Connection + shifting energies
A chance encounter today moved a mountain of weight
On my way up the stairs to my studio earlier today, just past the third floor, I thought I heard the voice of Rebecca Rutstein, one of my artist friends in the building. We’d just been texting a little earlier in the morning, but I hadn’t seen her in a while, so I went back down. It was her and we caught up real quick. She was posting some promotion for an upcoming show on the bulletin boards and walked with me up to the fourth floor.
We kept talking and since she was already up here, I asked if she had a couple of minutes to check out some new work I’d been making lately. Her answer in the affirmative was like music to my ears because I’ve been wanting to share this work in development with some trusted artist friends before releasing it to the world. The new stuff is a real departure from the paintings I’m known for and it’s been coming together since late 2023.
This is the first time in a while that I’ve had another artist in here to share new work with them. As soon as Rebecca said yes to stopping in, I got a rush of that feeling when you had as a kid when you had a new toy and couldn’t wait to show it to your friends. That’s how this felt. It was a welcome respite from the heavy feelings I’d been experiencing lately regarding the state of the world, our country and some issues in my own life.
Talking about these new ideas and new work with someone with insightful feedback and conversation was incredibly impactful. It shifted what felt like stagnant, heavy energy within me and made a huge difference in how I was feeling overall. You never know how something so seemingly mundane as chatting about art with a fellow artist whose opinions you respect can completely change your view of things not even related to the subject at hand. It’s not just a distraction, like doom scrolling. There was a palpable shift in energy that made the heaviest thoughts had more bearable.
It doesn’t matter what the conversation is about. Being able to connect with someone in person, in real time (or virtually on Zoom or whatever) that you didn’t expect to and share thoughts with is pretty amazing in this age of “connecting” online. Which you can absolutely do, but those random, and even planned, encounters are much, much better.
Rebecca as a show opening this Thursday, April 10th, at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education called “(In)Visible Structures”. About the show: “Working at the intersection of art and science, Rutstein’s artistic practice visualizes environmental processes that connect and sustain all life on earth despite being invisible to the naked eye.” More info here: Rebecca Rutstein: (In)Visible Structures. If you’re in the Philadelphia area in during April or May, stop by to see her show.
GRWM!
This past Saturday’s opening of the group show, “GRWM” at Funhouse Gallery in Philly was great! We had a full house for most of the night and the show looks really good. Tip of the hat to Travis Whiteneck for doing a great job of curating and installing the work and bringing the four of us together. “GRWM” continues until April 26th and gallery hours are:
Mon. & Tues. by appointment only, Wed.-Sun. 12pm-7pm
Funhouse Gallery, 2576 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, funhouse.fishtown@gmail.com
Here are some views from the opening:
Above (l-r): Nicolo Gentile, Will Wolf, myself and Angela Rio
Jacqueline Humphries
Someone posted something on Substack Notes about the painter Jacqueline Humphries and I was excited because she’s a favorite contemporary painter of mine. I’ve not seen her work in person, (I hope to correct that at some point) but the collision of mark making, surface tension, experimentation and physicality in her work draws me in every time I see an image of her paintings.
I did a quick search to see what’s new with her and found a recent interview with her in the Brooklyn Rail: Jacqueline Humpries with Raymond Foye
Here’s one of the exchanges that stuck with me:
Rail: I guess these ideas about identity are at the intersection of a lot of things that are current now—in a practical sense with social media—where we have all these ways in which to identify ourselves.
Humphries: It has something to do with self, or the way in which self is expressed, yet without conscious self-presentation, so to speak. “I’m a woman starting a painting”—that would be the last thing I would think of. Am I myself when I’m making a painting? No, not really.
Rail: It’s easy to mistake the art for the artist. Sometimes you’re just visiting a place. It’s not necessarily who you are.
Am I myself when I’m making a painting? Not in the literal sense, no. I don’t stand there and think, “I’m a Black man making this painting…” I’m obviously that, but I’m not focusing on that aspect of myself at the time. I’m just painting and figuring out how to use whatever means at my disposal to bring a painting and idea to life and hopefully a resolution later. I get into a flow state with my materials, movements and state of mind. It’s like breathing or blinking your eyes, autonomic responses in the body. At some point, yes, I might begin to think about this work as it relates to my overall project of painting, or ideals or whatever. In the meantime, I’m visiting all sorts of mental places trying to access what I need to make this thing work. Visiting, but not staying there.
TM
Thanks for reading and please visit my website to find out more about my work:
I have not been to Fun House yet. I will get up there to see the work.
Yes to that rush when you're connecting with someone and feeling that meeting of the minds! One of the few things I miss about having good coworkers.