I've decided on a title for my new exhibit. Oh, by the way, I have a new exhibit coming up!! February 5th, First Friday in downtown Delaware, a collection of my art quilts will be opening at Corner Framing Gallery, 27 N. Sandusky Street, come see them from 6-9pm. Actually they'll be up all month.
I HAD to decide on a title because in order to create an event in Facebook, there must be a title. I didn't want to use some generic phrase, like "art show", so I needed a title.
It's really difficult to do; even harder than creating a new piece of art, I think. The title of a show must relate to all the work, sum it up, intrigue the potential viewer, inform them ahead of time, pique their interest, without giving everything away. It has to make sense, so upon viewing the work, there is an "aha" moment where the relationship between the title of the show and the content of the work becomes clear.
I find this very difficult; each of my individual pieces is unique, although there are themes. However, the different themes are not necessarily related to one another, and are sometimes REALLY disparate. It is actually a blessing that the gallery has two opposing walls, because I can use the distance to separate the themes. They don't have to be so far removed from each other, but it helps me wrap my mind around the different thoughts that went behind the work. For instance, the Red Panty series is humorous, light-hearted yet affirming, and relates most specifically to women. The Shroud series is more serious, reflecting thoughts on humanity, mortality, race, gender and the passage of time. Two very different thought patterns that aren't obviously related, at least not in my own head!
But as I looked deeper, I could see this idea of TIME weaving through everything: in the Red Panty series, the idea of women THEN and women NOW; the idea of generations, and the hope for the next one. In the Shroud series, I juxtapose the photos from ancient Pompeii with the photos from St. Peter's in Rome, as well as the "x-ray" which is a 19th century invention. That sense of the time continuum started to become clearer, and as I reach my 50th birthday this year, a feeling of urgency creeps into my thoughts. What have I accomplished, what can I complete, how long do I have left?
Tempus Fugit
The complete quote is from Virgil, and means roughly, "But meanwhile it flees: time flees irretrievably, while we wander around, prisoners of our love of detail." Fascinating: am I wasting my precious time on ridiculous things? Or am I making a difference, impacting the world, leaving my mark? I struggle to answer those questions, and as I do, I'm creating new work that I hope you'll enjoy!
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