It’s so easy to forget how good we have it. We get so caught up in what isn’t going right in our lives or what is challenging us that we neglect to remember how very full of wonder and sparkle life is. The work of Japanese artist Naomi Okubo is so full of layered jubilant pattern that you can’t help but remember your lost joie de vivre.
I love that it feels like you’ve walked into the middle of some kind of fabulous party, completely with confetti and streamers. The flat layering of texture and pattern give her paintings a collage like feeling to them, snaps of life pieced together to create irresistibly charming work.
We are now well into November and the holiday season is approaching at lightning speed ( see yesterday’s Artsy Holiday post, early I know, but I couldn’t resist! ). The brilliant October color has yielded to the breezes and leaves are now scattered across the landscape. Nature has begun her winterizing and it seems a good long time before the flowers show themselves again. These watercolors by Northwest artist Kiana Mosely have the feel of flowers pressed between the pages of books to remind us that spring will begin again.
Kiana’s flowers have such a flowing simplicity and the characteristic “bleedy” quality of watercolors reinforces their pressed flower sensibility. Its almost as if these flattened floral shapes are here to remind us that though the spring seems far away, the flowers are still there, waiting for the thaw.
If you’d like to see more of Kiana Mosely‘s work, please visit her website and Facebook page. Prints of these gorgeous watercolors are also available in her Etsy shop!
I’m a firm believer that art is not just about what the artist makes, but what you take from it. Living the Artsy isn’t just about living with art, but living out art each day in our lives. One of the things I love most about the work of this month’s Featured Artist M.A. Tateishi is how bright and downright audacious it is. This artist is not afraid to use color, to deconstruct and then resurrect her surfaces, all resulting in work that inspires me to be move forward as bravely as she does.
I thought perhaps you could use a bit of artsy inspiration, too, so in the words of Simon de Pury..
I’ve been finding things in life to be a bit daunting lately, but just looking at M.A.’s work and putting together this post, thinking about these women that I look up to, who are so much braver than me, I feel empowered and encouraged. I hope you do, too.
I’ve always been fascinated by the way our minds inform our eyes. How our brains connect the proverbial dots to tell us that when we see certain shapes configured this way or that, we’re seeing three dimensional planes out of what is actually two dimensional surface. In the abstract paintings of artist Agnes Barley, we see that by placing certain shapes against one another just so, the illusion of three dimensional space is created.
Her shapes twist and turn and create shadows of themselves upon the painted surface, further reinforcing the dimensionality of the forms. The objects created by putting these pieces together feel so architectural, they seem as if they could be studies for structures or sculpture. I kind of want to climb on one and sit atop it, taking in the view.
Creating and choosing art for healthcare environments is about much more than just beautifying a space. People in those environments are often worried, stressed, sad, and in need of healing. Experts have found that through evidence-based design, these places can become much more warm and welcoming and certain design choices can actually aid the healing process. Carefully chosen artwork in these settings not only has a positive impact on the patients, visitors, and staff, but also on the perception of care given by the facility.
I’ve had several artists, designers, and publishers ask about placing artwork in healthcare environments. They want to be a part of creating a healing environment, but aren’t sure how to go about it. So considering evidence-based design and my own experiences in curating art for healthcare, I’ve put together a few guiding principles when creating or choosing art for healthcare environments–
1 | happy, engaging imagery
Nine times out of ten, unless you’re there for the entrance of a new baby into the world, being in a hospital or other type of healthcare environment is not a happy or joyful occasion. And with all the weird smells, strange noises, and necessary sterility of these settings, no wonder they can be seen as such cold, intimidating places! Creating and curating art for healthcare environments that fosters a more warm, welcoming atmosphere goes a long way toward making patients and visitors feel more at ease in their surroundings. Work that makes us smile, reminds us of family and love, and calls to mind memories of happy times all can work together to ease the mind and spirit.
Often when you ask a hospital patient how they’re doing, you may get an answer that begins with “I’d rather be…”. Patients and visitors often wish they were anywhere but where they are. Artwork that creates a sense of voyeuristic escape can lessen anxiety by giving the viewer a means of liberation from their current situation. They’re able to think less about their pain or circumstances as their mind wanders and wonders what might be over that hill or around that bend.
3 | create a sense of calm, peacefulness and positivity
By using natural, organic imagery as symbols of peace, restoration, and comfort, the artwork in healthcare environments can become instruments of healing. Studies have shown that patients shown nurturing scenes of nature required lower strength pain medication. These kinds of images also foster a sense of the world outside the walls of the facility and the goal to get back to where the skies are blue and the waters peaceful.
Hospitals can be lonely, scary places. Choosing artwork that may garner conversation goes a long way toward creating connections among patients and visitors, as well as providing a much needed mental escape. Sculpture and interactive digital artwork do well to give patients and visitors a purposeful sense of exploration and the unexpected and abstract can create a path to solving a puzzle and thereby, a means of distraction.
5 | create reflections of community
Each hospital or healthcare facility has an important role to play as a part of a community. Honoring the history, landmarks, and atmosphere of that community can create a sense of familiarity and connection in places where we often feel helpless and alone.
Creating and curating art for healthcare environments is about so much more than simply manufacturing a pleasing looking space. Instead of merely being places of clinical procedures and processes, through art and design hospitals and other medical facilities are becoming places of nurturing and healing. Artists, designers, and consultants are looking more and more not at what the artwork speaks to them, but how it promotes positivity and restoration to the visitor and patient.
You can read more on evidence based design in this Guide to Evidence Based Art by Kathy Hathorn, MA, and Upali Nanda, Ph.D.
Here in the Northwest, we’re no strangers to the rain. Months and months of time goes by seeing life through a haze of drizzle and mist. Although the rain can be a bit tedious, Mr. Forager and I are always struck by the beauty it brings out in the way the landscape becomes distorted. In her work, Brooklyn artist Alyssa Monks began with hyperrealistic depictions of women bathing and now finds the figures being pulled into a more abstract world.
Always interested in the distorting characteristics of figures seen through a veil of water, steam and glass, Monks’ latest work is pushing the figures further into the mist, leaving the figure secondary to the surface behind which she hides. As the tall cedars peek out timidly from the fog, so do these figures seem hesitant to reveal themselves, adding the voyeuristic feel of Monks’ work.
I am a long time fan of Seattle artist Liz Tran. Evidenced in posts herehere and here. The color and movement in her work creates such a lovely, happy atmosphere. Obviously, its work that I return to again and again. Following an artist residency in North Iceland this June, Tran created a series of Electric Necklaces out of ceramic pieces found on the beach in Reykjavik. Most of the elements in the necklaces are old electrical components that have been worn by the North Atlantic and then transformed by the painter’s hand.
Aren’t they magical? You can see more work from Liz Tran on her website. And if you really want to stir up your own green eyed monster, follow Liz on Instagram, where she is taking you along on her very artsy tour through Frances. Tres jaloux!
I’m always fascinated by artists who find inspiration in nature. What excites me even more is coming across an artist who interprets organic forms into work that is decidedly modern. Brooklyn artist Pamela Sunday creates contemporary ceramic sculptures that nod to the biological forms found all around and inside us.
Out of clay, the artist sculpts these magnificently strong yet delicate forms, so much like the environmental elements from which they take their inspiration. Our bodies and the nature around us can withstand so much, but we still have to keep reminding ourselves that each body, each habitat has its own tipping point. Life really is such a precarious balance, isn’t it?
Fall back weekend is my favorite weekend of the year! An extra hour of sleep is always, always a good thing in my book. And even the extra darkness at night meant that Mr. F & I ate an early dinner and enjoyed music and reading while cozied up on the sofa. The shorter days can be a difficult adjustment, but really, I don’t mind so much. Lately, it seems like we need that extra time to wind down and calm our minds.
We are entering our next to last week here in this little corner of the Olympic Peninsula. Mr. F’s contract here will end next Friday and we’ll be moving again, to parts as yet unknown. This is always a bit of a nervous time for us, waiting to hear from recruiters for Mr. F, deciding where to head next.
This quiet little place has been just what we needed following a crazy, fraught-with-life-changing-decisions period in Seattle. Being away from the distractions of the city has helped us in so many ways, not just in the slower, more relaxed pace, but it’s also granted us the gift of time and space– time to be together, time to explore what we want to do, what we want to work on, where we want to be.
There is always a bit of a crossroads type feeling at the end of our time somewhere.. we’re moving forward, but momentarily transfixed as we await direction. Not only are we waiting to see where Mr. F’s career will take him next, but with the launch of Forager Services, opportunities are popping up for me, as well, leading to more decision making turning points.
But if there is one thing that this way of life has taught us, it is that our lives go through seasons, just as the world around us does. Some things, like our love and reliance on each other, remain constant and unchanging, while other things like financial worries and job stresses can be as changeable as the leaves in the Fall. As long as we hold on to the constants, the looking ahead isn’t nearly as scary.
Being nature loving outdoorsy types, Mr. Forager and I sometimes discuss what it would have been like for Adam & Eve– to dwell peacefully with wild animals. Mr. F hopes that being able to interact safely with wild creatures will be one of the perks of heaven. He really really wants to hug a grizzly bear. In her mixed media work, New York based artist Lauren Matsumoto uses unexpected elements to focus on nature and how we relate to it.
The artist uses female figures from vintage erotica among playful and whimsical flora. But there is an element of the looming industrial age, as planes, satellites, and automobiles threaten to intrude and destroy our love affair with nature. How often do we completely unplug? No wifi, no cell phones, no cable t.v. It’s definitely easier said than done, but maybe if we try it, we can recapture some of that peaceable kingdom that once was.
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 44 [Falling Back, Looking Ahead]](https://artsyforager.com/images/Pier+Regular/This+Artsy+Life%3A+Weekend+44+%5BFalling+Back%2C+Looking+Ahead%5D.png "This Artsy Life: Weekend 44 [Falling Back, Looking Ahead]")
