I absolutely love simplicity especially in the form of organic minimalism, and am ecstatic to announce a new artist to Ashes & Milk who really captures the essence of this aesthetic.
Eunice Kim creates exquisitely saturated black and white collagraph prints onto chine collé paper. She delicately places each mark by hand to form an intimate map of cellular structures.
Above is Porous, a collection of collagraphy prints with chine collé by Eunice Kim.
Eunice was kind enough to share the details involved in her printmaking progress as well as some really great images of her working in the studio.
She works exclusively in the non-toxic printmaking medium of collagraphy, a process in which materials and textures are adhered to a plate surface, inked, and run through an intaglio press with paper for transfer of image.
Unlike traditional printmaking techniques, each plate has temporary life span. -Therefore each print edition is unique.
Eunice constructs the collagraph plate by putting down the modeling paste marks.
Taking a beautifully restrained approach by choosing to work only with very small dot marks, Eunice meticulously positions modeling paste on the plate surface a single mark at a time. She then carefully shapes each individual dot to height and contour optimal for printing. The dimensional differences of the tiny dots are almost impossible to discern by sight alone; therefore she relies heavily on her sense of touch during this stage.
Each dot is shaped to height and contour optimal for the printing process.
A completed collagraph plate inked, wiped. and ready to print.
It was great to visit with Kia Neill over the holidays and preview her latest project Terrain, an installation where viewers walk through an intimately lighted, textured environment. It is being exhibited at the Women and Their Work Gallery from January 16 – February 27, 2010 and is a must see geological discovery for those of you in the Austin area!
Each of the crystal formations are made out of Compact Dics (CDs). What an ingenious and brilliant way to recycle materials!
I am also excited to show you an example of Kia’s new collection of work that will be offered at Ashes & Milk within the next few months.
Kia created the sculpture Frost, shown above and detail below.
Exquisitely tactile and visually stimulating, Kia’s sculptures contain an unexpected use of materials such as paper-mache, plaster, steel, polyurethane, glitter and flocking fiber.
Below is another one of Kia’s pieces Geode, a small cavity of rock that is embellished with a splendor of rhinestone crystals and plastic flora.
I am pleased to announce that Ashes & Milk is offering a new print by Bryan Nash Gill called Locust. So many of you have expressed a love of the print Hemlock 82, Bryan and I thought it would be nice to create a piece smaller in scale and in price. The result is a gorgeous 25″ x 20″ print showing a locust tree with a sub growth inside of it. The image of two coming from one speaks to me especially right now because I am halfway through my first pregnancy!
Byran created the above piece through relief printing and a laborious rubbing technique. Above, he rolls ink out onto the surface of a Locust tree cross section (the actual print block) and a piece of handcrafted washi paper is placed over the print block.
Scratching his fingernails over every surface of the tree while pressing little by little with his fingertips, Bryan imprints the texture of the wood on the surface of the paper. I love that Bryan had to touch each tree-growth-ring in order to deposit its mark.
The actual texture, pattern and diameter of this tree section is literally translated onto paper.
Bryan Nash Gill created Locust exclusively for Ashes & Milk.
I am are excited to welcome Nicolas Cheng to Ashes & Milk. As an artist, Nicolas investigates how poetic concepts can be emotionally merged with the latest technology and materials. Nicolas aims to provide new experiences through design, encouraging people to think and question.
Nicolas Cheng created the 150ml Collection above for Ashes & Milk.
Each design is unique and holds a capacity of 150ml. Playing with how volume is perceived, each piece is disguised by shape and size making dissimilar pieces’ true value exactly the same.
Above, prototypes of the 150ml Collection were created in wood and are ready to be molded.
Left, a collection of tree branches sits in Nicolas’s Studio. On the right, molds are being prepared to cast porcelain.
I am honored to offer the work of artist Angela Simione who embroiders thread onto paper. Angela is inspired by traditional crafts in which her work embodies illustrations of everyday objects as metaphors of self-identity, boundaries and protection.
Above is the piece Territories 10 created by Angela Simione.
The Territories Series began an exploration of how the image of the picket fence could perform different metaphors. I was thinking a lot about notions of safety and boundaries and how fear can be a driving force behind achieving the latter.
The fence, as an image, is just such a wonderfully versatile metaphor that I began making pictures about my own inner “geography.” In a sense I am building a home for myself with my own two hands, guarding myself, or making the artwork a keeper of secrets. The ability to bounce back and forth across this fence is exactly what I’m after as an artist.
The Territories Series is completely made up of works on paper. This choice comes from recognizing that we all have daily interactions with paper whether it be making copies at the office or throwing away the junk mail, we all touch paper everyday. Paper is common, familiar, banal. -It is this familiarity that is perfectly suited to the personal nature of this work, paired with the delicacy and traditional look of hand-embroidery.
The hanging threads resemble hair, which I think begins to shift the work in the direction of something more psychological and supports my initial desire to make pictures of my inner landscape. The use of common materials alludes to personal associations, is a way to establish intimacy and makes these pieces feel more safe to explore.
-Angela Simione
You can see more Angela Simione’s work right here.
I am exhilarated to welcome to Ashes & Milk fiber artist Ashley Helvey, creator of organically textured Wool Felted Rugs. Ashley is inspired by traditional felting techniques and uses a sustainable approach to procuring raw wool.
Above are the Wool Felted Rugs that Ashley Helvey created especially for Ashes & Milk.
Nikko: I am familiar with the process of felting wool but a lot of people have no idea what is involved from start to finish. Can you tell me about how you obtain the wool material and about the process of creating your rugs?
Ashley: I source all my wool from either local or organic farms. Living in San Francisco, I happen to be close to a lot of farms that are not USDA certified, but practice organic ways of raising sheep. Visiting farms and meeting the people and animals involved is a nice way to begin my process. When I worked with plant-dyer Sasha Duerr to create the Sheep and Weeds installation in Oakland, I used a mixture of pure California sheep wool that I sourced from one of the only wool mills in California, Yolo Wool Mill. In addition to farms being organic, some even call themselves “predator-friendly” which ensures that no lethal controls are used on the sheep’s natural predators. It’s very important to me to support this way of farming because it brings integrity and quality to the fiber and to my work.
Above is a sheering of raw wool taken from one sheep. The highlights of light-brown on dark-brown are natural fluctuations of color that are caused by sunlight.
Ashley: As the oldest textile in human history I was immediately drawn to the organic nature of the felting process, which begins with a sheep fleece that has been skirted and washed, put through a picker, and then through a carder to create large, brushed batts. With the batting I create layers upon layers of wool, intentionally crossing the fiber enabling it to entangle easier. The wool is then wet with hot, soapy water, which causes the scales on the fiber to open up and slip into one another when agitated. To agitate it, I roll it up onto a large PVC pipe and pull it either manually or, in the case of the larger pieces, pull it with a tractor back and forth. After the piece has somewhat entangled I then begin the fulling process, which is basically rubbing it back and forth against a washing board to further felt it.
Ashley agitates the wool by rolling it up in a PVC pipe and pulls it back and forth with a tractor.
To ‘full the wool’ Ashley gets to work on her hands and knees.
Nikko: Also, I couldn’t help notice that you often work outside in really beautiful places. Do natural settings affect how you work with wool or influence the style of your work?
Ashley: I am very fortunate to have a boyfriend whose grandparents operate an olive oil ranch (Regina Olive Oil) in Napa County, which allows me to work in such a beautiful environment. I would definitely agree that this influences the way I work. I have become very dependent on the weather and have developed a sort of relationship with the environment. The process itself becomes reliant on these different components, causes and effects, and the work in a sense is a result of the interconnectedness of the entire process.
Nikko: When I look at your textile pieces within a space they remind me of sculptures or installations. How do you describe your work as a medium and what is your favorite way to present it within an interior space?
Ashley: Yes, I like to think of my work as installation-based because I am not really producing a product, I’m engaging in a process. Within interiors, I think the medium brings a very raw, primal, and exposed beauty to a space that makes you kind of want to curl up in a ball, it’s very womb-like. This is actually how I feel when I am felting. I use the repetitive motions of fulling the wool as a meditation to practice consciousness and bring my mind home.
Ashley created a large wall-hanging as an installation at Iko Iko in LA.
Ashley: I also really enjoy creating site-specific work, which again is challenging because it is dependent on so many different elements. In my most recent installation at Iko Iko in Los Angeles, DEPENDENT-ARISING, I created a large wall-hanging that was introduced to the space by my friend Cameron Mesirow of Glasser with a song [shown above] she wrote that was based on ancient Scottish waulking-fulling songs. In Mongolia and Tibet people sing prayers to bless their gers or loovuz and the people and spaces it will live with. There is definitely a spiritual element to my work and I try to convey that in the way it is presented, whether it’s singing a song or preparing a feast of lamb ragu and sheep cheese raviolis to honor the sheep.
Nikko: What are you plans for the future?
Ashley: I am very passionate about collaborating with other artists because it adds a different perspective to my work and keeps things fresh. I am currently working with Creatures of the Wind to create textiles for their Fall 2010 collection, as well as working on more costumes for Cameron Mesirow’s band Glasser. Other projects include collecting bison moltings with artist Alison Pebsworth for a research project documenting lost America and building a sleeping tent for a music gathering in Ukiah, California.
A long term dream of mine would be to raise sheep and process my own wool like my wonderful mentor, Dutch felter Claudy Jongstra. I would love to see the process all the way through from the sheep to the finished piece!
Architecture of Nature woodcut prints by Deborah Weiss. Clockwise from top-left: Calligraphic, Palm, Vine and Cascade.
I am so excited to welcome artist Deborah Weiss to Ashes & Milk whom created the above collection of graphically eloquent woodcut prints called the Architecture of Nature. Through relief carving and a distinctive print technique, Deborah pieces together deconstructed silhouettes of botanical imagery onto Nepalese paper.
Deborah in her Connecticut Studio composing ‘Architecture of Nature – Vine.’
Nikko: Can you tell me a little about your process of creating a woodblock print and how you come up with your ideas?
Deborah: I have a degree in graphic design and art history. -That said the textile studio was my second home in college. Also, textiles to this day remain an unending source of inspiration. I found my way to printmaking about 6 years ago when I began spending time at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, Connecticut.
The printmaking world is vast, traditional techniques and new digital media offers a limitless opportunity for artists. However, I became enamored of the woodcut print. About 5 years ago I began to commit my time and energy to solely exploring the woodcut print. For me it is a technique which is boundless and fascinating. Although I have had the opportunity to work with a couple of established woodcut printmakers I consider myself for the most part self taught. It is through endless experimentation that I arrive at a body of work. I thoroughly enjoy the carving process and print all of my own work. Unlike the traditional edition – I use and reuse my carved blocks – reinventing them and printing them in different ways.
The exquisite detail of Deborah’s hand-carved print block.
Deborah: I work in a very non traditional way – my initial concept is based on the carved block not the finished print. When I begin to carve I am thinking about form or imagery that inspires me. When the block has been carved I begin to explore the possibilities as I print it in numerous different ways. -I can rotate the block, overprint several layers and in the case of the Architecture of Nature series I began to print only selected sections of the carved block. When I had numerous selected areas of the block printed I began to reassemble them. I “rebuilt” the plant/flower form in a way that is recognizable yet fractured. The title “Architecture of Nature” seemed like the appropriate title to this body of work as I do feel like I am building a natural form block/piece by piece.
[ You can see the Architecture of Nature collection by Deborah Weiss here. ]
[ For those of you in the Connecticut area, you can personally experience the artwork of Deborah Weiss at ArtSpace located at 555 Asylum Avenue in Hartford. ]
The above stones were created by French artist Lionel Esteve called Again the Night.
Eight stones (huit pierres) in varying dimensions are delicately embroidered with yarn (pierres, fils à broder). They remind me very much of Ashes & Milk’s artist Yoran Morvant and his Pierres Graphiques.
Above is a remarkable example of the 2009 generation of Pierres Graphiques created by Yoran Morvant. At the monumental dimensions of 7 x 4 x 4 inches, this piece is breathtakingly gorgeous.
Ashes & Milk is so excited to introduce the 2009 collection of Pierres Graphiques. The new pattern is designed to fit a -{ considerably larger stone }- ranging from 4-7 inches in length.
Not surprisingly Yoran is an architectural draftsman by trade. One can easily see how his landscape drawings are a source of inspiration for the Pierres Graphiques.
[ You can see more of Yoran's landscape drawings here. ]
[ Be sure to view the new collection of Pierres Graphiques 2009 in Ashes & Milk's Gallery. ]
Here are a few peaks from two neat little books Souvenir and Lytte Til Laeken, a collaboration between Danish textile artist Anette Blaesbjerg Orom and poet Eske K. Mathiesen.
