Leaving 2026

Over the last two years, many of my images have involved splitting the figures in the frame. I am now asking the paint to play as vital a role in defining the finished image as the photo, or the parts of the collage that aren’t paint, like the eyes here, or the black cloud.  The painted part of the piece is telling a part of the story that is unfolding.  In this case, the story is about two people who are splitting up—a couple, friends, family, whenever two people who have been closely bonded break up—and the paint moves our eyes across the split, as well as the black paint flowing down the woman’s face, representing tears.  I see the figure on the left being female, and the figure on the right being male, and both are terribly sad.

Mouse House 2026

 

Recently my 5 year old grandson came to visit.  He spent much of the weekend outside, alone, constructing a fortress made from the dog's water bucket and all the loose bricks he could find in the yard. I told him there were mice inside--a family of five--and we proceeded to push food into the edifice so they could have something to eat. After he returned home, I asked Gemini to help me reconstruct the house with mice included.  I had never done any imaging with AI before, and I was absolutely floored at what it could do. That's pretty much what his building looked like, plus the mice.  I know everyone out there is thinking "Oh Holly Holly! where have you been??" but it is absolutely magical.  I tried Gemini on my desktop where my over 200,000 photos are stored, and got almost no results(this was done on my iPad). It kept suggesting I use Photoshop, so that put a kink in my creative flow since I work exclusively on my desktop. I don't know if this is something I can use as a tool with my work, or if it keeps me too much in my head, which is not where the magic happens.  I have made images with photoshop that were stand-alones, and I liked them, but they never had the power of the"handmade" pieces.  When I teach, I tell my students to listen to their hands, and leave their thoughts at the door.  So I'm not sure if this is just another fancier photoshop or if because of the ease and speed of it, perhaps it will open some new doors. stay tuned.

Hungry 2009

                                                                     Original 

Repainted top and bottom

 I made this image in 2009.  It was about hunger and not having enough to eat.  The man’s body refers to kwashiorkor “A severe protein malnutrition causing fluid retention(edema), a distended abdomen, lethargy, hair and skin changes and an enlarged liver”. His body is made from a photo of dried and cracked mud. The mouth on his legs, along with the apple on this knee, all speak to-this hunger. The top and bottom borders I made using the inside of a security envelope for its beautiful blue pattern.  You can imagine my surprise when, recently I went to pull "Hunger" out of my storage for an exhibit in San Diego and found that the entire bottom and top blue borders had gone completely white, faded to nothing. Fortunately for me. I have a very talented and capable  husband, who when asked if he could fix the problem of the white borders,said, "Sure, no problem", and he did, painting in the top and bottom in a beautiful system of alternating marks.  He said he loved doing it, and wanted to be my studio assistant, although he is an artist in his own right so I doubt that will happen anytime soon: Robert Wilson Art (Link to his website).