About the project

Eleven years ago I was diagnosed with debilitating clinical depression. After two years I started climbing out of the hole. I learned letterpress printing, bookbinding and making artists’ books. Several years ago I started forming ideas for an installation about depression.

Statistics[1] show depression

· affects over 18 million Americans belonging to any gender and age;

· is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15-44;

· affects twice as many women as men

· is seen by 55% of Americans as a weakness to be dealt with personally. (Alarmingly, more than 50% of men and women are quite embarrassed to seek professional help once they have been diagnosed with clinical depression).

Creativity is a basic instinct and the release of creative energy is essential for mental health in any person. The process of creating art and the final object are a form of communication between creator and observer, with the resulting object being the conclusion. In most of my undergraduate work I have found the process almost more interesting than the end result, for in a number of cases it has proven to be a journey of self-discovery and catharsis. The subject of my dissertation was “A Necessary Journey – The translation of dealing with loss and subsequent grief into art”, written after my sister passed away. Depression is part of the grieving process, so I can draw from the extensive research I did at the time.

I want to translate emotions related to depression into visual elements, for people to witness and develop a greater comprehension of the many facets of depression. These depression statistics show that there is clearly a need for awareness regarding this neglected condition. Plus it is my way of getting back at the beast!

I would also welcome the opportunity to utilize these works in gallery exhibits to create a connection between the visual arts and their healing nature, particularly to profile the plight of people faced with debilitating depression and the benefits of the arts as an underutilized healing mechanism. After all, I use my art to purge or enhance my emotions.

As a base I am using the book. Then on top of, and embedded in these bases, 2D and/or 3D objects and text will represent various emotions. Text wise I intend to use, among others, quotes from other artists who have suffered, and worked through, their depression. There will be a series of books, open at “different chapters”, which represent the different stages of the depression. All this in black, white, and gray.

Depression is a disorder of mood, so mysteriously painful and elusive in the way it becomes known to the self - to the mediating intellect - as to verge close to being beyond description. It thus remains nearly incomprehensible to those who have not experienced it in its extreme mode 
- William Styron in Darkness Visible

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[1] www.nimh.nih.gov

Studio Residency at the Women's Studio Workshop

Yesterday I started my residency at the Women's Studio Workshop  in Rosendale, NY. For those of you who are not familiar with this concept:

Artists are selected through a jury process. The award includes on-site housing and 24 hour access to our studios. Artists are given a thorough studio orientation at no charge, but should be able to work independently. 

Open for artists to work for four to six weeks in any of our studios – etching, letterpress, paper making, silkscreen (paper or fabric), traditional black and white photography or ceramics. 

For a number of years now I have wanted to do a series of artists' books on the subject of depression, and I am given the chance by the WSW. I intend to keep a running diary of this process here on my blog. If you are interested, you can become a follower of this blog and you will then be notified when a new post has been added.

My workspace: 

Part 3 of "What would the neighbors think...?"

Yes, another renaming, but this is the final title of this piece.

And the final result...

I decided to leave the doors off. I wasn't happy with the design, and since this is a "try-out" model, I decided not to put any more time and material in this model. I wanted the doors to be taller, so they would overlap part of the drawers when closed, which would make the drawers inaccessible at the same time as the text body. So that's for the next box!

For the text body I used a concertina fold, with the valleys held in place by copper rods

 inserted into the base and top

There is no text in the body, just inkjet-printed old family photos.

I topped the protruding rods with vintage brads.

Silver crown from one of my late mother-in-law's religious figures.

Dan Kelm's workshop part 2. "Where did we go wrong?"

No, not a lamentation uttered while working on this box; yes, the "Round Box" got a proper name! More about the "content" later.

This in itself could be a finished box, but where would the fun be..

An extra layer added to accommodate the copper rods that will hold the pages in place.

Figuring out the spacing of the holes for the rods.

The "bare" box starts taking shape.

Working out the hinging details of the round enclosure/door on a model - I used copper tubing, threaded on a smaller tube.

 I then worked out how to attach this to the main body.

The two halves of the door, with the flaps that go around the hinge.

One half attached to the hinge.

The two halves attached to the hinge.

The doors with the inside lining.

Trying out the concept of the pages.

At this stage, only the bottom box with the drawers is finished. Everything else is still in the "try-out with masking tape" stage. I am working on the content, and then when all the individual pieces are ready, it can be put together. The last stage is where I assemble the rods, pages, lid and door in fell swoop. Until then I will have done many dry runs, using masking tape and clips.

The learning on this project is incredible, and I am documenting my mistakes. When this box is finished I consider it my "learning" box. The one after that will be the exhibition-standard one!

Dan Kelm's workshop

I was lucky enough to be invited to a Dan Kelm workshop at Mary Taylor's studio back in November. He is the master! Just look at some of his work here.

I went there with a vague idea, and Dan helped me along greatly.

So these past couple of days I finally had time to implement what I had learned from the workshop, and I'm well on my way making the "round book box", for lack of a better title for now.

I am using an old industrial spool, 10" in diameter and 7" high, for the internal structure.
On the bottom it will have four trays, and each tray has a different number of partitions.

The bottom on which the trays will sit, and the top.

The underside of the covered bottom ( a lot of cutting!)

Be careful to not cut the notches too close to the board, or you'll get these little "frays". You should stay away one board width + 1/8"

The tray part is beginning to take shape.

The makings of a tray in close-up.

 The pieces of lining and partitions.

The lining glued in place, with grooves for the partitions to fit into.

 The partition slotted into the groove to check the fit

 The tray covered with paper, the grooves clearly visible.

 The trays drying, and with the damp fronts tied around them to shape them before covering and gluing.

 The covered fronts with little drawer pulls, ready to be put on the trays.

All the trays in place on the bottom housing.

Bottom housing.

My very professional "jig" for shaping the round doors.