Eva Hesse
Stand, Sit, Hang, Lay….Works Exhibited This and That Way (More)
I am fascinated by the many ways in which works can be shown. Here are a few…
“Finally and Just for a Minute“, 2022, hanging from the ceiling in my studio at 18th Street Art Center (Olympic Campus) in Santa Monica, CA. (Canvas, burlap, hemp cord, acrylic paint, ribbon) (Pictured, the Los Angeles-based artist Randi Matushevitz)
“Rent Wound Tear, Mend Heal Repair”, 2022, hanging on wall in slight relief, in the exhibition “Collective Acts of Peace” at the 18th Street Art Center Airport Campus Slipstream Gallery in Santa Monica, CA. (Canvas, string, hemp cord, lace, acrylic paint)
“Womb”, 2020, hanging from the ceiling in 18th Street Art Center’s Slipstream Gallery, in my studio at 18th Street Art Center’s Olympic Campus, Santa Monica, CA, and in the Arts at Blue Roof Summer Festival, in the “Please Touch” exhibition at Blue Roof Studios in South Los Angeles. (Plastic hula hoop, raw canvass, jute cord)
“Unfolding Possibilities“, 2021, on pedestal in the exhibition “Recovery Justice: Being Well“, at the 18th Street Art Center Airport Campus Slipstream Gallery
in Santa Monica, CA. (Mulberry paper, sewing thread, gold thread)
“Chromatic Interactions: The Golden Thread“, 2020, hanging on the wall in my studio at 18th Street Art Center (Olympic Campus) in Santa Monica, CA.
(file cards, sewing thread, gold thread, markers, crayons, pencils)
CONCURRENCIES: Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: The Visitors
On June 25th, 2022 I held an open studio to share works created for my 2021-22 Santa Monica Artist Project Fellowship:
Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: Genius, Trauma and the Invention of New Forms of Visual Art in Response to the Holocaust
Employing research, artistic production, public engagement, the project investigates, compares and links the lives and the groundbreaking work of Jewish women artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse on the basis of their shared experience of trauma and loss through the Jewish Holocaust, the remarkably similar intimate traumas of their families (both lost their mothers to suicide), their invention of new forms of visual art through which I posit they respond to and attempt to cope with these traumas, their early deaths, and the emotional involvement of each with a charismatic and powerful male artist who proved to be influential, even pivotal in the development of their work and artistic/creative breakthroughs.
Themes of the project include being a woman artist, being a Jewish women artist, being an artist during or affected by a profoundly turbulent time in history, the relationship between internal and external turbulence and the creative act and the transformative power of the creative process: the triumph of the imagination as opposed to the triumph of the will.
On a broader scale, the project examines, through these two geniuses, ways in which the creative process can transform traumatic pasts, and how trauma can elicit the creation of new forms, voices and materials that outlast their makers and continue to reverberate throughout the ages, inspiring posterity.
As part of my Fellowship project commitment, I created a series of works responding to these artists: their oeuvre, their lives, their concurrencies. I was thrilled to welcome friends, colleagues and students to share the works and say hello! (All images by Steve Hankins Photography)
Thank you all, and thank you Steve Hankins, for your beautiful photography and capturing of the event.
CONCURRENCIES: Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: The Works
On June 25th, 2022 I held an open studio to share works created for my 2021-22 Santa Monica Artist Project Fellowship:
Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: Genius, Trauma and the Invention of New Forms of Visual Art in Response to the Holocaust
Employing research, artistic production, public engagement, the project investigates, compares and links the lives and the groundbreaking work of Jewish women artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse on the basis of their shared experience of trauma and loss through the Jewish Holocaust, the remarkably similar intimate traumas of their families (both lost their mothers to suicide), their invention of new forms of visual art through which I posit they respond to and attempt to cope with these traumas, their early deaths, and the emotional involvement of each with a charismatic and powerful male artist who proved to be influential, even pivotal in the development of their work and artistic/creative breakthroughs.
Themes of the project include being a woman artist, being a Jewish women artist, being an artist during or affected by a profoundly turbulent time in history, the relationship between internal and external turbulence and the creative act and the transformative power of the creative process: the triumph of the imagination as opposed to the triumph of the will.
On a broader scale, the project examines, through these two geniuses, ways in which the creative process can transform traumatic pasts, and how trauma can elicit the creation of new forms, voices and materials that outlast their makers and continue to reverberate throughout the ages, inspiring posterity.
As part of my Fellowship project commitment, I created a series of works responding to these artists: their oeuvre, their lives, their concurrencies, some of which I share here: (All images by Steve Hankins Photography)
Working title: “Concurrencies I“, 2022, repurposed denim, linen thread, gold thread, hemp cord, varnish
Working title: “Concurrencies II“, begun, 2022 (unfinished), repurposed denim, linen thread, gold thread, varnish , to be developed
Working title, “Finally“, 2022, canvas, burlap, acrylic paint, hemp cord
Working title, “Finally“, 2022, canvas, burlap, acrylic paint, hemp cord, (details)
“I Can’t I Won’t I will I Do“, 2022, repurposed cotton table runner, hemp cord, acrylic paint
“It’s Not Black and White“, 2021, Bookboard, mulberry paper, repurposed typewriter tape, canvas, hemp cord, (exterior)
“It’s Not Black and White“, 2021, Bookboard, mulberry paper, repurposed typewriter tape, canvas, hemp cord, (exterior/interior)
“Forest Through The Trees“, 2021, bookboard, hemp cord, watercolor paper, acrylic paint, wood, canvas, repurposed typewriter tape, lace, (exterior)
“Forest Through The Trees“, 2021, bookboard, hemp cord, watercolor paper, acrylic paint, wood, canvas, repurposed typewriter tape, lace, (detail)
Working title: “Charlotte Salomon-Eva Hesse: Concurrencies“, 2022, repurposed family album, burlap, linen thread, collage/paper, (exterior)
Concurrencies: Investigating, Linking and Responding to the Work of Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse
FORMATION at UCLA: The Artists (4)
“FORMATION”: The Guild of Book Workers 2018-2019 Traveling Juried Exhibition is currently showing at UCLA!
University of California, Los Angeles
Charles E. Young Research Library Lobby Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
March 15–May 25, 2019
“Simply defined by Merriam Webster as “an act of giving form or shape to something,” ‘formation‘ can insinuate process, history, creation, change, beginnings, an arrangement, botany and landscape, personal narratives and impersonal storytelling. As artists, designers and craftspeople with our own histories that form us, we also play a vital role in the formation of objects and experiences; pulp molded into paper, paper folded into books, books shelved into a library.
What is the final product, if not for the methods used to create it? What makes us into the artists we are? What pushes us to continue to create?” –FORMATION
I am extremely honored to have two pieces in FORMATION, The Guild of Book Workers 2018-2019 traveling juried exhibition, with a theme evoking a wide array of interpretations.
In this post, I share my contribution, “Hang Out”, and “Black Hang Out” to the show.
I leave it to you to interpret the titles. One knowledgable artist upon seeing my work asked if it was “Hedi Kyle meets Eva Hesse?” She may be right. Hedi and Eva, born 1937 and 1936 respectively, in Germany, with vastly different life trajectories., both unforgettable and profoundly impactful during their time, and for future generations. It is a fascinating supposition, and bravo, Karen Schiff for the insight and intuition.
Thank you for taking a look, and please check back soon as I share the work of many other talented artists who grace this Show!