Dearly Departed

Ascension, collage on paper, 5''x8'', 2013

Higher Thoughts, collage on paper, 5''x8'', 2013

Flood Narrative

The end of November found me opening my studio to the public for the annual event, 'The Eastside Culture Crawl'. I had 500 guests over the weekend! Below are some photos of the show I have been working on for the past year. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present.... Rivers & Streams. 

Rivers & Streams explores the ambiguous threshold between perception and reality. The pieces are rooted in the artist’s origins, her hometown, family and experiences. The narrative fluidly departs from fact into myth when familiar forms are used in unfamiliar arrangements; mirroring the fragmented yet resilient nature of memory.

The materials worked into the pieces are the remnants of a collective past; objects that have previous histories such as archived photographs, handkerchiefs and scraps of fabric. By compiling and redefining layers of physical history, the works provoke sensory and nostalgic reactions that are shrouded with mystery. 

Floating Mountains

A commission I finished in late October. 

Trust Me

Collage, india ink, graphite, acrylic paint on mylar

18'' x 24''

2013 

Invincible

                                                   

                                             We Thought We Were Invincible

                                             Acrylic, graphite and collage on mylar

                                             48''x36''

                                             2013

Oh Honey

The Peculiar, Quiet Melancholy of Boyhood

plastic figurines, wood glue, canning jars, honey, doilies

2013 

‘Now I experience the same thing again: it is as if vitality had been slowed down, as if it were preparing for a big change.’

Honey is an important substance that includes all the parts necessary to sustain life. It can be used to preserve, and can cleanse and dress wounds, among many other things. Some memories fade into the distance, and others are preserved; seemingly sweetened with time. 

The Death of a Beekeeper :: Exhibition

We are having our first show as a Collective! The show is only up for one night so plan carefully. See you there.

The Wall

The Wall, hand embroidery on found handkerchief, 2013

'The Wall' is a depiction of the West Bank Barrier between Israel and Palestine. I don't know enough about the situation to form an educated opinion, but my thoughts are often directed to these two nations. The 'relics' I worked with in The Sands a few years ago are things that my Great Grandmother collected during her time in Jerusalem. 

Some words that came to mind while sewing this were fragility, division, shelter, mending/reconciliation.... I'll leave it at that. 

Rivers and streams

Rivers, Streams and Floods, photograph, pen and collage on mylar, 16'' x 20'', 2013

Creating Art & Urban Community

Visit the link below to read an interview published on the WeMakeStuff website. Thanks Jenn!

Jenny Hawkinson: Creating Art & Urban Community

Remnant Patterns

A series exploring the disintegration of form and structure. 

July Art Shenanigans

It looks like its about time for another monthly update. I don't like to make excuses for my less than consistent online presence, but I am going to anyway. It's been a crazy month and here's why:

1. My art is featured in the July issue of This Great Society is Going Smash. Thanks TGS!

2. I went to Chicago for a week! I attended the JUSTart conference hosted by CIVA. In addition to the stimulating conversations around art, justice and faith with artists from across North America, I stayed in a large community (JPUSA) in North Chicago. Commuting to and from the suburbs allowed me to see more of the city and get a small sense of what it might be like to live there. And of course, I left some children in the 'hood.

3. Since my SF trip I have been dreaming up a way to expand my audience horizons. I am going to put photocopy collages inside buses. I thought I was the first person to come up with such a brilliant idea, until I found out that its been done before in Vancouver. At least my work is completely different from the last batch of guerrillas. Pictures to come later.

4. I'm planning an event for July 5! Loudmouth's, Mavericks and Misfits is a multi-media show that features ten artists representing dance, visual arts, poetry, design and music. Each artist has ten minutes to share about their process and any new work being made. The event will be held at Anchor Guitar Studios in Railtown. See the poster for details!

SF :: NYC :: VAN

This post is about the debut of my NYC Collection into the real world (house shows don't count), my SF trip, and recent studio projects. 

I had some fun in San Francisco, it is by far the most colorful city I have ever been to. Also, this is the closest I will ever be to exhibiting in the FFDG. It will have to do.

Select works from NYC Collection, 2011

There's something about framing an artwork that makes it look so legit. I caught an amazing sale so I stocked up on exhibition frames. You can see these beauties at the Water Shed Arts Cafe in Langley for the month of May. 

I am returning to mylar, but on a much bigger scale. In an attempt to create a wider point of contact for the audience, these personal family portraits are intentionally blurred and concealed. The material to be under and overlaid in the pieces are vintage wall papers and fabric patterns, hearkening back to a hazier, less defined time of life. 

The Last Bulwark Against Erasure

Untitled Collage details, 2013

Productivity x 1,000

Family portraits, graphite and acrylic paint on mylar, life-size

This picture excites me because it means that I have WHITE WALLS to work with!!! I moved my studio into another room- a very welcome addition to life right now. This season is crazy busy but I have zero complaints because things are getting done! I'm preparing for an art trip to San Francisco in mid-April, but until then I have a ton of proposals and submissions on the go. Also in the works is the installation I have been dreaming of for the last year. More to come soon!

A recent paste-up

I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine.

Thirty-two hours of labor. I'll write more about this one when I actually know what its about. These things take time. 

I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. Hand embroidered handkerchief, 2013

Untitled Group Show!

Mid-March I hosted an art show in my home, which is fondly called 'The Shack'. Featured artists included Alex Pichler, Chris Siemens, Steve Frost, Enoch Tee, Alysha Creighton, Jim Boraas, and myself.

Jim Boraas (and paintings)

Steve Frost

Enoch Tee

Chris Siemens

Installation view of my forts (under the bed...)

Jenny Hawkinson

My beautiful kitchen! My painting to the right and Chris in the back.

The Fortress

In the last two years of working on my 'memory pieces', I have followed a lot of rabbit trails. Although it is never in vain, because it generally leads to ideas worth exploring.

I found some photographs of the forts that my siblings and I made on the property. I am intrigued by the tensions between play and survival.  Children have the uncanny ability to copy their adult counterparts. What seems like an innocent game can sometimes be an attempt to protect or control one's environment.

Structures to keep other's out, an enclosed space that we could feel safe in, something high off the ground, away from the rest of our normal lives. A place where secrets could be told, and promises made.

Rose Garden

I am moving into a series of painting/collages on small panels. Here is the first installment...

Rose Garden, mixed media on canvas, 15''x15'', 2013

The Children Explained

Walking around, I caught a glimpse of what remained from my wheat paste excursion a few nights before. Some of the kids have been removed or painted over, but most still stand, looking forlornly oblivious in their respective environments. The ephemeral nature of the project seems a perfect fit for my forays into memory. 

Such a vulnerable act warrants an explanation, so here goes. 

At first the project was about taking something private and crossing the line into the public realm. Many years ago I collaborated with my good friend to install a living space in a commercial gallery. We gathered our inherited collections; photo albums, shells, trinkets, dolls, doilies, souvenir spoons- and placed them in the gallery space along with living room furniture, a kitchen table and some other common household items. Then we labeled everything in the archival museum style, including ourselves. 

The Children is basically a reverse of our (Re)Collection show. I am installing old photographs of my siblings and I on the street. Most people won’t even darken the doorway of a gallery, let alone go in. My objective is to exhibit to the biggest audience possible. It was hard, leaving something so personal in a place where I had absolutely no control over the outcome. But here lies the beauty, I can’t control how people receive The Children. And I don’t want to.

Are they lost? Orphans in a world far bigger and meaner than the one they knew growing up. Perhaps it reflects my state of being during the artistic process, just sort of existing in the fragile space between memory and reality. I want this image to get stuck in people’s heads. 

Last year's pages

Granny Motif

The month was December, the year was 2011. I was visiting my hometown for a week during the Christmas holiday. I remember it was raining pretty hard, and I was bored. Naturally, I found my favorite photograph and went to the library. What you see below are the first pages of my sketchbook, a brainstorming session that would be the foundation for my current work.