville & Mill Street, right over the railroad tracks. Go here for more info.) although I do make up places a lot. haha.

Anyways, I worked there by myself for about 4 hours today. I worked before that when people were still there for about 2.5. So I was in the studio almost 7 hours today. Love. It. Here's what I am currently working on:

For the last semester, I have been working with steel wire and textured/flesh-colored material. I really want my upcoming Senior Show to deal with the idea of being "in utero" and how after birth, people often make "nests" for themselves to try and feel as content as they did in the womb. So, as you can see, this sculpture to the left (It's probably about a foot tall and juts off the wall) looks very vaginal. It's not sexual or about women's lib (although we all know how i feel about women's rights FIST PUMP.) It's about feeling safe. A refuge. A Fortress.

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& this one is covered in a rough blue/green couch material on the outside and a silky, fleshy material on the inside.

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this sculpture, however, I am covering with lace and 1960s white curtain material. It looks like a butterfly, bird, winged creature taking flight. I think that I am going to have some materials come out of the the slit in the middle.

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this one is not new, I made it as my final project last semester. I was just so proud of how it turned out, I set it back up today in comparison with the newest pieces. Yes, those are spiky gumballs I picked out of Mama Kopaska's yard last fall. They symbolize a cut up inside in comparison with a silky, pristine outside. Sometimes a person can build their "nest" this way. Did I mention that that red thing at the bottom is a zipper? It was my grandmother's and is probably twice my age. I found a bag of her zippers (she kept everything, Great Depression Child) in my room and wanted to incorporate it in the piece because now she is a part of it too :). Not to mention the ambiguity of the zipper itself in contrast with being "in utero."

This is the three of them lined up. I like how the colors are looking together so far. We'll see where they all go!!

....Oh and when I said just put on a good record before? Here is the song I had on repeat while I was creating this afternoon. Cleans the soul nicely:

XO.