The Altar Show, Altares del Mundo
Sleep interrupted by art notes — not like a lullaby, but rather like a churning of lyrics and messages, coming from a creative place preparing me to make an altar for the upcoming exhibition: Altares del Mundo.
I gave in and got up stumbling bleary eyed into the kitchen, ground some coffee beans, sloshed some water into the pot and flipped the switch to brew.
The gurgling sound of coffee dripping made me stand and watch the pot until I could pour a cup. With java in hand, I went out to my studio, clicked on a CD by Van Morrison called Magic Time and went over to the projects in process bins. I pulled out this piece I made to honor Matisse's The Dream he painted in 1940. Mine has been folded and put away since 1999 hence the deep creases.
From there I pulled out this black painted and stamped cotton and linen piece that I've never named but it looks like it should be hung over an altar.
Then I pulled out two embroideries of the Djed Pillar, one with black metallic thread on white chiffon and the other with white pearl cotton thread on black cotton. Along with a couple woven pieces using strips of fabric, beads, ribbon, yarn I thought why not integrate some of these into one art piece?
Digging more in a box of art paintings I found this painting of a woman yearning for her 1940's Mother thinking I could add this to a shelf on the altar.
What a rich life we lead, as artists! Revering gifts I think of as large, we have opportunities to bring into being, tangible works born out of a mystery, a Magic Time. I wondered, how do other women artists talk about their altars and searched "What is altar art?" Clicked on Google Images and came up with an amazing link that took me into goddess revival from ancient ritual.
Altars: Everywoman's sacred place
Beautiful Necessity, The Art and Meaning of Women's Altars
by Kay Turner (Thames and Hudson, 1999
Reviewed by Stephanie Hiller
After reading that and many more articles online, I got rather sleepy and went back to bed — I knew this feeling of needed dream state. It is the place I go at times "to see" what it is that I will next make. The dream time brought forward my direction, a guide map as to where to start. I pulled stretcher bars off the shelf to begin the structures. That's all I can talk about — the rest is vague and will take the intended shape as I work.
Suffice it to say however, all the above photos of things I've made? Probably none of them will end up in my altar but I had to search out and touch these pieces and feel the threads of sacredness as part of my journey into discovering what it is I'm supposed to make. I am an instrument for the art; the altar piece will be music from and for my soul.
I gave in and got up stumbling bleary eyed into the kitchen, ground some coffee beans, sloshed some water into the pot and flipped the switch to brew.
The gurgling sound of coffee dripping made me stand and watch the pot until I could pour a cup. With java in hand, I went out to my studio, clicked on a CD by Van Morrison called Magic Time and went over to the projects in process bins. I pulled out this piece I made to honor Matisse's The Dream he painted in 1940. Mine has been folded and put away since 1999 hence the deep creases.
From there I pulled out this black painted and stamped cotton and linen piece that I've never named but it looks like it should be hung over an altar.
Then I pulled out two embroideries of the Djed Pillar, one with black metallic thread on white chiffon and the other with white pearl cotton thread on black cotton. Along with a couple woven pieces using strips of fabric, beads, ribbon, yarn I thought why not integrate some of these into one art piece?
Digging more in a box of art paintings I found this painting of a woman yearning for her 1940's Mother thinking I could add this to a shelf on the altar.
What a rich life we lead, as artists! Revering gifts I think of as large, we have opportunities to bring into being, tangible works born out of a mystery, a Magic Time. I wondered, how do other women artists talk about their altars and searched "What is altar art?" Clicked on Google Images and came up with an amazing link that took me into goddess revival from ancient ritual.
Altars: Everywoman's sacred place
Beautiful Necessity, The Art and Meaning of Women's Altars
by Kay Turner (Thames and Hudson, 1999
Reviewed by Stephanie Hiller
After reading that and many more articles online, I got rather sleepy and went back to bed — I knew this feeling of needed dream state. It is the place I go at times "to see" what it is that I will next make. The dream time brought forward my direction, a guide map as to where to start. I pulled stretcher bars off the shelf to begin the structures. That's all I can talk about — the rest is vague and will take the intended shape as I work.
Suffice it to say however, all the above photos of things I've made? Probably none of them will end up in my altar but I had to search out and touch these pieces and feel the threads of sacredness as part of my journey into discovering what it is I'm supposed to make. I am an instrument for the art; the altar piece will be music from and for my soul.
hi friend, your pictures are amazing! I loved them all as well as the discription of the process. this will be fun to build an alter, I'm excited. lv, Carole
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Carole, being at the initial Altar meeting Friday night with you, Janet, Leslie, Barbetta and us exhibiting together again hugely inspires me. Our kinship, along with all the varied fibers in our work, will add to the depth of this show. The venue is a great space isn't it? I'm really jazzed! Thanks for your kind words too! Love, V
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Hello fellow altar 'builders', I dig that word 'build' that you used Carole. And Viktorya's process of building paintings. I was hammering wire in the garage, with images of building an altar. Then I had a vision of the women Viktorya mentioned in her comment, all standing on pedestals, grouped together, perhaps performance art, perhaps a dream, but for sure all with honor and respect for those who have shaped and formed us along our journey. Happy building dear friends. And yes, the space is magnificent. Certainly no constraints on the size or our altars!
Leslie
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From your description, dear Leslie, there appeared ancient columns among Grecian outcroppings, abundant olive trees heavy with olives and pomegranate bushes with their orange flowers waiting to produce fruit for goddesses. All of us milling around our studios, making image from origin, will pool our art into the open. Thanks for your message -- I'll take it into the day!
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