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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 31, 2011

Oh my....where did the month go?

Here we are, the last day of May, and I'm embarrassed about how little blogging I have done.  I wish I could say it was because the weather was heavenly, and I spent all my time enjoying it, but that was certainly not the case.  Our weather has been not unlike our usual January or February weather....cool, overcast, and rainy.  Poor garden....  We are promised some sun by the weekend, but we have been running 15-20 degrees below our normal 71 degree temperature.

My daughter and baby Gigi (Geneva) moved back into a cabin on the property at then end of April, and I have been helping them get settled in their new home.

Then last weekend I hurt my back (ugh) so now am trying to coddle it along into recovery, and consequently haven't done much in the studio though I hope to get back in there today.

I have also, I am ashamed to say, not properly promoted my May giveaway, so you loyal darlings who have actually posted have a very good chance of winning when I draw a name tomorrow a.m.!  The June drawing begins then, and I will try to be better at actually giving you something to post about!!

The deck is currently full of grosbeaks, chipmunks, Douglas brown squirrels and Stellar jays enjoying their morning sunflower seeds and suet.  Love the chirpy grosbeaks!
(Wings copyright Diane Lou)
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2 comments:

squidglass said...

Sorry to hear you've hurt your back! I've found that ice packs and beer (muscle relaxant:) help some...

Here in Spokane we've got the same rain, rain, rain. So far the spinach is thriving and everything else is just waiting for sun. Like the rest of us.

June 1, 2011 at 12:07 PM
Diane Lou said...

Thanks, Su! I like your recommendation for back pain :)

We're supposed to have sun this weekend. I'm not holding my breath! Oh, we are going to love it when it finally arrives.

And thanks so much for the crown source! Excellent!!

June 1, 2011 at 1:19 PM

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