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The Muse's Storage Box

The Muse's Storage Box
Copyright Diane Lou.

Alchemical Dreams and Disparate Realities

Rust and bones, broken toys and old text, game boards, gears and nests. Even as a child such odd, unwanted items evoked a pit-of-the-stomach response that bordered on exhilaration.
While I make no attempt to conjure up specific feelings in the viewer, the ambiguous juxtapositioning of familiar materials creates art that evokes half-forgotten, dream-like visions that beg to be interpreted by the viewer. There is a sense of deja vu (the already seen) tempered by a sense of jamais vu ( the never seen, or the illusion that the familiar does not seem familiar), and this contradiction asks the viewer to dig deeply, to look inside her own repository of wisdom, intuition and experience to find her own meaning in the familiar objects she sees.
The once-private discards of people's material lives that I collect for my art seem to carry universal memories with them, memories that can engage and mystify the viewer. Their beauty lies within the rust, the erosion, the wear, and the mere fact that they were once possessions.
I play with abandon and with no forethought. Each piece of detritus seems to suggest to me a relationship with some other piece, and I begin to put them together and wait for the mental "buzz" that lets me know I am proceeding as I should. Even at this point, I continue to remain in the play state and will not allow myself to direct the outcome of the piece, a process that requires complete trust. The outcome often mystifies me as much as it might any viewer.
Remember when, as a child, whatever was in reach became the instrument of your creative exploration? That is my life. A rusty, flattened piece of metal on the street, a gnawed bone by the roadside, a unique twisted branch from a tree, a fallen nest, a broken egg, a snake's skin, a dead butterfly...all will be added to my collection and eventually have their beauty honored in one of my pieces. The resulting art creates a new story with its own imagined history, one that invites the viewers to lay some claim on it by allowing themselves to be enveloped by the sight, the history, and the ambiguity of the realities before them.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

ffotoggraffi & syzygy

Syzygy and ffotoggraffi....Those two shop names should give you an indication of what a cute little town Manzanita is.  Home of the Trash Art Show and Cart'M recycling center, it is an appealing and trendy little (very little) coastal town with interesting shops and eateries.

The Trash Bash, which was the name of the opening for the Trash Art show, throbbed with live music.  The perfect weather made it all even more festive.  A look inside at the art showed everything from  a resting horse made of old fencing wire to a "painting" which was actually a very weathered piece of plywood, once painted, which had ridden the waves of the ocean for a long time. Truly found art.  There was rusty metal sculpture as well as several permanently decorated cars and much more.

Here, it is among the most beautiful springs I can recall....a true spring, not an extension of endless winter rain, cold and dreariness, but one of warm days, cool nights, showers and sun.  The dogwoods are floating their palm-sized flowers throughout the woods, and their currently leafless branches make the flowers seem unsupported, adding to their dramatic effect.   Fragrant lilacs are blooming as are the breathtaking rhododendron, wisteria and azaleas.  Color and scent are everywhere.


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2 comments:

Teri said...

Sounds wonderful! Have a great show!

May 22, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Diane Lou said...

Thank you, Teri!

I hope you are having a beautiful spring like we are. Ahh, the renewal of life.

Off to a golf lesson. This is my second summer trying to "get it". Hope a "pro" helps.

Hugs,
Diane

May 22, 2009 at 10:01 AM

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