Last summer I did a show at the DIY space Secret Project Robot, in Bushwick. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the space I didn’t get a lot of great photos. DIY spaces can be difficult because they’re not always well lit and there tends to be a lot of other stuff sort of hanging around in the space. Basically, it’s not a gallery so you’re just kind of going for it. However, Eric and Rachel are always so awesome and really great about supporting artists so it’s always a fun spot to show.

I didn’t have much time to put pieces together, just a month. I think i had asked about having an exhibition and then a bunch of other work came up so it didn’t give me a lot of time to make new pieces. I love a deadline though and the more hectic the better I seem to work. Of course that does not mean I want to work that way all of the time, but in most cases this tends to be the situation.

The concept for the show was my upbringing in Iowa and I called the show Iowa Joy, however I don’t feel like I was able, due to limited time, to really explore the whole concept. I mean that’s an idea I could explore for the rest of my life. I kind of skimmed the top and created a bunch of imagery using corn.

When I was a kid I used to detassel corn in the summer. I feel like i must have been only 12 or 13 when I did it, possibly older, but I think it must have been before I got a work permit at age 14. I’d get up every morning around 5:30 and go meet a school bus that would take us to the field and then from around 6:30 or 7:00 am until 3:00 pm we’d walk through huge fields detasseling corn. Sometimes, if the corn was tall enough, you’d take a tractor through, but you’d have to work much faster and be more aware. I’m a little surprised that they had such young kids doing the job. Here’s the basic definition of detasseling that I got from Wikipedia. Quite honestly I never knew what it did. I guess i didn’t pay enough attention.

“Detasseling corn is removing the immature pollen-producing bodies, the tassel, from the tops of corn (maize) plants and placing them on the ground. It is a form of pollination control,[1] employed to cross-breed, or hybridize, two varieties of corn.”

I also used as inspiration, Playtime Poppy, a giant ear of corn that was the mascot for a children’t theater in Iowa. This song still goes through my head although I never knew it to have so many lyrics.

“Playtime Poppy”

I’m a playtime, Playtime Poppy
A cornfield is where I was born.
I’m a playtime, Playtime Poppy
Happy little ear of corn!

I love to sing and dance and play
Most every kind of game.
The Children’s Theatre is my home
And Playtime Poppy is my name!

Oh I’m a playtime, Playtime Poppy
And never will I be forlorn.
We’ll have a great time with Playtime Poppy
Happy little ear of corn!

i remember feeling sort of bad about the show because I wasn’t able to put in enough time and effort. I spoke to a friend who is a professor at Parson’s and she gave me the best bit of advice. This is from an email that I wrote to her asking again for the advice so that I could remember it for the future.

“Yes, it's actually a two-part piece of advice. The first part is that you just have to get some work out there for people to see. It doesn't have to represent your final, completed creative process. Rather, your life's work is that thought process. You will have time to review and revise what you present in the next body of work you make. The second part is that releasing work into the public often makes it easier to see it and reflect on it. Sometimes when you're making it, you're too in it and can't really see the forest through the trees. When it's out there, it gives you a different perspective, helps you push the bigger project along. Each project is part of a bigger goal.”

Even though I feel like I just hit the tip of the iceberg with Iowa Joy it’s actually a continuation of my previous work, but told using the basic imagery of the Iowa landscape. I’ve realized as I’ve re-read the statement from my friend that my work has always been told from the point of view of my Iowa upbringing and since the beginning I’ve used the examples of growing up with little money and using creativity as a necessity. I’ ll explore this more in my next post.

Here are some photos from the show. Some are in my studio and some are at Secret Project Robot. I also tried to incorporate my love for capes into the show and used corn cobs with stars and lightning bolts to reflect my costume design work.

This cape looks a little drunk to me so it’s the drunk dude cape. The soda can is from Aldi’s in the 1980’s. I ordered a set of 4 on Ebay. We always drank Aldi’s pop (Iowa for soda).

The Corn Cape. I used the same methods for this cape as I did for Karen O’s Hand Cape from It’s Blitz

I made these pieces about a week before my show. They were inspired by Iowa summers, the quiet, being lost in the flow of energy as you ride your bike, and the tornadoes that would change the color of the sky to unearthly tones and swoop in with gre… — I made these pieces about a week before my show. They were inspired by Iowa summers, the quiet, being lost in the flow of energy as you ride your bike, and the tornadoes that would change the color of the sky to unearthly tones and swoop in with great gushes to create frightening near misses that were soothed by my mom’s belief that God would spare us.

In June I spent three weeks in LA looking after a friend’s dog. I am very enthusiastic about LA at the beginning of every stay and my husband and I always talk about moving there. This time finally felt like the right moment and we began looking at neighborhoods but It only took one time for me to realize that no, I couldn’t just hop on the bus or subway or walk home, I would have to catch an Uber. I hate taking Uber’s especially in places that I don’t know well. I get that they have GPS but I just feel weird about being in a car with someone I don’t know. Oddly, I actually feel safer in a regular cab and also I feel better in NY because I know the routes well. Needless to say I won’t be moving to LA anytime soon, but I did have an amazing time reconnecting with old friends whom I love dearly.

The place where I stayed in LA had a really lush and magical backyard with a tree growing up through the deck and dense and fragrant plant life that made you feel enclosed in your own secret world. It felt good especially after being in NYC where it was hot, sticky, stinky, grey and loud.

Normally, I work nearly everyday either laying down an image to an ongoing piece or experimenting with new ideas. My main mode of creating is screen printing and over the years I’ve developed ways to print without having to burn new screens which can get very expensive if you don’t have your own set up. I either use construction paper or sticky paper to create stencils and then lay down the image onto canvas. I don’t really have a set up for printing meaning that i don’t do any registering of prints. I sort of just lay the canvas on the table and go for it.

i developed a love for printing around 2006 when I was creating new costumes for Karen O for the Show Your Bones tour. I remember looking at the costumes Kansai Yamamoto created for David Bowie and realizing that creating your own textiles was a good way to keep a look singular. Now it’s a major part of every ensemble. I love the way a graphic print looks on stage and how a textile can tell a story.

As my love for printing grew I began to collect books on the subject and some of my favorite go-to’s were books from the 1960’s and 70’s on textile printing. This one in particular is still a favorite of mine just based off the amazing photos of textiles in nature.

It’s always been a dream of mine to have a place where I could set up outside and print and the house where I stayed finally gave me that opportunity. I set up a table and a clothes line and watched my prints dry in the warm sun and flap in the wind.

I happened to also have my sewing machine with me, an old Pfaff that weighs a ton but does the job better than anything new. I bought it for $300 off Ebay. It needed a minor repair but I have to say if you need a machine and can’t afford an expensive one buy an old one off Ebay. The new plastic ones fall apart in no time and it’s difficult to sew anything more than a light cotton.

Out of my studio and in a new, slightly more confined space. (I don’t mind making a mess in my own space but I want to be respectful of friends homes) I began to create with the tools i had with me and I began to experiment with drawing with my sewing machine.

Drawing has never been my strong suit. My brothers drew like crazy when we were growing up but I was never interested and even now it feels like a chore. I’ve also realized over the years that I’m better with cutting out shapes. Somehow I can see the image more clearly when i’m using an Exacto knife or scissors. The same goes with the sewing machine. What I’m actually drawing with the machine is fairly exaggerated and undefined and really meant to compliment the print but the combo has turned into something I really love. Stitching a line creates the same clean, graphic style that I desire most.

i also had a show up while I was in LA at the OHYA Gallery owned by my friend and former Liars drummer Julian Gross. For the closing show I exhibited some of the new pieces I created during my time in LA in the magic garden.