Indianapolis Museum of Art

http://www.imamuseum.org/

Karen Walker, Do-Ho Suh, Tim Hawkinson, Maya Ying Lin

Picasso, Warhol, Hopper, Benton, Cezanne, Cranus the elder

I just wanted to say what a delightful discovery the IMA was to me, it’s totally free with a GREAT collection.  I was amazed at the depth and breadth of the collection and the artists represented.  Certainly worth a trip to check out.

I had limited time to explore but completely enjoyed the collection and the beautiful space it was shown in. 

The above image was taken outside the main entrance while we waited for the museum to open.

Working on a series of new pieces, based upon the idea of a family curse from a powerful conjure man, working itself out in our lives.  We didn’t do anything ourselves to be cursed but some distant relative has passed on a curse to us and we are miserable under it but also made more miserable by our own futile attempts to break the curse, only complicating the matter and further playing into this curse.

I have lots to say and make in this regards, but I am still at work at it, have been for months, researching curses, hoo doo and conjure traditions and sorting it out visually, while collecting photos of our relatives, family histories and the objects, minerals, charms and  botanicals that represent these curses. 

I am headed to a conference and hope to have copious notes and some new connections to write about.

I intended to finish up my exploration of the imagery of art of dying by passing out these pins I had made of a pressed flower and obituary page on these hand cut and stamped coffin shapped business cards.  The pins took far longer than expected, so here they are, ready to be launched into coffee shops and other places I frequent hopefully to be found by unsuspecting folks going about their day.

It’s a lot to ask of any creative endeavor to “make a people think” so I will send these off with a prayer to just help folks pause and possibly just be blessed by a gift. 

I have written as much as I think I will for now about the art of the dying but this site has several expressions of the imagery of fading flowers, wilting grass and flying time.  There are a couple of  bigger pieces and while I continue to be fascinated by the works of Holbien the younger and his Dance of the Dead wood cuts and other such works of art, and while I have some more ideas along the same path I am pretty excited about exploring what’s before me, “Family Curse” and expect to spend a good amount of time working on that theme, as well as some other projects in the coming months. 

I hope to revisit the art of dying themes next fall for Day of the Dead, but for now this is where I rest from this series.