life's a beach

Living near the water and sky keeps me in awe of the power and beauty of nature.  Watching the weather seems to put me into a reverie and I find myself pondering life and how fast time goes by.  Manitoulin's famous wildflowers are another source of wonder, and I am learning so much about them as I try to find original ways to paint them. However, my very favourite topic for paintings is my own children.  They are growing up so fast and I love to paint them near the water.  Like all parents I am concerned for their future in a world that is not always so safe or beautiful.

Judith Martin 2002

This winter I have been having more difficulty than usual with blogging.  Three reasons:

1.  I have been making a lot of new work - all in the rough design stage and my mind and heart have been with these new pieces.  Matisse famously said "cut off your tongue" when in the act of making art.,  Perhaps that's why I am at a loss for what to say here.

2.  Every day I've been I doing a little gentle art of swedish death cleaning.  As I go through my stuffed drawers and shelves and toss or give away something every single day, I am finding my past life and am flooded with memories. This explains why some posts are aboout my early work and the importance of motherhood within that work. (For example, the image and statementat the top of this post are from an exhibition I had 15 years ago in the local museum.)

3. I've been working on my left leg.  A yoga class, a swimming class, my phsyio-daily exercises. These things take me away from my work and blog. 

Thank you for continuing to read what I do put up here.  I appreciate your support.

To Not Be So Lonely

This post is about the performance Mariana Lafrance did at her vernissage on April 12 for her exhibition entitled To Not Be So Lonely at the Art gallery of Sudbury.

She used the two puppets that she had made earlier from cotton dyed with walnuts.  She set up a checkerboard for them to play with made from charcoal dust and flour and her grandmother's china.

During the performance Mariana manipulated the puppets to play the checker game with a pool cue, each taking turn.  She spoke for them, using a childish aggressive dialog in French and in English.
eg.

'What's your favourite colour?'
"C'est le noir"
'Black, you like black?  That's not a colour"
"Ce n'est pas une couleur?"
'Nope, not a colour.  Me, I like pink.  Purple too. Pink or purple.
Those are my favourite colours."
"Rose et mauve? Ça c'est des couleurs de fille."
"..."
'I can't wait to be a grown-up.'
'When I'm an adult, everyone will be nice to me."

 When kings were made, a cup was placed in a saucer and tea was poured.

"Do you want any sugar"
'Sure, I'll have some sugar'
"We don't have any sugar"

"What do I do with the history that belongs to me and to my family?"  asks the artist.
"Checkers is a war game."

As well as the assemblage left behind from the performance, Mariana's exhibition consists of 3 videos, 3 textile drawings and several photographs.  In every instance there is a duality or a feeling of twinning in the imagery.  Mariana also uses her hands very expressively in all 3 videos, giving them a sensuousness rare in this media.  The exhibition will be on view until May 14 2017.

She explained her ideas about Not Be So Lonely to the gathering who attended and I quote her below:

The intent of this exhibition is not about the loneliness of the individual but more about the process of opening up to people around you, both as a person and as a culture.  In the process of opening up, you find that the others around you are more similar to you than different, and you find that they are quite like yourself, like twins, in a basic and essential way.  You bring "you' to that other person, and that other person brings themselves to you. Once you've done this you start to see humanity as yourself and others,  mixed up and yet essentially the same.      Mariana Lafrance.