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SIX awesome things as of late

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 01. Why haven’t I been blogging? I’ve been working…here, there, everywhere. The gallery is in transition with a new show, and that’s where about 3.5 days of life went. It’s the annual Student Juried Exhibition and this years juror was Target’s corporate art curator, Lisa Melander. I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with her, as well as attending her lecture and she is a wise and talented MSUM art alum! 
We had approximately 150 entries submitted to the juried show, which Lisa whittled down to her 80 selections for the exhibition. Since all the selecting was done with the artists unidentified, she didn’t know that she’d selected both my submissions for the show — when I was in the room! I had to silently contain my excitement, but now I can share it with the blog world. Another exhibit!
Among the selected pieces is Seriously, a 3D text sculpture. You can see it on my website here.
I was scrambling down to the submission deadline to prepare the piece for the show. I actually had to clip the letters apart (they’re made of three pieces: wood, hardware cloth, and steel mesh) to PAINT THEM again, and reassemble them by sewing the pieces back together with clear fishing line. Everything must have worked out in the end because I was accepted! (My second piece in the show is the previously exhibited ‘Rubbish & Bosh’ outdoor sign.)
‘U’ before I sewed it back together in a typographical surgery of sorts. The operation went smooth.
B. FOOD:
BIG cookies that I ate during a studio break:
…and a fellow studio artist’s lunch: cold pizza with imitation bacon strips (she’s also a vegetarian). I found it rather interesting/repulsive, but mostly liked the colors:

III. An art department sign that made me feel a little better:

 FOUR: Going out and having fun (when I finally found the time) and immersing myself in environments with people that are possibly in the same situation as me (but probably not):
5: It’s APRIL, which means it’s almost May, which means it’s almost August, which means it’s almost December, which means it’s almost internship time, which means I’m ALMOST DONE.
Seis: Today is the first day not wearing my winter getup (hat, gloves, etc.) and it. Felt. AWESOME.
Here comes the sun.
xx
j

weekend wrap-up

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BYGONE WEEKEND. My overnight went much smoother than expected — and bonus! I got to attend my first-ever RODEO with my client! CHA-CHING!

This is going to sound really sappy, but the rodeo actually made me feel like a North Dakotan, and it made me proud of North Dakotans. The rodeo was a showcase of a lot of talent that comes from our state that I’ve rarely seen or heard about! Lots of cowboys and cowgirls for real!

I had my BFA review on Friday with my committee (two graphic design instructors and I selected my sculpture instructor as the third committee member). They accepted me into the BFA program, then told me I need to make timelines and work my butt off! I hope so. We discussed possible project ideas for the upcoming semester — it’s going to be a ton of work (my instructors are pushing 8 hour days, five days a week — “your full time job”). I’m not sure where I’m going to take my project. Three things I know for sure are that I want it to be A) beautiful 2) colorful and III ) BIG! Now I need to find a way to meld those things together…

Also, you’ll notice the new layout of this page. I did a bit of spring cleaning and de-cluttered the blog. Additions to the page include an ‘about me’ page where I get wild and spill all my oddities, and ‘contact’ where you can find every possible way on earth to reach me (almost).

Olé! That’s all.

xx
j

this is your life

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I WENT TO SLEEP WITH A HEADACHE THIS EVENING — woke up three hours later, confused as to where I was, what time had passed. I didn’t have a drop of caffeine today, a miracle.

I…don’t feel right lately. Funky. When I think about feeling unwell, I recall a conversation I had with one of my clients a few weeks ago. She asked why we don’t feel right sometimes, why we get sick.
I had to think about answering that question. I suppose it’s something I haven’t often had to put into words; when you don’t feel right, you don’t feel right. It’s hard to explain it to someone, because every body feels a different sickness and sometimes it’s hard to describe. My stomach hurts, I have a headache, my chest is pounding, I’m shaking. There are so many ailments that until we feel them, we can’t understand really how they feel.

Thinking of ways to simplify an explanation, I said to my client, “Our bodies are very complex. Think about everything that goes into making your body work: all of the pumping, the flowing, the beating and digesting. All of the nerves and cells and brainwaves. All of your systems are working in harmony to make you live—and if one thing in your body isn’t on track—even one little thing—you won’t feel right. So with everything going on in your body, it’s only natural for things to sometimes go wrong.”
“Oh.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
I’m still at school, feeling that there’s something that needs to be done (there isn’t). Tomorrow I have a review with a committee for my BFA year — I’m hoping good things will come out of it, but expecting a wake-up call…
Finally, I want to finish with this beautiful manifesto that my aunt Kelly posted today. As I read through it every word rang true, and it was comforting. Being that I just quit a job I didn’t like, I’m consistently searching for happiness, I’m itching to travel, and I truly want to open myself up to new things…this is beautiful. Thank you, Kelly!

two funny things before i call it a night:

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1. I have one roommate. She’s really great and we get along beautifully, probably because we have nothing in common.

Anyway, my roommate and I have the funniest relationship. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve never had a fight or disagreement of any sort. I don’t know how else to describe it but a “symphony of circumvention.” For example, we’ve both been home for the past two days, but we’ve never actually seen one another. I might be in my room and she’ll be in the bathroom, then I’ll move out to the kitchen and she’ll be in her room, then I’ll be in the bathroom and she’ll be in the kitchen. It’s the strangest, most perfect harmony. Then I’ll try to catch her, and come out of my room and she’ll just be sneaking out the door…like hide-and-seek, but…a symphony of circumvention!
B. I’ve posted photos in the past of a few of the things I’ve created over the past year or so. What you might notice about many of these projects — namely the sculptural ones — is that they tend to be larger in scale.
The other day I ran into an acquaintance, who mentioned he’d visited the gallery and seen my sign.
“That sign is huge!” he commented. “How long did it take you to make?”
I tossed around the timeline in my head, until I figured it took me two-ish months to complete. “Yeah, it’s big,” I said. “I gravitate toward making big things because I’m small.”
“Ahh, I gotcha,” he replied, “Napoleon complex!”
I might as well have said, “EUREKA!” because at that moment I felt that he’d diagnosed a disease I’ve had for 23 years.
Has anyone heard of this? Little people compensating with big things? Why didn’t I think of this before?
(P.S. He was 5’6″…4.5 inches taller than me!)
xx
j

cookie crumbs

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I DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO DO HOMEWORK IN BED. Needless to say, it’s warm and cozy, but not much homework getting done. I keep passing out every four minutes and waking up to the smell of Oreos (sitting next to me in bed). Trying to get through a d-e-n-s-e reading about hypermediacy and transparent immediacy. Yikes.

It’s a big week, again. Lucky for me, I’m no longer employed at the g-store, so a few extra days are open this week to do studious things (read my overdue library books, prepare for future disasters, brainwash myself into doing homework, etc.). I might get used to my new schedule — I work once every two weeks! It could be a terrible or a beautiful thing, I’ll see with time.
And crazy enough, the exhibit is already coming down at the end of this week (wow, that was fast!) to make room for a juried student exhibit. I’m entering a few pieces…they need some serious love before I can enter them, so there goes my weekend. All for you, art. All for you.
Lastly, I’m giving a superpresentation (see: really long talk) for my Contemporary Art & Design Theory class on Thursday. It’s about Italian sculptor and funny man artist Maurizio Cattelan, who made his name by mocking art.
Cattelan is outrageous; he steals, he jests, he fools, then he disappears. He rarely does interviews and when he does, often turns them into a joke or sends stand-ins to pose as him. He’s dark humor at it’s finest, but he’s just plain ridiculous. After reading several books about him, nothing surprises me anymore! Here are a few of my favorite works of his:
Untitled (1998), Picasso costume at MoMA.

Love Saves Life (1995), based on a Brothers Grimm story where a donkey, dog, cat, and cock fool humans and escape their suppressive farm lives to live in peace and harmony…until Cattelan creates Love Lasts Forever (1997)…
Love Lasts Forever (1997)
Hollywood (2001), a recreation of the famous sign in Sicily, Italy.
Him (2001), a childlike depiction of Hitler.
If you like what you see and are interested in Cattelan, check out this gallery page for tons more of his work (disclaimer: some might be slightly raunchy and/or offensive, but that’s just Cattelan).
Well, back to the books. It’s storming pretty nice outside (if that’s not an oxymoron) and I’ve eaten far too many cookies for my own good.
A happy, warm evening to all —
xx
j

hasty decisions

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I DON’T REMEMBER A LOT OF MY DREAMS, but I can’t forget what I dreamt last night.

After what seemed like a hasty decision (as decisions often are in dreams) I decided to get married. The entire length of the engagement was a few days, during which time I somehow acquired a dress (?). No further arrangements were made — no church, attendants, time or location. I’m not even really sure who I told about the event, other than my mom and immediate family.
I remember the day coming, and waking up thinking, “this is my wedding day…this doesn’t feel like my wedding day…”, and I went about the day as though nothing special was happening, and my life wasn’t about to change. I didn’t have my nails or my hair done. I don’t even remember seeing my “husband-to-be,” whoever he was. It was just me, and just another day.
Toward the end of the afternoon, right around eight o’clock, I decided to put on my wedding dress with the hope that others might see and remember it was my wedding day. Since there were no plans, I didn’t know where I was going to get married, or who was going to marry me. My tentative plan was to drag my family to some weird, arbitrary place where I’d marry a stranger and live out the evening in spontaneity. It sounded great in my head, but when I realized no one wanted to go along with it…I felt foolish.
After some time waiting around in my wedding dress, I asked my mom, “Isn’t anyone coming to my wedding?” I remember her looking at me, searching for the words to tell me it was a bad idea. But all she could say was, “You have to stand by this person for a long time.” I felt naiveness and a sharp disappointment run through me, knowing I wasn’t ready.
I’m trying to connect this dream to real life, but all I can gather is a call for patience…
xx
j

zombified

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I feel completely overwhelmed by everything right now, yet there is nothing happening. How can this be? Spring Break has become the opposite of it’s intentions: Not a break at all, but a catalyst for worry. The momentum I had before the break has disintegrated. I achieved what I achieved, I got my scholarship and exhibited, and now I feel that’s all I’m capable of. It’s a terrible sense of exhaustion — physically, mentally, emotionally. I feel incapable.

The only culprit I can think of is sleep. I’ve slept too much and now I don’t want anything else. Today I woke up for breakfast, then went back to bed until four in the afternoon. When I finally got out and about, the world seemed hazy and I felt like a zombie! Help!

And whether or not I like to admit it, this week has been tough with Heidi gone.

Spring Break goes to show that I need school in my life, to keep my mind happy and busy. Because right now, I. Just. Feel. Weird.

xx
j