Letting Go, a piece of me moves on

[avad]

Well, that's it. My artwork 'Prayers' was taken in packing cardboards from my house today by the shippers. It will be crated and sent to NYC for installation Monday. I touched up the edges yesterday, looking at it horizontally...the light catching the nails in a different way. *sigh* Well, that's that. It goes onward to its new life, new home. Others will see it and touch it. Which is good. But I will miss it.*sigh*. a lot. It is time.
We put up 'The Writing Ritual' in its place in the living room. The room changes a bit...it is interesting...fitting,too, with my thoughts of the war, confusion, humanity and prayer.
It is raining so steadily today. Grey light.Quiet. I feel slowed, and pensive.
I must gather myself up and get to work on the new pieces.Here are pics of The Writing Ritual.

detail

Comments

[sankitty.livejournal.com]

i wish i could see it in person.

did you ever happen to explain your feelings behind this peice in your journal? i'd love to know.

[avad.livejournal.com]

whew. where to start. This painting came out in a period of intensity and confusion. I had personal issues that were difficult and I was also in a very serious bout of groundlessness, my searching into physics and comparative religion bringing me to challenge my perceptions of reality. Many times I work in a completely pre-determined way- envisioning a piece in totality and then creating it diligently. But other times, I use creation as personal divination. I let go a bit in the process,I let the piece create itself, 'using' me, I ask questions and it becomes a sort of abstract dialogue with something that seems somehow wiser than myself or within myself. Through working on this piece I learned many things:the dark square in the center is a doorway,present at all times, within my confusion, in the midst of the chaos I felt all around, perpetually present and accessible through focus and meditation. The Writing Ritual refers to my process, my personal ritual of prayer which is hammering nails with positive intention. I felt the piece was reminding me of the power in that. After this I started a series of nail-text pieces called The Book of Hope. And I literally hammered my way out of my present mess and opened the doors to a wonderful transition in my life.:) sorry for the length of this, but it's true and hey you asked!;)

not a word i heard could i relate, the story was quite clear

[rokkitz.livejournal.com]

whoa. that's some powerful stuff. we're innundated with symbols, suffused and saturated with symbol-systems, written language, and advertisements. a timeless educational vehicle for verbal/symbolisms. funny that it seems so amazingly ineffective. i hold a sneaking suspicions that most people (especially the "educated") are barely literate...

but why limit oneself to text, or even visual representation?

"a picture is worth a thousand words", a great old adage. but it doesn't even scratch the surface of your work's volume. hammering down the ineffable, extension into a bazillion dimensions, where a nail is worth a thousand pictures.

them's magic nails! congrats on your transition. *sniff* for the old, *yay* for the new!

Re: not a word i heard could i relate, the story was quite clear

[avad.livejournal.com]

All necessary, methinks,for the learning, but I am certainly glad to be on this side of those past experiences, looking back..:)

[sibyllam.livejournal.com]

Where is the piece being installed in NYC?

Also, I love the detail image here. It actually makes it possible to see the 3D aspect to the piece a little better.

Congratulations!

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[avad.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This piece is not the one going to NYC, if you scroll down on my journal you'll see a pic of the piece that is(in the same setting) called 'Prayers'. It's going to someone's office, but he may move it to his apartment if he thinks it will be better there.
I was tempted to show all sorts of detail shots...because it's the only way to really get to see what's going on in there...

[wandruska.livejournal.com]

i say you've done well :) yeah i ask the same, where in NY? i hope in williamsburg, i was there last year, loved it, lots of great galleries.
your works remind me of paintings i did a long time ago using a mix of cotton and kids glue on the surface, creating lumps here and there, then painting over it pretty much the same style. but that was way amateurish. just experiments.
i think you should make your works more and more aggressive, more threatenning, more rust, in time. that's just a little wish i make whilst i observe the image on the screen. don't know, the hostility of nails? males me want to see more and more heavy duty rusting metal. a canvas made entirely of interlocked nails, or something more.
don't mind these observations, they are entirely spontaneous ideas created out of having nothing better to do on a friday night :)
good luck with the show. and to not miss your work? make new one :) (yeah i know it doesn't work

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[avad.livejournal.com]

It's funny you should say these things, because that's how I started many years ago. My pieces were assemblages of welded steel- much more sculpture than painting. I used to hop the steel mill dumpsters for scraps...then weld together, bolt onto big pieces of wood, with journal scribblings and some washes, diagrams on the wood....I'll see if I can scan some pics eventually, but that was 10 years ago. There's been a gradual but very linear evolution since then...of combining the two elements I needed, sculpture and text into a personal process/ritual of hammering nails that is very personal, meaningful and important to me. I'll always have an aesthetic appreciation of rust, but it's not pertinent to my work anymore. I have very specific things I'm trying to say in each piece.As for pieces of completely interwoven nails- I posted some pics early on in my journal.Or check out the website.:)

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[wandruska.livejournal.com]

there you go. this is why sometimes i think it is completely useless to post work on LJ and care about the comments :)
what people say about our work should never have any relevance, from praise to criticism.
better take ideas like these with a pinch of salt.
i've been to your site before, i think. i should go again soon, forgotten most of it.

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[avad.livejournal.com]

:) I just think it's a great way to get a slightly more random group of people to happen upon the work besides the people who frequent certain galleries where I show. And to possibly have thoughtful discourse relating to their reactions to it, with opportunity to offer or direct towards more information easily.
Both praise and criticism always need to be taken with a grain of salt. The major reason I left grad school was because I felt the constant praise/criticism/suggestions in the studio were interfering with my process, a process I completely believe in and have to stay true to. I believe Artists make art because because they HAVE to. It has to be a very personal and dedicated path. Very few people will ever understand all the reasons and the meanings in my (and most artists) work. And though I would love to be able to explain it all in a verbally coherent and concise way, I'm still far from feeling able to do that. But I believe in it wholeheartedly and it's my path to follow so I offer bits and pieces of explanations here, and snippets of statements at shows,I'll be posting some more entries about the process over the years, etc. A format like this makes it easy, I'm not trying to sell the artwork to LJ readers,or get tips, but to see if I can show get anything across, if it moves anyone, prompts questions,comments, etc. I love it.:)

[writtenout.livejournal.com]

I Love. AMAZING XX

[mistyescape.livejournal.com]

that's beautiful.

also ive always wondered: is that you in your icon?

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[avad.livejournal.com]

thanks!
(and yeah.though I'm really not blue.;)

[rokkitz.livejournal.com]

you're not really blue? that's a relief. i was starting to kind of worry, thinking about that scene in wiLly wOnka's crazy candy factory... you remember what happened to that kid that ate that blue berry candy and swelled up like a balloon that had to be rolled away... an image that traumatized me for years.

smurfette, too, was blue.

and blue is our new second sun.

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[avad.livejournal.com]

Ugh that scene was HORRIFYING! Did you have to remind me of it? shame on you. *shudder*

[-sophera-.livejournal.com]

I understand about missing pieces you've worked on - I've felt the same about patchwork quilts I've made - although of course they are meant to be used.

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[avad.livejournal.com]

yes, the artworks and your quilts I'm sure are a different sort of diary....holding so much time, emotions, phases of life. The moments recorded in the textures, the colors, the feeling between fingers...:)