Henrique Oliveira

Another facinating artist is Henrique Oliveira. This mornining in my sculpture class, we watched the Art 21 video on Janine Antoni, who also does a number of interesting things with her body and personal identity and our role in society, life, and the world. I was mostly facinated, however, by her work entitled "Moore," which is a very long, handmade rope made from materials reclaimed from the lives of her friends and family, including a red dress belonging to her father's mother, electrical cords, and flowered leis. Oliveria's work is so interesting to me because of the source of his material-- he takes wood from the streets of his home, all discarded and old, and creates these beautiful works that the viewer experiences in totally new ways. Over the last year or so, I've grown increasingly interested in the craft of quilting in its connection between the finished artwork, this sort of isolated thing of beauty, and the layers of tradition and meaning behind the use of the fabrics both before and after the quilt is made. Quilts are literally bound to the very fabric of life for those who make and use them. I think anyone who has ever made, owned, or used a quilt knows this strange personal power found in these blankets.

Anyway, I am developing an ever-greater facilnation with artworks derived from materials collected from that which has been used up. There is something beautiful and deep and unspeakable, I think, in these materials that have been whittled and worn by the continual steps of everyday life.

On a slightly unrelated note, I've been doing some soul searching in terms of where I want to go with my own art. I ran into an art friend from school a week or two ago and we were talking about the Undergrad show on campus-- which I did not enter this year. I decided not to give the show too much thought because I felt, given my history of rejection from on-campus juried shows, the likelihood of me getting in was not large enoughto make it worth the effort of putting anything in. My friend's response to this attitude fell somewhere along the lines of calling me super lame, and got me to thinking more about why this is actually my attitude. So I set out to think it through a bit more.

I won't go into al lthe details of my thought process now because I don't have enought time to write all that, but after a conversation with an artist I met earlier this week, I've been thinking more about being the sort of artist that is an artist for reasons other than money. The conversation earlier this week made me realize that not al artist show thier work nor should there be a great deal of stressput into it. If I'm more interested in art as a means towards the end of creative thinking and personal expression, it doesn't have to be as cut and dry as I try to make it.

Furthermore, I'm excited to see my work going in an interesting and captivating direction. I'm really happy about a lot of the work that I've done this semester. I am feeling like a great deal of my work has become a lot more personal while also incorporating the technical skills I've been working so hard to aquire. I've set some goals for myself concerning letting other people see my work more as well as thinking more about what kind of artist I want to be.