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So Long - Farewell, Subtraction, & Storage | T-1 Weekly Update

8/3/2014

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Our much anticipated Farewell Party was hosted by Meg and John on Saturday. We were so looking forward to having a chance to see everyone one last time before we left. It was so fun to see co-workers, friends from all over, and of course family, gathered together for festivities. There was tasty food (of course), lawn games, a fire, Twisted Tea keg, and fireworks. Yay! 

Sunday I set off for a week long AP Art workshop in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. ISM (my school) recommended the workshop for me to help gain some knowledge about Advanced Placement Art classes before I begin teaching it. I will be teaching AP 2D Design. It was very hard for me to leave at this time where there is still so much to do before heading to Myanmar in less than two weeks (eeeekk!!!) but I knew that it was important for me to develop these skills. I was also hoping that the time focused on education would help me transition my teaching mindset to a high school level. And, as I thought, it was exactly what I needed. 

The workshop ran from Sunday to Friday on the campus of St. Johnsbury Academy, a private boarding high school in the vast mountains of Vermont. I stayed in the dorms and ate in their amazingly fantastic cafeteria. The workshop was just one of many AP workshops held at the Summer Institute. The AP Art session was led by a well experienced art teacher who was also a "reader" (evaluator) for the AP art portfolios. She led us through the AP evaluation process, the requirements for portfolios, and shared past portfolio examples. We were also tasked with completing a mini version of the portfolio ourselves. We had to make a concentration of 12 art pieces in the form of Artist Trading Cards. This is the series that I created:
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Subtraction

This work echoes the detachment from the physical as I leave almost all of my belongings behind in my cross-global move.

About to embark on a journey that will bring me to teach and live in SE Asia, almost all of my possessions have recently been packed and shut into a storage unit. This work echoes the subtraction in my life as I pair down to the basic necessities. Returning to the most fundamental elements and principles of art, I worked by cutting away the paper to leave the vital components: shape, line, balance, occupied and unoccupied space. Leaving the materials white without any embellishments or additions reflects on the degree of unknown and pairing down. Inspired by Minimalist masters like Frank Lloyd Wright I strictly controlled the spaces of the cards with circles, squares, and lines. By laying the cards on a similar white paper I ask the viewer to slowly trim away the inessentials, revealing subtlety and simplicity. 


Here is what my week looked like. It was very college-esk. Including working in the studio until all hours of the night and hanging out with fun new people. I'm so glad I got to be involved in the week which included a trip to a mountain buddhist monastery (with an introduction to buddhism class) and a exhibit of our work at the end of the week. 

In the meantime Kim was very busy back at home getting all of our belongings moved into storage. It was a long, difficult task that involved the help of Brian and Drew. Many days were spent moving truckloads from the apartment into the unit. By the end of the week Kim headed up to spend some time with her parents at their house in Avon. 
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