Vermont Studio Center | Dinner, 2017

1.5 years later

While living in South America, Most people I met were either seeking something authentic or following through with a plan that maximized exposure to a broad selection of popular experiences. At some moment, both situations tended to lead to disappointment. Maybe the food makes them sick, maybe it’s the altitude, maybe their travel companion is an unbearable jerk, or maybe they are more perceptive than their tour guide gives them credit for and they are bored. Seeking authenticity is paradoxical.

I walked alone for hours in the mountains, for 9 days straight. I did it for another artist’s project. I found that the time alone was overwhelming and real in a way I couldn’t have prepared for. Sometimes it was too much and found myself crying because I knew there was absolutely no way to ever describe the landscape, the experience, the air, the smell, to another person. I wanted the validation that comes with someone else’s full understanding and knew I’d never get that. I thought about what the memory of this place would be and how different and removed from the real moment it would become. Maybe poetry can be used here. I might just be really emotional right now, but when I think back to the time I was away, the memory vacillates between an absolutely terrifying time and a devastatingly lonely time. Yet it was also an inspirational and sublime experience. Maybe this is the case with all beautiful things. Already the memory is changing the experience, and I wonder what will be left of this place in my mind, in a few years.

Museo de Arte Prehispánico Rufino Tamayo, Oaxaca, México

Touch beautiful things.

Step Into It...

Step into a body of water and watch the waterline rise (2014), wood, fiber, paper, bronze, maps, screen-printed t-shirts, plasticine, rocks, crystal

The Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky @ The Met

Beat Claws

Calendar

Tulum

full moon

humidity

storms ahead

gift

We played for almost an hour. Or did I terrorize it???!!

Buho Blanco

Still life with orange and grinder injury.

The staircase to my bed takes effort and concentration.

My kiln

Carmen's project

Momo and Malon

Bolivian bling

Neomi and Darwin choosing a log.

Neomi and Darwin again

Juan's work.

Day 8, 7 hour walks

Bolivia really never takes a day off. This place is incredibly kind and I'm lucky to have the time to meet it. Today I walked into and out of Tarabuco. I was afraid it would be a total tourist trap full of lovely imports but was pleased to find that it was more of a community swap. People were selling whatever they had to sell, along with basic necessities. I was able to purchase an offering to Pachamama for love and health. I was tempted to purchase one for a Mexican futbol win, but I wasn't sure she'd have the inventory, and I would have blamed her for Mexico's loss. Needless to say, I will blame her if I don't become an ultramarathoner without trying..

Tripod

The best I could find to watch the 2nd half of the Mexico game.