Playlist or Podcast?

In the studio, I often need silence to be fully present with my work- to pay full attention to what is often the smallest hint of the next step in the evolution of something.

Life Line II (detail #1)
wire, pulp, encaustic, collage
©NanciHersh
photo: Dain Simons

It also depends on what I am doing. Working from life or well into a piece, music can be a great energizer, moving the brush, wrapping the wire, dipping the pulp-caught up in the momentum of the beat, the words.

If I am on a path where I can see the light of sorts and would like inspiration or interesting conversation, but may need to pay more attention to my footing, then I podcast. 

Life Line II
wire, pulp, encaustic, vinyl tubing, collage
©NanciHersh
photo:DainSimons

Yesterday was a podcast day, working on a painting I listened to OnBeing's Krista Tippett's interview with Ann Hamilton at the Minneapolis Museum of Art in January 2014. I loved Ann's insights about time and presence and "letting things take the time they actually need."  There is that time and trust as Makers (Ann prefers that to Artist)  that we need to give something so that it can become what it needs to be. 

Life Line II (detail #2)
©NanciHersh
Photo:DainSimons

This Catch & Release Series of my nets has been and continues to be a lesson in allowing the time for it to become what it needs to be.

Threads, materials, and parts come together, find each other and are connected with fishing line and vinyl tubing to feed off and sustain each other. Each component is a vessel that holds something and whose strength comes from its ability to be a part of something larger than itself.

We may not know where are are going but where we are is worth our attention.

The Why of it All

When you get clear on the why of what you do, it serves as a compass offering clarity and direction.

Catch and Release (detail)
wire, pulp, encaustic, collage
©2013NanciHersh
Photo by Amy Tucker Photography

Unpacking my work last week to get ready to install my window at Gallery 37 in Milford, DE, a woman stopped in and looked at my nets with curiosity, and then promptly stated, "they look rotten." A few minutes later, when I didn't respond, she repeated her comment. (Did she think I didn't hear her?)

I could've taken it a number of ways and granted, they do look aged or like artifacts. That is intentional.

And then, I thought about my why, which is to connect, inspire, and transform.

Netting 2 (detail)
wire, pulp, encaustic, collage
©2013NanciHersh
Photo by Amy Tucker Photography

Connect experiences to materials, the intangible thoughts and feelings to process and materials, connect to nature, to a higher power, and to each other. So, I smiled at this woman and shared with her the intention behind the creation of this series called Catch and Release.

Orchid (detail)
wire, pulp, encaustic, collage
©2013NanciHersh
Photo by Amy Tucker Photography

This body of work is about time passing, aging, trying to hold on, learning to let go, and finding the beauty and transcendence in the fragility of life. Somewhere (ok a lot of places- is my experience with cancer- and my sons' injuries)

Conduit (detail)
wire, pulp, encaustic, collage
©2013NanciHersh
photo by Jessica Czerwin

When I got to the Opening Reception on Saturday there was another artist standing by my window installation. Betsey told me that she loved my window installation. Marcia Reed, the owner of Gallery 37 and an artist herself had explained my work to her. With an open mind, an open heart and learning more about the work,  Betsey told me that she felt incredibly moved by what she saw, she experienced. She used the word Powerful.

wire, pulp, encaustic, collage
©2013NanciHersh
photo by Jessica Czerwin

I could've hugged her. In fact, I did.

There's my connection, my inspiration, and the power to transform from rotten to powerful.

Love, Loss and Healing

As heavy rains and wind whipped outside my studio doors I have been working on the newest evolution of my nets which I have come to realize are also nests. Nets/nests- both are vessels for holding, a sanctuary, a filter for memories, objects. The hanging teabags mark time, a daily ritual in our home.

Love, Loss & Healing, 2012
detail 1
Wire, pulp, encaustic, collage, vinyl tubing, teabags
©2012NanciHersh

In one incarnation they hung from lines, fishing lines, like the flotsam and jetsom that wash ashore and come in with the tide.  Now they hang from clear vinyl tubing, like i.v.'s or life lines. No longer are they only bare and skeletal, most are now enveloped in another kind of netting- pantyhose that has been burned to also be net like, think fish net stockings.  The inner frameworks support the more decorative coverings which reference fashion of some kind- mostly the flamboyant hats I grew up with in my dad's milinary stores- Nobby Hats.  Family. Home.... and loss-

Love, Loss & Healing, 2012
detail 2
Wire, pulp, encaustic, collage, vinyl tubing, teabags
©2012NanciHersh

There is something breast- like about them, as they float detached from the body. But art is about creation, redemption and transformation.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who has or is facing loss during this "Frankenstorm."

Aha! Moment

My "gathering nets" are evolving in the heat of these summer months. It seems they are morphing into hives, serving as both a sanctuary as well as, a holding and filtering vessel.  The original wire, pulp and encaustic structures function more as skeletal supports and inner collections. These organic forms have become encased in netting (ok pantyhose- thanks to a family connection to hosiery, and lots of it) that have been, cut, burned and sometimes embellished. Much like the skin that covers my body (though no piercings- yet.) 

(Note: writing this is one of those self realizations and aha! moments. ah the power of writing about your work)

This evolution is both natural and surprising. There it is again. The body, home, and sense of place all finding its way into my work.  With that in mind, I felt that these nets needed to be in nature, where I am most at peace.  

    

And here in the Delaware Valley Region of the country that place is in a preserve where I walk with my dogs in and around the creek.

Finding a place in the sun with cool water and lovely shadows.

A sense of peace, a sense of place.

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The journey is the destination.

O. Fork

O. Fork. Can you believe it's November already?!

I started making forks, spoons, and knives out of wire dipped in a vat of over beaten flax or abaca several years ago. After they dried and were coated with encaustic, they look aged, yet alive, like an old relic. 

After my grandmother passed, I inherited her set of sterling silver cutlery. This got me thinking about what we do and what - to do with things that may be of value, but not necessarily something we asked for (sterling silver, those old books, cancer, you get the idea) that comes into our lives one way or another.

10 Cups of Tea
Wire, pulp, encaustic, collage
19" x 3" x 3"
©2011NanciHersh

The tea bags were from the daily cups of tea I make my husband every morning. Our ritual.  Honoring the present, and another way of marking time. 

However, just as I was getting ready to deliver the piece to Willow on State for my current exhibition, I added the finishing touches. The small pages between the prongs and the O. on the tea bag tag.

Now,  it's complete.

10 Cups of Tea (detail)

10 Cups of Tea (detail)

Originally, I titled the piece 10 Cups of Tea, now I am thinking I like O. Fork.

Which title do you think fits this piece best?