Building Blocks
I often ask kids, those in my life personally and those I have met in community workshops, to build something. I observe the way they stack the shapes and their color choices. When they are finished, I ask them what they have created. Their response is the title of the painting I then create of their block stack. From castles to rocket ships, these wooden blocks allow me to explore color, pattern, balance, shape, and form. While painting rocks are my way to explore grief and loss, this block exploration is a way for me to start a new cycle of life. Although they are a simple children’s toy, they connect me to my foundations both as a child and as a painter.
Remembrances
In the Jewish faith, we place a stone on a loved ones grave to show that we have been there, and that the individual’s memory continues to live on through us. To me, and many others, rocks represent the permanence of memory. I started collecting rocks in January 2015. Some I found near my house, others while traveling to visit friends, some were given to me as gifts; each are tokens of love.
In my continuous quest to search and collect I came across a beach in Maine filled with thousands of stacked stones. These stacks, or cairns (kârn), are typically used to mark trails but are historically used as memorials, grave markers, or to mark a sacred space. Each totem is built and left as a tribute just as each painting I make solidifies a moment, time, place, and person in my mind and heart forever.
To Robyn With Love
To Robyn With Love is an ongoing collaborative project that was derived from my need to feel more connected to those around me. Each postcard has an original pattern I designed that serves as a starting point for inspiration. Participants are asked to follow the pattern by coloring it in or create a completely new design right on top of the existing pattern. Once complete, I ask for the piece to be titled, their connection to me be recorded, and then mailed back to me. Some are from family and friends, others from friends of friends, and even an entire 4th grade class. Participant’s ages range from four to ninety years old. When I receive each postcard it reminds me that I’m never truly alone. You share your love with me by participating; I share mine back by painting a rock on top.
Food is Love
To me, every object possesses a personality. I am interested in exploring: family, relationships, the idea of home, community, love, loneliness, isolation, humor, sadness, happiness, food, and gathering around the table. I make work about family. Each family member is a character. Each object I paint has a character. Common products I find in my mother’s cabinets are vehicles for my exploration of family dynamics.