Too Many Ideas!!

My brain has been absolutely whirring with ideas lately. Every night before I go to bed the last thing I think about before falling asleep is I.P. I am so incredibly excited for this year and even though I have so many ideas, the really cool thing I am beginning to notice is that they are not all that disjointed (even though on the surface they may appear to be).

Here are some words that reflect my current interests, curiosities and intrigues:

antique toys (dolls, in particular)

miniatures

frames

mixed media

old books

vintage photographs

old magazines

history

true crime

flea markets

Alfred Hitchcock

old films

The Shining

houses

antiques

containers

childhood

collage

papers

narrative

1967 Detroit Riots

family history

state of being trapped

I have been working on small assemblages at the moment, using small containers with various clippings and other collected miscellany. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this but I hope that by doing, I will be able to weed out some techniques/ideas that I'm not responding to and expound upon those I am.

I experimented with weaving by creating my own loom and weaving a small outfit for a doll I had. I thought it might be interesting to create a large-scale necklace with a doll woven into it, as the pendant. From experimenting, though, I know I don't want to continue in this direction. I think now I am definitely interested in making non-wearable art in the form of 2-D mixed media collage.

In terms of time spent, I spent upwards of five hours weaving, assembling two "containers" and gluing rhinestones to a doll's head. Here are some pictures of the bedazzled dolls:

In addition to that, I started reading Dickran Tashjian's Gifts of Desire, which is a book about the work of artist, Joseph Cornell, whose work I really respect. I read, in total, for about two hours.

Lastly--and I will get to this in a just a few paragraphs--I went to the AAEL, Hatcher and Shapiro libraries today to check out some books on dollhouses, more books on Joseph Cornell, some books on Hannelore Baron, a book on Jim Dine, a book on Stanley Kubrick (I want to read the part that describes his making of The Shining) and a book on Alfred Hitchcock. This took about an hour.

Shifting gears here, another idea I've had lurking in the back of my mind is creating a large scale mural (about two-by-five feet and done in paper with found clippings) of the city of Detroit, from around the turn of the 20th century and leading up to the 1967 Riots. This subject holds particular interest to me because my grandpa was the former mayor of Detroit. His term ended with the onset of the Riots.

He did a lot of good for the city, however, which is why the conclusion to his mayoral career was so sad. If I decide to pursue this avenue, I would likely interview my dad's side of the family to learn about my grandpa (whom I'd never met) and older Detroit residents who lived during that time. I would be interested in learning what of my grandpa and the city, in general, they can recall.

Another idea I'm really excited about is creating a large scale paper collage/montage depicting the cutaway/inside of a house (think dollhouse). I am very interested in creating a narrative within this space and using its inhabitants and room designs to tell this story. I'm incredibly inspired by Overlook Hotel from the film, The Shining. The film's essence lies in the totally creepy atmosphere of the hotel, itself. This "atmosphere" is created by the distinctive architecture, enormity of the building, claustrophobic hallways, multitude of doors and interesting room designs. These elements are something I would like to capture in my own project. I want to create a creepy atmosphere (like that of Overlook Hotel) that tells a story. Maybe I create Overlook Hotel, itself--that I don't yet know.

Regardless, my next course of action is to create four different sketches of different possible cutaway structures with different stories. My goal is to have this done by next Thursday so that I can decide which of the buildings/stories I am most interested in pursuing.

Here are some images of artwork that inspire me:

The Brothers Quay

Romare Bearden

Joseph Cornell

Joseph Cornell

Jane Hammond

Jane Hammond

Emily Dickinson

Diane Arbus

Marina Bychkova

Betsy Youngquist

Lynn Whipple