ARNO & BARRETT

Your children will smash your understanding, knowledge and reality.  You will be better off.  Then they leave. You'll miss them forever.

Tibor Kalman

BARRETT KLEIN

ARNO KLEIN

Until recently I have had only the slightest interest in drawing people.  They are rarely found in still life drawings which have been the main focus of my work for many years. 

Arno and Barrett are our identical twin sons.  They are remarkable artists, writers and scientists. 

They are also two of the most original, funniest and kindest people I have ever met.  Walk anywhere with them and you will see more and you will always learn something new.  They (along with their amazing sister Korinthia, who will appear later in this blog) are my best "works".

I was inspired to include Barrett in the Insect Installation, as he opened the door to that kingdom for me.  He began his pursuit of entomology when at the age of 5 he found a dead butterfly in our driveway.  From then on it was the major focus of his interest. He has generously allowed me to visit him as he has pursued his adventures and his education.  He is the inspiration for my interest in natural history museums.  Arno's interests are less accessible to me as they include the realms of computers beyond my reach and the study of brains that goes even further away.  Despite that, he is approachable and wonderful with his ability to include anyone who is interested in his work.  Both are admirable, generous scientists.  

All three of our children have taught me to be more rigorous in my thinking - always question! Conversations with them are exciting and profitable.

In the cabinet of sons and insects  Barrett is surrounded by bees as his PhD work was involved with bees and sleep.  Arno is surrounded by mantids and stick insects because they seem to suit him and they also relate to forms of martial arts which have been a part of his life.

This is the outside of the cabinet.  Further posts will explore the inside when the doors open... 

INSECT CABINET III

Close-up views of the front doors of the cabinet:

I did my first drawing of a hawk moth acting like a Phoenix for an artist's book I made called "WAIT WAIT".  That image is inside the book which is usually tucked away on a shelf.  I love the visual concept so much that I decided to use it again on the cabinet doors where it would be seen more often.

Originally the breaking or flaming on the petals of  tulips was the result of a virus carried by an aphid.  The most famous of these early tulips was named Semper Augustus which appeared at the end of Tulipmania in Holland when crazy speculation in bulbs brought down their economy.  Today the effect is achieved by breeding and not disease.

The lily isn't really as appropriate as the tulip but it does have a wonderful grasping twist as if it is trying to hold onto the beautiful beast that is making an escape.

The band of butterflies beneath each main drawing has an almost subterranean look as if it were the ground itself holding onto the plants.

INSECT CABINET PART II

24 portraits inside the Insect Cabinet:

INSECT CABINET

In plain words, Chaos was the law of nature Order was the dream of man.

Henry Adams

The insect triptych was the second of the cabinets to be built.  I did not post it before because I was waiting to see where it would find a home in the Cabinet Room.  Because there is not a lot of space to house my objects in the original room, this one has spilled over into a second room where I have decided to install a wall of insects.  it is actually inconveniently positioned for now on top of a French cabinet which houses our pottery collection.  It puts the triptych up too high to investigate intimately,  but at least it is now out for view and not hidden.  

The front two doors feature a lily and a tulip.  The tulip, one of the flamed varieties, is appropriate. The hawk moth which I have rising up from it is like a Phoenix.  The drawings are covered with moths and butterflies in bits and parts like a collage. Bands of Lepidoptera  act as bases for the main drawings.

When the doors are fully opened 24 insects from various families are revealed.  Each one has its own setting.  It is a case again of ecological fiction.  I have used different objects that visually suit the insects, giving them beautiful homes but not places where they might actually appear.  People are too often afraid of insects and I feel that if presented in this unusual way they might better be considered for their beauty.

The back of the insect cabinet has one large drawing of a pond surrounded by camouflage insects.
This seems to work out for them in that the back of the cabinet is rarely viewed.  They are extra well hidden from view.

TIN CAN FRAME

The purpose - where I start - is the idea of use.  It is not recycling, it's reuse.

Issey Miyake

In my pursuit of unusual frames I mostly haunt the halls of Ebay.  I don't particularly enjoy shopping, but running through the frames up for auction, in the comfort of my studio, is another matter.  I did good work as a framer for many years.  I was respectful and used the best materials available for my clients.  Now I find charm in odd and even weird ways to present art.  This frame, classified as "tramp art", was made from a tin can.  Installing the art required pulling back a few of the little curls, dropping the art and the glazing into place and pushing the curls back to secure them.  

The insect pictured is a weevil with Hoag's Object / ring galaxy backdrop.  Weevils form the largest family in the animal kingdom.   I am planning a wall of little frames containing insects. 

 

CARPETS

The carpet-ground shall be with leaves o'erspread,
And boughs shall weave a cov'ring for your head.

Virgil, The Pastorals  (translated by Dryden)


Years ago a friend asked me how to start decorating her home.  It was the first time I ever really thought about it as my life has been based on recombining the things I already own.  But, when I had to say something about what is important in a room I was quite certain it was the carpet first.  Every room I have ever admired in a shelter magazine has hardwood floors and a beautiful oriental carpet.  (I am not considering art in this category as I don't consider it decoration.)



The chair for Luca Ghini, sitting on top of the Herbarium, had less presence without a carpet under it.  His rug is the wonderful kind of fabric that changes color when it moves.  In this case it is a combination of  green and orange.
The theme had to be botanical so it is covered with leaves and grass and a red poppy button.  Many things are sewn onto the rug but other things are mobile and can be rearranged so it never gets boring.

There is a feather rug in the first Bird Temple in the room and there will be other carpets for the floors in upcoming temples.

The most recent rug is a pochoir (stencil print) called Forest Carpet, created for a portfolio assembled by the Muskegon Museum.  I have not done many prints since I graduated with a master's degree in printmaking and it was something of a struggle to accomplish a work I was happy with.  First was a woodcut which didn't work.  Then there were three or four designs for pochoirs based on other completed drawings and that didn't work.  Finally, while driving the car, a regular incubator for ideas, I decided on a new image that would be put together the way I do my drawings, one thing at a time.  It is not the normal way to do a print but it is the way I am most comfortable working.  The basic composition is a stencil built of dried ferns, then sprayed with acrylic paint.  Grasses were added as fringe on the ends.  One stick, 2 butterflies, vines, and numerous leaves were added till the image looked right.  It was an interesting experience and one that may lead to doing pochoir images in future books.

GUEST BOOK

"Any questions or compliments?"

Mona Weisser (Age 8, upon finishing the reading of her paper at the Fernwood Montessori School Science Fair.  May 2012)



I have always regretted not keeping a diary but it is not within my talents.  Recently I rediscovered and read a book Donella Vogel made of Email letters I wrote to her in 1998.  When she gave me the present I was pleased but now I am thrilled to have it.  It is amazing  how many noteworthy things happened that year.  I would never be able to reconstruct those events at this point.  The reason for this blog is to keep  notes on the construction of the different aspects of the installation before I forget them.  Once I have finished a project and I am on to the next one, I shed old information promptly.

I wish I had kept a record of the people who have already visited the Cabinet because that too will get mixed up or forgotten.

During the latest cleaning and reorganization of my studio, I found a shabby old ledger from our early days in business when my father set up and monitored our bookkeeping.  That was well before average people were using computers for accounting. That book has morphed into a Guest Book for the Cabinet.  The outside and inside of the two covers are now decorated with collages.  In keeping with my idea of using what is available in my house as much as possible, the images come from over-run pages from my books, bits of old projects and papers in storage.

The original ledger paper will act as sign-in pages for guests.

I am proposing three different types of entries for future guests to choose from.
The first and simplest is a signature with a date - comments if the person wants to are fine but not required.
The second option is to sign and also draw something in the book or send something back to paste into the book such as a poem or picture.
The third and perhaps final option is for the person to take over a whole page to draw, write or paste on.  That paper might be a plain sheet if the person doesn't want their work to be mingling with ledger lines.  It can be taken away and sent back.  I am not good at creating under pressure or watchful eyes and understand if others have that same problem.  Since it is a ledger it can be opened and paper rearranged as needed.



Viewing of the cabinet is by invitation or can be arranged upon request.   There will be open house days arranged in the future.