Wandering back from the Prado Museum Madrid, Spain
Happy Chinese New Year!
Well It has been a few months. Time to catchup! In December and January I traveled for the first time to Europe and Africa making stops in Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Izmir, Piraeus, Athens, Cairo, Alexandria, and Valletta (Malta). The trip provided an excellent opportunity to study the fabulous works of art in the collections of the Prado, Thyssen, Picasso Museum, Museu Nacional d' Art de Catalunya, Park Guell, La Sagrada Familia, and The Palacio Real in Spain, The Vatican in Rome, St. Johns Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, and The Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was wonderful to see so many pieces by Goya, Durer, Bosch, Velazquez and Caravaggio! The work of these artists have fascinated me since I was very young. I was also invaluable to visit the Acropolis, the Pyramids and the Sphinx and to see the contents of Tutankhamun's tomb. To have the chance to be in the physical presence of those objects, to see the brush strokes, the way the light hits the canvas, the workmanship and to experience the actual scale of the works, was truly a moving experience...which felt much like finally meeting a family member after years of separation..
Leona by Durer
Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid
I have so many memories of faces on the train, children running barefoot in the street, old men in bars, cab drivers, hustlers, women in the market, Cafe bartenders...and infinitely more all living so separately each with uniquely nuanced lives but all essentially trying to make their lives a little better. As naive or as silly as it sounds, for the first time, I realized that all of the subtle differences that humans fight about- culture, religion, politics, degrees of wealth or poverty...that they all fall away when attention is instead paid to the fact that we are all just trying to stay alive, enjoy the time we have, and take care of the people we love. For the first time, I felt an overwhelming sense of well being and comfort in the world, and a felt love, awe and hope for the human race. I don't know why I had to leave the United States to see that, to completely open my eyes... maybe it was the language barrier... or the culture shock... haha.
Tickets
In other news, I am now pursuing an MFA! I have applied for several schools, have been accepted into one program for the Fall 2010, and am waiting to hear back from the rest on my list. I should hear back in March and April, so wish me luck!
Meanwhile, I am working on two bodies of work. One is comprised of (so far) three oil paintings on wood panel derived from collaged photo portraits of close friends painted in a style inspired by early Renaissance and Mannerist paintings. I have also begun a body of screen prints also collage based, have joined a print collective called Tiger Lilly Press in Cincinnati, Ohio and look forward to working there full force in a week or so.
More will be posted as I take documentation photos of my recent work.
Good luck!
KD
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