Solo exhibition opens at Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque

"I HAVE A QUESTION and there's no one left to answer it" opened Friday, May 3, at the Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The exhibition installation is the culmination of a year's work pursuing my interest in identity issues.  The work both incorporates and is responsive to my grandparents love letters (1906 - 1911) and my paternal grandmother's diaries (1900 - 1968).

His and Hers.  2013.  Mixed media.

Departing from my usual mode of working in encaustic for this exhibition, I produced 12 fine art prints which hung on the gallery walls.  The prints  incorporated family photos into the actual text of the diaries and letters, illustrating the tradition of fine penmanship and the art of composing letters now basically lost to our culture with the advent of comptures.  The fine art prints cover ten years of my Grandmother's life, 1900 - 1910, from her youth (she was 17 when she started keeping the diaries) through her young adulthood.


Augmenting the photos and text is a series of 12 boxes called "Family Secrets."  These works respond to information in the diaries and letters for which there are no photographs.  They also reference family secrets, such as the discovery that my paternal great grandfather was Jewish.  (I wondered why therefor I was not Jewish, but some Jewish friends explained that Jewishness is inherited from the mother).  My great grandfather was also the subject of two lawsuits brought against him by the widow of his partner, who felt she had been shortchanged in his purchase of her husband's share of their paint brush manufacturing company.  The company, Rennous Kleinle & Company, is depicted on the cover of the piece called "Shhh."

"Shh." (front view). 2013. Mixed media

               

"Shh." 2013.  Mixed media.

Other "Family Secret" boxes address the perceived shortcomings of my Grandfather:  he was poor, Irish and Catholic: "Three Strikes."  Because of those prejudices, my Grandmother's family did not want her to marry him.  A five year long courtship ensued.

"Three Strikes." 2013.  Mixed media.

The pasttimes enjoyed by my grandparents generation were simple and wholesome: playing cards (euchre) and other games (caroom); canoeing; going for walks; tennis; music programs (my Grandmother played the piano).  As automobiles were popularized, "automobiling" became a pasttime as well.

As was behavior, gifts and prizes were carefully prescribed.  Grandmother was an excellent euchre player and the prizes she won included: handkerchiefs, pins, gloves, a china "hair receiver," cups and saucers, lace collars, pictures, a brass candle stick.



A common courtship gift was candy, usually "Huyler's."  My Grandmother had very poor teeth, probably as a result of this sweet gift.  (Fortunately her uncle was a dentist).  Throughout the ten year period covered in the exhibition, she has as many as 20 suitors.  By counting the number of times their names appeared in her diaries, I was able to determine her favorites.  They are depicted in "Candymen," a box of wax (encaustic) chocolates, the legend of which names the men.

"The Candymen." 2013,  Mixed media.

"The Candymen." (inside view). 2013. Mixed media.

The cover of "The Candymen" is a lithograph image of the candy factory, set inside a coconut (a key candy ingredient) with horse drawn carriages carting the candies off to be eaten by fair young maidens.  Huyler's was based in New York and operated a chain of restaurants and candy stores.  Its founder became one of the trustees of Syracuse University.  When he died, his sons inherited and ran the family business.