So today is the last day to see this sculpture drawing at the Blaffer. @a.d.watergrass sent me this photo of a response to the piece that was hanging in the reading / break room and it really made my day, thanks Andy!
Photo 2 , by William Sarradet, photo 3 by Francisco Ramos
The Ghost passed away on June 26th and we are all heartbroken . He was proud and sweet , could hold a grudge but once he let you in you were in for ever. His mother was a Galveston stray and @sallieoleta and I found him about 10 years ago in a tiny box, with his brother. We were looking for working cats to keep rats out of the garden, gave em fierce names , but they were always gentle and loving. Thank you all for the love you gave him over the years. He is buried in the gar back courtyard if you want to say goodbye . Give his brother some love as they have never been apart, we miss you sweet ghost ! 💔
Thank you @robertwboyd2020 for this really thoughtful and thorough piece about this sculpture at the @blafferartmuseum . He connects the three Island of the Umbellifers works 2022-2025 and digs into the narrative sequence as only a comic book scholar could . Y’all should subscribe to The Great God Pan is Dead ( if ya don’t already). Show is up til sept 27.
Curated by the amazing @life__raft
Thanks for everyone who came out to the @blafferartmuseum yesterday, it meant a lot to see the support for weird quiet stuff. The upstairs show @saifazzuz is super inventive and visually a knockout. How we mend, curated by @life__raft is thoughtful and sweet and has a knockout Forrest Bess. Thank you @_jillianconrad for posing with my drawing sculpture for scale and grounding.
Hey ! Saturday June 7th at 1pm at the Blaffer Museum @blafferartmuseum
I’ll be talking about this drawing sculpture-
Build The Day Expanding Poem (A Story from The Island of The Umbellifers)
Along with the curator of the exhibition @life__raft
and other artists in this group show,
A way to mend
There’s a bunch of groovy gulf coast weirdos in this show , so I’m looking forward to seeing it all together
Parking at uh is a little crazy , so check the map for free parking first and if this is filled up, there’s pay parking at Elgin Street Parking
If you end up paying for parking, I owe you a drink 🩵
I hope everyone can come see this show that just opened at GAR. The show feels important to me . Like it’s potentially an anti venom for the world as it currently is. For me it occupies a mental space that I am describing as playful and sad. But that’s not exactly it. It is quiet and playful and sad and full of wonder . A big thank you to everyone in the show . I just put a little detail from each artist so as not to give away too much. it’s up til early May and I hope i can walk everyone through it! @beachtrul@sallieoleta@manolorodriguezdelgado@kjestell@kjestell@drewberzzz@thebadrich@colinhunt03@john_hodany@eglaessn
This piece began in late April of 2023, I was driving back from a much needed quiet break in New Mexico and stopped to see what was happening at the OJAC in Albany, Texas.
When my eyes adjusted from the already blinding west texas light and rising temps outside to the cool, soothing environment inside, there was a surprisingly effective monolithic Anselm Kieffer boat sculpture waiting for me, expertly installed in the Project Space downstairs. The artist and curator @pppatches asked me if I was interested in making a piece that would connect the downstairs Project Space with the two upstairs Cell Series rooms.
The piece when installed definitely has an arching narrative about connectivity. Patrick does an interview with each Cell Series artist, and it’s a great way to get you thinking about things you haven’t thought about in a really long time. For me it was this strange pile of bones, my brother and I found in the Piney Woods a long time ago. I think this piece also contains a bit of magic that might be impossible to say anything about. It gives me some pleasure saying this in this insta media realm, I guess I like Instagram for the reason anyone likes a reeking dung pile, the beautiful is only available to the maddeningly sensitive. Everyone else has all the rest of the world. I know, I live in Galveston.
I won’t tell you to get into that beater car and drive in the blistering summer heat to Albany, any therapeutic benefits may be outweighed by the treacherous roads you would travel to get there. This piece is up until the end of August and if you make it out there well..
Much love and respect, I will keep going if you will.
Some shots from the island of the umbellifers, it’s the most complete version to date. it is three rooms , three verses. Hard to photograph comprehensively. Many of these photos were taken by my dear friends Jean and Dekker.
1. Overview of the steering mechanism from room 1, the shipbuilding sea.
2. Close up of one of the wall drawings
3. Jean in the middle of the Shipbuilding Sea.
4. On left, my amazing parents, who never pass up an adventure or road trip!
5. My two new Albany friends
6. Jean and Dekker at the Platform for Holding On
7. My dear mum at the Platform ….. 💚
8. Jean and me sitting at the place where the piece ends .
9. It’s not us , it’s not a lettered olive snail , it’s not a speckled king snake
( thank you to everyone at OJAC! The kind folks of Albany, Texas, and those who have travelled with me on this path and put up with my often foolish sincerity )
The last chapter of the island of the umbellifers opens tonight in Albany. If your a creature of the high plains deserts then come hang out beginning 4 pm ish. thank you Patrick and Amy at OJAC for making this possible . It’s up til the end of August:)
The Radiant Sea,
Watercolor on paper,
41 x 37 inchers,
2023
One more time looking for the Island of the Umbellifers? Yes, but this is the last time I promise. This watercolor study is mostly about finding a good starting place.
