THOUGHTS & WHAT NOTS
2017: In Review
As I sit here and reflect on the year that has passed, I am so happy. Happy about the decisions I’ve made, the things I’ve learned. Happy about the way my life is going. 2017 began with a dream, a thought, and a conversation. I had been sad for several years that I “couldn’t control” certain things. That I wasn’t getting things I had been working towards. You work hard and do what is excepted of you, do more than you are asked, and good things happen, right? There was nothing “wrong” with my life. I had a great full time job that I was financially self-supporting. I have amazing friends, family, and partner. I have a cute, cuddly, happy dog. But in 2017 I turned 30 and everything I had done up to this point did not make me “happy”. What was I supposed to do with that? January 27th 2017 was the game changer. In 2017, unexpected people re-entered my life to show me that I should really believe in myself. There were a few people at my job that believed in me, but it wasn’t my supervisor, or their manager. It was the people who watched me from down the hall, the people who stopped by to chat on their breaks, and the people who knew that I loved what I did for that company. They could see past the corporate frustrations and into my heart.
By February, Valentine’s Day, to be exact my partner and I went to dinner. The conversation was unexpected. We discussed opportunities available to us outside the city we were currently living in. We weighed our options and put together a plan. If I didn’t get a transfer or promotion by April we would leave and start over. Scary, I know, but necessary. March came and I completed my largest project to date. It was magic. The process, the 14 hour work days, the final product exactly as I imagined. Still no growth with the company. Then it happened, exactly what was supposed to happen. My partner came home one afternoon, and asked me if I’d like to move to Miami. I delightfully exclaimed “YES! When?”, he responded “Soon.” I promptly crunched numbers, and wrote my 8 week notice. We would move no later than July 1st. We worked really hard through April and May and I left my corporate job on May 26, 2017. 13 days after my 30th birthday to begin a new life. Over the next 5 weeks we signed a lease on our new Miami home, began packing, and I made personal art. For 13 years my father had asked for a piece of art. I had always told him I would make him something, and I didn’t. Until this moment, that’s what I did during my 5 weeks. I made the piece “My Father’s Shirts”. We moved and everything was an adjustment. We moved without jobs, living off our savings, and credit cards, but we knew we had to do it. It was the right things in the scheme of this life.
In August I submitted work to the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series without expectation. I had been exploring a few new things. I went and installed “My Father’s Shirts” in his dining room and the following day I received an email that it has been chosen as a regional semi-finalist for the artisan series! 1 of 15 selected out of 800 applicants to show in October. I spent the following month producing a second in the series “My Mother’s Jewelry” for the exhibition. I didn’t want to take my father’s piece from him. This was one of the best things I could have done. I noticed that I had a concept and a product that was positively responded to. September was a big month. It also marked 3 months living in Miami. More great things had happened for us during those 3 months than the pervious 3 years. My partner and I both got part-time jobs in September. It cost money to make art and live. We agreed that it was the right thing to do until I started selling installations consistently. Enter, hurricane Irma. Enter, Box Cold Brew my part-time job surrounded by coffee. Enter, Kevin from Shulman+Associates. Enter, me making personal art. Enter, being asked to be the maid of honor for one of my closet friends. Enter, a full and happy life.
October started with the group show at N’Namdi Contemporary Gallery, my first exhibition in 5 years. Showcasing new, honest, work that I am proud of. I met other artists, and a wonderful woman who spoke my language. We went to lunch and discussed art and what could come next for me in my personal art practice. I wasn’t sure at the time if I was going to continue the series of abstractly narrating peoples objects. I had prepped the month to work on singular large shapes titled “Twelve”. Then I got my Miami Art Week installation during Art Basel and my focus shifted. From the end of October to the beginning of December I created 8 pieces of art. I learned a lot in this process. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have mental breakdown or a spiritual experience. I’m still not sure which happened, but it was amazing. If you’ve been keeping up with me than you know I’ve confirmed a solo show in February 2018 at the Englewood Art Center. This will mark one year since the first conversation that changed everything.
Over the last month I made the decision to continue my series of wall constructions abstractly narrating peoples intimate objects. I kept going back to the lunch conversation with Shawna. I have titled the exhibition “Identifying Characters”. Within this body of work I will show 9 pieces. “My Father’s Shirts” represented by 35 triangles. “My Mother’s Jewelry” made of 24 parallelograms. “My Brother’s Books” with 30 trapezoids. “My Dog’s Toys” 21 diamonds. “My Partner’s Music” 23 hexagons. “My Postcards” a mass of suspended and distorted diamond-like shapes in the center of the gallery. Reoccurring themes this year as been form, function, 30 degree angles, obsessive pattern making, and intimacy. I have always dealt with intimate objects, abstract narratives and mass that describe an experience. A few months ago a dear friend from art school suggested that I make kaleidoscopes. With the size of the gallery, and my push to continue to create environments I noticed that something was missing from the floor plan of the show. I needed freestanding pieces. My friend DMC passed away in November. I reflected on my relationship with him, I had known him all my adult life. He had taught me valuable life lessons and supported me in someway. It forced me to look at two other friendships I had with amazing men with interesting nicknames, who had also passed away. With the kaleidoscopes I will honor these 3 men. “Lunchbox: 1983-2008 (Christian Andersen)”, “Snacks: 1987-2016 (Chad Michael Lee Hudson)”, and “DMC: 1982-2017 (Daniel Brice McClair)”.
These are all influential relationships that have shaped who I am today. The living on the walls, mine suspended in the center of the gallery, and the spirit world honored with freestanding sculptures that will create an installation of objects or moments.
This past month, December, has been an adjustment. Directly following Art Week I needed a mental break to recharge, reflect, and regroup in order to finish things I started. So that I could move forward with the next most important things for me. I have been strategizing, analyzing, and assessing all the things I’ve learned about myself over the last 6 months. What is working? What isn’t working? Through a careful review of things in black and white, I clearly see somethings that are working and I clearly see things that need to change. The first 3 months of 2018 are outlined to bring me closer to my personal idea of success, to be there for my friends and family, and to honor who I am as a person and as an Artist. Cheers to the year that past, Cheers to a New Year ahead.
Meta Apparition: Miami Art Week 2017
I was really excited and nervous on September 27th. I almost didn’t go to the opening at Primary Projects in the Design District because I was by myself. But there was a plan in place, an intention. I would go and introduce myself to Typoe, artist and owner, whom I had been Facebook messaging with the month before. I had to show up even if it was just for myself. Primary Projects is such a beautiful space and the show “Impressions of a Landscape” by Magnus Sodamin was a site to see. While I was there I wandered around awkwardly, staring at the paintings on the walls. I turned the corner and saw Carlos Betancourt's “Times of Illuminations: For the Sake of Beauty” and I lit up. The funny part was that the assemblage wasn’t even plugged in. That was my moment where I felt as though the gallery was empty. It was just me and the monumental rectangle covered with Christmas stars. Massed in the center, sprinkling out to the edges, I felt like a little girl on Christmas morning and I knew I could survive the rest of the evening. I made my way outside and saw a tall bearded man adorned with tattoos, in an unrefined way I introduced myself with “Hi! I’m here by myself, my name’s Ariana, who are you?” He kindly exchanged salutations and talked with me for a bit, introducing me to the people he knew outside.
Carlos Betancourt "Times of Illumination: For the Sake of Beauty"
Through the window I saw Typoe walking and for the first time all night he was not surrounded by 5 people. This was my moment, I walked back into the gallery, and up to him. He greeted me as if we had been friends for years, so kind and welcoming. We engaged in light conversation and then a gentlemen wearing a button up and slacks came up to say hello. Our exchange set in motion an opportunity I didn’t know was possible when I moved here 5 months ago. This is the moment that positively changed the course of what I would be doing for Miami Art Week. I met Kevin, Projects Director for Shulman+Associates. Our brief conversation, standing in the packed gallery, resulted in an email 2 days later. Subject line “Outdoor Installation”. I was planning on emailing him the following Tuesday. I’ve learned that building relationships with people is like dating. Be aggressive, but don’t look desperate, engage in like-minded conversation, but speak your truth. This has been part of my business model. I was surprised and intrigued by the message including one creative direction “furniture/shelter like”, and I knew we were a good fit.
After our first in person meeting, and 1 page project overview submission, I got the call. This was now our project. I began my planning, and result was a 14 page powerpoint presentation of the interactive indoor/outdoor sculptural art installation. The colors are bold and vibrant. The shapes are graphic. The surface treatments organic. All 10 ambitious sculptures were well received by the Shulman Team. Pre-production began at the end of October. My timeline was 5 weeks with 1 week of details. I began dying watercolor paper, material testing, designing each piece thoughtfully, knowing that it will represent myself as well as Shulman + Associates during the most important time of year for artists and designers here in Miami. 3 trapezoidal cabanas outside with 5 plinths, a coffee table, and a suspended ‘chandelier’ inside the reception area. I was told “furniture/ shelter like” and this is where my creative brain went.
Two weeks into production, I assessed my timeline, and realized in order to get everything done before December 4th, I was going to need to bring in some help. The suspended ‘chandelier’ is composed of 2000 discs made from aluminum mesh screening, watercolor paper, and metal foil. The circle punch I got worked great for the paper and metal foil but when I tried the mesh I broke 3 punchers. I knew that these were going to have to be cut by hand. One Facebook event, 32 ounces of Cold Brew coffee from Box, 3 hours and 40 minutes and 4 friends later all 1150 mesh circles were completed. I continued to assess, adjust, and stay on schedule. Week 3 came and so did the rain. I needed to work outside to dye the curtains I tailored for the cabanas. 20 feet of canvas for each cabana. I found a window in the weather app that showed me clear skies through the night. I promptly picked up 9 bags of 10lb ice, set up the structure, and the curtains soaked the dye as I slept. Week 4 I started working on the plinths, I had some plywood donated to me, which was saving my budget. As I began working with the material, following my original plan, something felt off. I was not connecting to the shapes, or the heavy material. I couldn’t use it. I needed to adjust, be flexible, and revisit my drawings. I thought to myself “If I could change this and do anything what would you do?”. The sketch that came out of that put me in a position that made me uncomfortable. But I knew it was the right thing…remember this is the most important week for artists and designer for the whole year in Miami. I took the day to find a solution. The next day I started again on the plinths, creating all 5 in under 12 hours. These felt right. These came together as if the universe was guiding me. They make me happy. Over the last week I have been in detail mode. Refining installation processes, color story, weather proofing, and assembling as much as I can. Yesterday I took the whole day off, I spent time with my roommate developing this weeks media marketing strategy, drinking coffee, and watching mid-90s rom-coms. Tomorrow we install.
The exhibition is titled “Meta Apparition”. When I was developing this installation I knew it was going to be playful, spiritual, and metamorphic. I experienced all three of these things while I was producing the work, and my overall intention is for the viewer to also experience and celebrate these ideas. Meta pertains to a story, conversation or character. It describes a consciously and playful self-referential story. Apparition is the supernatural element, as if these objects have appeared from the natural, to be remarkable. This is my truth.
This will be my first solo exhibition…and you’re invited…
5 Years Later: Back in the Gallery
Time flies when I am making the art. I didn’t even realize how long it had been since I’ve posted in the blog and shared with you all what has been happening in the magical world of Ariana and Alchemist Productions. This post is about the spaghetti I am throwing at the wall hoping for a piece to stick. One of the pieces stuck, and it wasn’t the piece I thought. It’s really interesting because when I made the decision to leave my dream job to work on Alchemist I had not intended to do gallery exhibitions. I haven’t shown my personal work in 5 years. I’ll tell you the story…
Once upon a time…in 2004, I moved to Sarasota, Florida to go to college. I spent 4 years developing my personal art practice. Attending Miami Art Basel every December discovering contemporary art. I graduated in 2008 and did my best to continue to make art, but I wasn’t very successful, or self-motivated. The end of 2009 to the beginning of 2010 broke that cycle when I was accepted to Vermont Studio Center for a 6 week artist retreat. In July of 2010 my mentor invited me to move into his warehouse studio space with him, allowing me a space to create larger sculptures and develop installations. He also invited me to show in an exhibition for the first time since my senior thesis. That October I created a sculptural installation with a video performance. The following year I joined S/ART/Q, the local contemporary art collective, and started doing pop up events with them around town. At the same time I began creating window display installations for a local boutique, Juno & Jove. In 2012, S/ART/Q raised enough money to go to Miami Art Basel and show at Select Fair. This was the last time I showed in a “gallery” setting.
S/ART/Q Exhibition Installation, 2011
My personal art practice was really difficult to maintain while producing the branded content for the boutique. It just wasn’t my time, and that was okay. In the middle of 2013 I took a year off from making art. Then in mid-2014 I was hired by Anthropologie and moved to Naples, FL. I made art for them for about 3 years. At the beginning of this year, I was presented with an amazing opportunity to create something that brought my personal art practice together with branded content and granted me this magical sense of social responsibility to get back to making my own personal art. That’s one of the reasons I made the decision to leave my dream job and move to Miami.
In August I was scrolling through instagram and I came across a Prism Creative Group post promoting the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series. I had been focused making personal work. I had content again, so I submitted 3 pieces. This is really interesting because I’ve never applied to anything like this before. I’ve never felt this confident about my personal work, but at the same time this particular competition spans all of North America. I had no idea who else was submitting work, or who the judges are. All I knew was that if I didn’t try I would never know if my work was in line with other contemporary artists.
When I received the email that I am a regional semi-finalist and that I would be in a group show with 14 other artists in a Miami gallery, I was extremely surprised and excited at the same time. It is an honor to be selected as 1 of 15 artists in the Miami region. I am so pleased that I moved to Miami and live in a city that collaborates on opportunities like this. Yesterday I dropped off my assemblage at N’Namdi Contemporary in Wynwood. It has been 5 years since I have shown in a gallery setting. This Thursday October 12, will break the cycle again. The Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series is happening in collaboration with Artsy.net to showcase emerging artists at Scope Miami Beach during Miami Art Basel. You can vote for my work online once a day, everyday until November 7th by clicking this link. I also lined up a solo show in February in the Mitchell Gallery at the Englewood Art Center which is affiliated of Ringling College of Art and Design, my alma mater.
The selected assemblage for the exhibition.
The piece I will be showing titled "My Mother's Jewelry"
Although I am still following leads to take my work outside of the gallery and create bespoke branded sculptural installations for businesses, and site specific commercial buildings, this is a great start to build relationships with the art community. It’s one of the most important things I can be doing. Building relationships. Contributing to the landscape of art and culture in my community. Giving back to the community that has supported me in the past. I invite you to join me as the cycle breaks and I share my work with the world.
