Looking back on 2022

Looking back on 2022, I’d like to share three things that were highlights for me.

It was wonderful to have Apothecary be part of the Artful Healing exhibition at the Newark Museum of Art. This is the first time I have had a piece in a major museum with a such diverse audience. It was rewarding for me to experience the wide appeal of my artwork. I especially enjoyed listening to the different museum goers’ interpretations of Apothecary.

I participated in an exhibition at the Heidi Gallery at JSDD. Local poets were asked to choose a  piece or two to create poems about for a reading. The poet, Marcia LeBeau selected my piece Crazy Cooks Spoons and wrote the poem, “Begging to be Touched”. I must say, I love this poem; it gives me a whole new way to think about my work. Here is an excerpt from the final stanza when Marcia shares her take on the thoughts of the maker.

“From her hands, a quartet

of ceramic and swirls, earth tones and outlines. How could they not

cause a stir? A set of spoons crafted not for the saliva of mastication,

but a saliva of longing, of want and desire. Designed for the artist herself,

the crazy cook, the dreamer. For you and me.”

 I spent a peaceful week at Cape May Point this past summer. It was very hot, which made for incredible sunsets. My granddaughter and I climbed into the lifeguard’s chair to enjoy.  It reminded me of growing up on Long Island, where as a teenager I spent a lot of time hanging out on the beach. My granddaughter said it was a lot fun and one of the best things she did during the summer. I was so happy to be able to share it with her.

Please share your highlights from 2023 in comments below.

I look forward to reading them.

Apothecary

Crazy Cooks Spoons

Coexistence, Conflict & Faith

 Artistic Visions of Jerusalem, a class based on the themes of the exhibition, Jerusalem 1,000-1400: Every People Under Heaven, will be taught by Beth Heit & Rabbi Warmflash. We will be discussing three works of art that illuminate the concepts of faith, conflict and coexistence.

The bronze lentil pot (see above) from 11th century Israel, highlights the theme of coexistence. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims of all faiths when in the city of Hebron to visit the Cave of the Patriarchs were treated to a dish of lentils, raisins and olive oil that was prepared by the Muslim keepers of the site.

Artwork on the West Bank Barrier by the British graffiti artist Banksy is a comment on conflict.

Gateway by Beth Heit

I created Gateway, a ceramic wall relief after spending a six-month sabbatical in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city of many entranceways, both physical and spiritual.

Bicycles,Water and Mud

I recently spent a very pleasant day bike riding amid the sculptures at the Storm King Art Center in Cornwall, NY. It is an extraordinary place that is so big you can rent bicycles to help you get around. Storm King is definitely worth a visit.

The featured artist this year is Lynda Benglis.  In the garden are her very large metal fountains and inside the gallery are Benglis’ smaller ceramic works. I enjoyed seeing the way she played the mediums of clay and metal off of each other. The metal was very claylike with its dripped organic structures and the extruded ceramics sculptures had a metal rigidity to them.

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Benglis recalls that she became interested in playing with mounds of sand, clay, water, and moss as a child visiting her grandfather in Petal, Mississippi. The surface of her ceramic pieces show the impression of her hands as she rolls, squeezes, rips, pinches and folds the extruded clay forms.

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Benglis says, “ When I do ceramics, I feel a need to kind of wrestle with the material and be integrated with the form and surface. I continue to work with the sculptural aspects of clay and pushing it around. I tend to work categorically and try to push the materials as far as it can go.”

I strongly relate to Benglis’ need to experiment with form and surface when creating my clay sculptures

Art Encounter

While I was enjoying an exhibit of Matisse’s cutouts at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, my husband excitedly approached me.

“ You must come with me,” he said.

 “Why”.

 “ I can’t explain, just come right now”

I followed him through a few galleries in the museum into a dark room.  I could not see a thing but I heard humming and singing. I was a little frightened to enter the room because it was pitch black. I made my way slowly along the walls.  Clapping and whistling were added to the humming and singing. Now someone was speaking, talking about being a child and breaking a window. Over time my eyes got used to the light and I became aware of fuzzy human shapes that were moving and dancing around the room. I wondered if they were holograms with recorded voices until one of them brushed against me. I saw my husband and he looked like one of the ‘holograms’. He had become part of the piece. I found being part of the piece electrifying and exhilarating.

I realized that there were about 15 trained dancers/ singers in the room along with us and the other museum visitors.

I found out later that I was experiencing one of Tino Sehgal’s ‘constructed situations’. Sehgal uses human voice, language, movement, and interaction to create pieces that are regularly staged in museums and galleries.  His artworks consist of trained individuals continuously employing voice and movement to create particular conditions. The artwork is the ‘constructed situation’ that arises during the interaction of the audience and the interpreters. Tino Sehgal does not allow images to be made of his work so there are no physical records of what he does. He feels the world is already filled with too much stuff.

This piece of Sehgal’s is called “Variations” and it brought up many thoughts. Among them- if this were in New York, you would never be able to just stumble upon it. Being part of the event would involve long lines. Just happening upon it increased our initial confusion but ultimate enjoyment of the piece. Since we didn’t know what was going on we were forced to trust and to be swept up in the event in an unguarded way. Is this visual art or performance since there are no actual objects connected to the event? Finally how does Sehgal’s work relate to my artwork as a sculptor and clay artist? Sehgal’s work demands that you be entirely in the moment. With my sculptures I am requesting that you take the time to actually observe. In Sehgal’s work you don’t have a choice but to be totally immersed. To appreciate my artwork you must make the decision to give it your attention and let the textures, forms and colors speak to you.