Kiki's Circles

The Gathering

I find myself drawn to Kiki Smith's work in a way that's hard to explain. It brings out something that just leaves me mesmerized and inspired. Some people are drawn to artists because their skills are so breathtaking or their subject matter so compelling. I find that the artists I like best are ones whose ideas are what comes across rather than their execution. For this reason, I love looking at Kiki Smith's creations...her obsession with an idea is so apparent when you look at something she's made. I saw a retrospective of her work a few years back and was blown away by how diverse her pieces were, but also how they all fit so flawlessly together as a narrative of one person's creativity. And I loved how unashamedly she geeks out on certain themes or ideas. Her whole persona just flooded the exhibition space and it was hard not to feel caught up in her world of fantasy and fascination with certain ideas. Like the line between human and animal and how quickly that line disappears when examined, when humans are broken down to their bodily components. I felt like she was exploring all these ideas with her hands by making things...like I was immersed in a delightful and slightly obsessive fairy tale without a clear happy ending.

Of all the things that I love about her work, I love the personality that comes through so clearly. She does so many different kinds of things--sculpture, drawings, installations--but they are all so clearly the product of the same imagination, the same fascinations. Her huge awe of the natural world is so lovely that I just want to stand up and start clapping when I am in the same room as her art. In tribute, her are some of my favorite things of hers (of course with circles).

Constellation

Circle Update: Marilyn Minter

Marilyn Minter has been a personal favorite of mine since I saw her work at the MOMA in San Francisco a couple of years ago. Recently I saw some of her new work, a series of bubble pieces and thought it was perfect for the circle update this week. You can check out a selection of her work at Salon 94

The first piece I saw of Marilyn's was a gigantic painting at the MOMA exhibition. It was a photo-realistic enamel painting on a huge metal sheet. It was so beautifully and perfectly done that I didn't realize at first that it wasn't a photograph. As I got closer I could see her fingerprints in the enamel and it blew my mind. Her paintings and photographs are so visceral, gaudy and vuluptuous. I love how she just lets it all hang out and mixes up the pretty and the dirty all in the same image.

Also on Salon 94 you can see the photo set that Marilyn did of Pamela Anderson. I never thought she was pretty until I saw these photos.

Circling the Island

I've been a little busy with some traveling and totally backed up on writing. Check out my journey around the Big Island at the Moving & Eating Blog to catch up!!!!

Circle of the Heavens

This past weekend I drove up to Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii and marvelled at the barren landscape and the gorgeous vistas of the clouds below. The mountain top is one of the premier astronomy sites in the world. The site has dark nights, clear skies since it's in the middle of the ocean and relatively good weather. There are circular domes to house the telescopes all over the summit. Some are white, others silver, all make the landscape seem surreal and magical as they perch above the cloudline.

This visit to the mountain made me recall some photos I'd seen of astrolabes, medieval navigational instruments. When I'd seen the photos of these intricately designed instruments, I was stunned by their beauty. Before there GPS and Google Earth, compasses and astrolabes were how explorers found their way around the planet. An astrolabe can tell you where you are based on the position of the stars above your head and they held an almost magical power in the Middle Ages. It is a little model of heaven and earth and their regular dance with one another. From it, a navigator and determine his or her longitude and latitude, chart the regular course of the heavens and determine the day, month or even the year, all from a set of intersecting circles.

Etsy Circles

I miss my Etsy since I've been traveling! Here's my little circle montage to all things handmade and lovely...

Click on the photo to check out these talented sellers!

Circle Update

The weekly (fingers crossed) circle update is back. This week I'll give you a little sneak peak into my current travel adventure. I'm working on an organic farm in Hawaii and we're doing some creative landscaping, including (to my delight) lots of circles! Last week we filled in the edges of a new labyrinth. This circular path maze will eventually be planted with corn and other tall plants for a little walking meditation area. I love the idea of circling a circle to focus your mind on the divine. To find out more about the Hawaii Island Retreat and its gardens, check out the travel blog here.

New Travel Blog

As you know from my last post, I'm doing a little traveling and sadly couldn't take my Singer with me. This means no new clothes for a bit, but I do get to geek out on another passion--food! I'm working on an organic farm and learning about gardening, planting and goats in Hawaii. You can check out the adventure at http://movingandeating.blogspot.com/ Let me know what you think of it!

I'm still going to try and do the weekly circle updates now that I'm settled, and of course they'll be regular clothing and creation updates when I get back to the mainland and pick up where I left off with my sewing. I'm sure that they'll be some projects along the way here too and I'll be sure to post those as well. Seems like I can't go for very long before my hands get antsy and need to make something. I actually just made a mountain of paper cranes out of some old magazines just for the hell of it. We'll see what that turns into...