#soft self

Soft Transformation

6/2015

Last summer I lived in this beautiful house for a couple weeks as part of a residency called “Soft Self”. As the first artist in the space part of my work was to transform the space in to a self healing comfortable space for future residents. 

I sanded the walls the frames, primed and painted, lowered the bed frame, scrubbed the mold, sanded the closets and repainted, re-tiled the closet floors, built and hung shelves, and re- made the drop ceiling.

Here are some close ups:

Wallpapered drop ceiling.

Soft Self Regards

June 15-29, 2015

Dear Future Residents,

I have scrubbed, sanded, swept, painted, and decorated the space you will inhabit in the weeks to come. Feel free to continue to transform the room and add or subtract whatever will make you comfortable. Also, Teahouse Kuan Yin is a nice quiet place to get some work done. Enjoy!

Dear Lauren, 

You are most magical. Thank you for the space to calmly create and explore this beautiful city. You are doing a great thing here!

Dear Self, 

Feel proud of the work you have created in this space and keep up the momentum when you return to Portland. This project and all the other projects on the tip of your tongue are totally worthwhile!

Over A Lake

June 28, 2015

As part of the “You Begin” project I tapped in to one of my favorite activities, building miniature sets. This scene in the final project is only going to last about two seconds, but it was totally worth it. 

You’re Just My Cyanotype

June 27, 2015

Today we totally turned the tiny holographic bathroom* in to a two person, art producin’, darkroom. Lauren’s plan is to eventually cyan the entire living room drop ceiling so today was a kind of “Introductory to Cyanotypes” which is perfect because I will be teaching this same technique to a bunch of kiddos in a couple weeks.

Results:

Accidental Parade Day

June 21, 2015

Apparently for Seattle the Summer Solstice is a really big deal and they throw this giant parade with floats and naked bikers and it lasts hours and hours and ends in Gasworks Park which just happens to be right down the street from my residency and I accidentally got caught up in it while trying to meet Miranda. But I did find this really cool marching band that was covering Nirvana and wearing these really great signs. 

In other news:

I finally acquired a globe for the world scene in my video project:

A Very Gay Day

June 18, 2015

Today was arboretum day which, for me, means getting lost in a wooded area trying to find my way back to my bicycle with no map. But once I accepted my fate and sunk in to the fact that it would take hours to find my way, the hike was quite lovely and the things that I collected were amazing. Like this:

Which I am going to make a million cyanotypes of when I get back to Portland.

After being lost for a few hours I did find my bike, right where I left it, and made the very steep uphill trek over to Capitol Hill, which no one told me, is the gayest part of any part of any city I have ever seen. Rainbow flags in every window, cute queer couples holding hands and walking dogs, and like, a million posters about queer films and queens.

The reason for my being in this neighborhood was this:

The Montana bar photo booth, nestled so deep in this weird corner by the door that I didn't even see it when I came in. 

By the time I made it home I was so tired that I immediately took my shirt off and laid down on the hardwood floor, sweaty and defeated, but it was all totally worth it.