Summer 2015: Artwork
Introduction
The art in our Summer 2015 issue relies on the amassment of repeated marks and actions. As each woman builds up small parts to make whole compositions, I am reminded of swarms of bees and flocks of birds: individuals joining into a new, beautiful, powerful force.
Rachel Mulder's unique brand of portraiture is made on an old typewriter. Carefully planned grids of letters, numbers, and grammatical marks grow into women's bodies on dozens of leaves of paper installed side-by-side. I think of the satisfying click of each keystroke as these figures emerge through the act of typing.
S. Tudyk also uses letters as form over function. In a series of paintings featuring pieces of paper, she sometimes riffs cursive handwriting drills of school days past in homage to the repeated action of the hand. In other works, hash marks tracking some unknown tally fill the paper.
Collage artist Diana Bustos chops found photographic material with a heavy hand and overlays forms to create eerie but liberating Wonderland-ish scenes. I am reminded of Dada artist Hannah Höch's iconic collage Cut with a Kitchen Knife – the title a non-apologetic description of how Höch's imagery was sourced.
Our cover artist, Beth Yazhari, sews seed beads onto paintings to create three-dimensional mandalas. The thought of such small materials and hand movements amalgamating and transforming into something large and meditative is inspiring.
I hope you enjoy the processes, as well as the products, featured in the season's journal.
Sarah Fagan
Art Editor
Featured Art by Beth Yazhari
Beth Yazhari makes art that celebrates reflection, craftsmanship and time-consuming labor in the pursuit of beauty. She strives to make spiritually uplifting art, to create oases of beauty and wonder in a frenetic society increasingly in need of both.
Discarded doilies and remnants of embroidered fabrics are a source of inspiration to her; by rescuing them and recycling them into her beaded paintings, She hopes to honor and collaborate with the creative spirit of past generations of women from around the world whose handiwork has often been ignored because it was not created to be displayed in a gallery.
Enjoy a sampling of Beth Yazhari's work in VoiceCatcher's Featured Artist Gallery:
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As hot as the summer sun, 13 poets breathe light into the darkness. |
Tending to the worn, imperfect edges of life, five writers grapple with perimeters. |
Like a swarm of bees or a flock of birds: four artists layer meaning through detail. |
Four teens observe their world and put words to page like only young voices can. |
From emerging to established writers – meet the women behind our seventh issue’s voices and visions. |
