Category Archives: Philadelphia Art Installations

Art installations in Philadelphia.

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

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LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan explained to DoN the concept behind Primitive Level Signals, the spectacular multi-media exhibit at Dalet Gallery in Old City, “It’s an animation installation, it all uses 3D animation software to create the animations and we also have animation stills. Printed directly on the wood the prints use technology that is new, a new way to print on different materials, ridged materials, normally it must be much softer.  Now you can use hard wood or metal, aluminum…”

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan explained, “Now I can print on all kinds of materials, not just paper. Also, the concept behind this is Chinese Taoism, what this means is that the Chinese have always dealt with five elements: fire, water, metal, earth and wood. All of the elements consistent with Nature is where the idea came from. Also my idea combines the ideas of the North American Indian people with ideas like the dream-catcher.”

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

The gallery is filled with fascinating creations from the mind of LiQin Tan, there are prints on animal skin stretched in frames with industrial clamps paired with an abstract video on a glossy monitor mounted on the wall above the dream-catcher. “Using spirit levels as a signal to describe a natural phenomenon in humans, where human brain development is an equalized procedure.  The competing concepts of the brain, whether the battle of the brain’s size versus it’s intellectual capacity , or of it’s technological versus spiritual side, are always kept in equalibrium” –  Dalet Gallery art card.

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

The gallery displays five pairings of prints on wood with accompanying video like these three above to represent the five Taoist elements: fire, water, metal, earth and wood. The animation stills printed on the panels of wood are ethereal, with Max Ernst-like abstract images that evoking dreams, mind storms, underwater mysteries and the being lost in the deep forest.  The animations are mind-blowing in complexity and creativity.  In the front gallery is a series of monitors, tangles all in wires and cables, with an animated lava flow ebbing back and forth using video game technology realness to the point that the piece looks hot from melted stone.

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

“In this dream-catcher you see here, the animal skins, I made them by myself, is from the North American Indian people as well, they’re used in a way to represent their culture. I stole it from them. In the animation is the biggest stone, the spiritual stone.” said LiQin Tan. In the picture above is a shot, a still if you will, of a large dream-catcher, the animal hide stretched taut in the primitive circular frame using the same cruel clamps, the installation has two of them. From both sides of the darkened gallery four video projectors shined animations onto the stretched skins, the light shining through like when you hold a flashlight to the web on your hand.  The animation includes dancing figures, “The Miao people, a small group of people in China, are represented by the dressed dancers…I mixed the cultures, I call it digital primitivism, using digital technology to make it primitive.”  The effect is deeply spiritual, connecting with memories, archetypes, cultural resonance and internally rooted thoughts and ideals.

“You can see that in the animation, but I also used the American Indian skills because I made the animal skins by myself. Using primitive skills, using calf skin, this kind of skin the procedure is called primitive, so I used the primitive skills to make them digital.  And I used digital skills to make primitive art.”

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery

“It’s a two-way work, digital art with old society and modern society, it’s multi-faceted.  I like the North American Indian culture a lot. I did a lot of research in Canada and I made a lot of multimedia pieces about North American Indian culture, so it’s about how during the day I teach digital animation but I have North American Indian culture in my brain. So the idea came very easy, very natural especially when it connected with Chinese Taoism, I did a lot of research, I’m not a religious person but I read a lot of philosophy and a lot of the research is organized in this idea.”

LiQin Tan, Primitive Level Signals at Dalet Gallery through June 23rd.

Written and photographed by DoN

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Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

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Simone Spicer, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Simone Spicer, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Katy the ArT DoG photo-bombs this pic of the site specific installation created by Simone Spicer for the Art in the Open weekend at Schuylkill Banks Park.  The artist gathered plastic or plasticized trash, decorated each piece with paint or collage, then strung them like beads along the bike path.  The effect was like a waterline where all this wacky trash had washed up on the banks of the nearby river commenting on the ecological effects of plastic trash.  But Simone Spicer also lavished time and effort on each element accentuating the careful design of these daily-use objects and the efforts of designers and corporations to make them attractive enough to buy.  And throw away.

Simone Spicer, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Simone Spicer, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Art in the Open 2012 was a big commitment by the participating artists – three days set up as a working artist along the bike trail from Lombard Street towards the Philadelphia Art Museum.  The point wasn’t to sell work but to demonstrate how art is made, engage with the public, raise questions and answer questions.  The artists are rewarded with a show at The Philadelphia Seaport Museum for the rest of the Summer opening June 15th. The experience of strolling along the trail with the dog is one of DoN‘s favorite activities, the addition of art was like an alternate reality for an afternoon, it would be cool to see more artists along the scenic path all the time.

Barbara Gesshel, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Barbara Gesshel, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Photographer, Jeff Stroud, DoN and Katy the ArT DoG walked along the bike path in the hot Spring sun and stopped at a shady tree where artist Barbara Gesshel had set up her studio out of the sun.  Using the tree as a work surface Barbara Gesshel rubbed charcoal into large sheets of paper, using the ridges of the bark to create a naturalistic atmosphere to her drawing.  Working with nature instead of against it, Gesshel’s use of charcoal, the charred remnants of dead trees, onto the living surface of a tree to make her drawings is poetic and inspiring.

Barbara Gesshel, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Barbara Gesshel, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park, photo by Jeff Stroud

Barbara Gesshel, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Barbara Gesshel, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park, photo by Jeff Stroud

Barbara Gesshel has an expansive one-person show of prints and paintings at Red Hook Cafe on Fabric Row.  Read DoN‘s blog post about the show on SideArts.com.

Erika Bergere, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Erika Bergere, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Cyanotype is one of the oldest types of photography there is, artist Erika Bergere set up on the lawn with her baby and made the beautiful Prussian blue photographs using only the light of the sun and a solution of potassium ferricyonide and ferric ammonium.  The wet paper hung out on a line to dry while the family lolled in the shade on the grass.

Justin Tyner, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Justin Tyner, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Stained glass artist Justin Tyner was one of the only artists who needed to connect to the grid, he made this beautiful rose window outside with his soldering iron.  Shortly after this photo was taken the window was mounted in a round wooden frame on the lawn on a hill near the art museum.

Jeannie Moberly, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Jeannie Moberly, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Jeannie Moberly, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Jeannie Moberly, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Artist Jeannie Moberly used a variety of media from her art box to create the drawings on long expanses of paper that she planted in the ground with wood dowels.  The maze-like effect was bold and beautiful at the bend in the river.  Sitting in the bright sun with a big hat and long sleeves to guard her arms, the artist contentedly worked out the ambitious drawing while bikers, walkers and gawkers stopped by to check out the colorful display of art.

Abdelkrim Djennas, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Abdelkrim Djennas, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Flowers made from battle caps – gorgeous! Abdelkrim Djennas flattens out bottle caps with cuts along the edge transforming refuse into delightful dumpster diver art.  Like tramp artists of old, he takes what society discards and makes something desirable and pretty.  The metal flowers sprouting in the woods near the art museum were whimsical yet prescient with a question of whether Nature will be overtaken by man made objects.

Nicole Donnelly, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Nicole Donnelly, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

Using found materials, Nicole Donnelly wove a structure of twigs and branches around one of the boulders along the river.  Obviously temporary but the piece touched a childhood nerve of playing in the woods.  The rocks along the river make convenient resting spots, Donnelly’s hut-like structure evokes Clan of the Cave Bear-like racial memories and the satisfaction of creating shelter.

George Apotsos, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

George Apotsos, Art in the Open at Schuylkill Banks Park

George Apotsos used simple chicken wire to create his ethereal Occupy People. The wire torsos planted in the Earth at oblique angles, each faceless head looking in a different direction evoking the mixed message mantra of the Occupy movement. We can see right through them. Using a mannequin as a form, George Apotsos molds and trims the common material, using heavy gloves and strong shears, into a metaphor for modern life.

Written and photographed by DoN Brewer except where noted.

Contributing photographer, Jeff Stroud

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Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

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Eva Preston, Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Eva Preston, Judgement Day, mixed media at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Bonnie MacAllister and Joanna Fulginiti know each other through the Women’s Caucus for Art and worked together at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rachel Udell, also a member in the show, worked at the museum as well. Bonnie explained to DoN, “We got into F & N Gallery because we were curated into a show…and we talked to the gallery director and he with a wonderful woman named Jess McCann invited us and donated the space to us, it was this beautiful collaboration.  We were able to extend the call beyond our WCA members and got work from as far away as Atlanta, we have a film that was lent to us for the night, and the dolls will be in the window for a week.”  Sorry, little DoNSters it’s taken a while to get this story together, this event was April First Friday, the dolls are at http://phila-wca.blogspot.com/2011/08/call-for-art-rag-dolls.html

Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking, The Ragdoll Project

The Ragdoll Project is meant to create awareness for human trafficking, they invited participants from different workshops, in West Philly through Spiral Q Puppet Theater, Follicle Hair Studio on South Street.  Joanna described the production to DoN, “We set up sewing machines, we used donated fabrics and we just made dolls. The dolls will be sold and all the money will go to Dawn’s Place which is a shelter for victims of human trafficking in Philadelphia.  Dawn’s Place is the only place in Philadelphia that helps victims of sex trafficking specifically.  And they do need money, they need donations, so we’re going to sell all the dolls and donate all the money.”

Rachel Udell, Danielle Ferrell, Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Rachel Udell, I’m Tired, digital image and Danielle Ferrell, effraye’, screen print at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

“The dolls were made by the Women’s Caucus for Art and other people that come to our workshops.  I get dolls sent to me in the mail everyday from people who heard about it on www.theragdollproject.org  That will show you how you can make a doll and donate it, anyone can make a doll and it is a donation, so they won’t get it back but we’ll sell it and the money will go to the victims of trafficking.”  Jess McCann, the co-curator of the show is part of the Philadelphia Modern Stop Slavery Group, she and Joanna Fulginiti selected art by women and intended the installation to have an educational aspect.  “We have certain statistics or quotes that we felt were very important to capture about the issue that would inform the people something that they might not be familiar with.  A lot are quotes from Johns who purchase sex, statistics about who is prosecuted; rarely are the pimps or traffickers prosecuted it’s usually the women, the women themselves. Who are often victims.”

Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Beth Prusky, This is How It Feels, charcoal and acrylic on archival mylar at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

“They wind up going in jail, that’s something people need to know about.  The violence like this piece by Rachel Udell, this is about the violence women in prostitution face.  They have a violent life.”  Joanna points out a particular quote, “A study of 475 people in prostitution finds 62% reported having been raped, 73% reported having experienced physical assault and 92% said they wanted to escape prostitution.”  Joanna is passionate about the subject, “It’s a violent life and the violence comes from the pimps and the Johns.  People have this idea of prostitution like it Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman, glamorous, but it’s not. It’s full of violence.  That’s what the first two pieces are about, the inner turmoil.”

Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Lauretta Paraguassu, Children of the Night, watercolor and ink on paper at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Quote from a John, “She gave up her rights when she accepted my money.”  Joanna dismisses this myth, “You know, men just kind of doing this like it’s that old boy’s club kind of thing, ‘there’s nothing wrong with this’, ‘this is how you treat women’, like blindly going along with this male idea.”

Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Megan Kelly, Body Monster, collaged painting on paper at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Joanna Fulginiti, Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking, The Ragdoll Project 

Joanna Fulginiti, Ragdolls, mixed media at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Joanna Fulginiti‘s painting started The Ragdoll Project, “I did that piece because these girls are just being treated like rag dolls, they’re not even human beings.  They can be tossed away after they’re used and I started that and once we starting thinking of a project we could do to raise money for the victims and someone commented on my piece like, ‘Oh, maybe we can work with rag dolls.’  They’re not hard to make so that’s how we started with this.”

Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Joanna explained the context of the art, “Most people don’t know that the average age of a prostitute is 13 years old.  Which is so scary, this is a children’s issue. Pimps are luring teenagers into this.  The average age of entry is thirteen and actually the average lifespan of a girl after she enters prostitution is six years.  So it’s stealing their childhood, that’s what these pieces are about.  Suicide, homicide, like many of these girls are homeless girls, they may have lived in foster families their whole lives, so it’s not like they even know where they are.  Some of these women became prostitutes and no one even came looking for them or cared where they are.”

Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Joyce Ellen Weinstein, Blind Leading the Blind: Captured, screen print/linoleum block print at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

“You know I don’t think in the justice system they’re seen as victims.  Yet.  Certain states are more progressive than others but a lot of times in law enforcement they consider the women the criminals when a lot of them are forced into this.  They’re victims.  This is about treating girls as criminals.  There is hope you know?  These women can start over.”

Alison Altercott, Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Alison Altergott, Saturday’s Child, mixed media at Stop Slavery Now: A Conversation About Human Trafficking

According to Joanna, “The more you read about a country where it’s legal versus a country where it’s illegal, if you read about what actually happens, it’s very, very clear that legalizing it, increases demand.  It normalizes the activity.  so, them more people are prone to do it and there’s so much demand they can’t get enough women who want to do this on their own. They have to get, well – if it’s Amsterdam, it’s from Eastern Europe and they have to start trafficking because they just can’t keep up with the demand.  If you legalize prostitution, your demand goes up so much that you have to force women into it just to keep up with it…there’s this idea that if you legalize it you can control it and make it safer but it’s almost impossible.  It’s so violent.  How do you make it safer?  When a John beats up a prostitute, how do you stop that?  The facts show when you legalize it, it increases demand and you’re putting all these girls at risk for being trafficked.”

Written and photographed by DoN Brewer

Read more at Side Arts Philadelphia Art Blog

Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio

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Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio

Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio

“I went running out on the eye beam because I saw this shot.  And my friends were like, ‘They were right about you!'”  Veronika Schmude is an urban explorer who loves to takes risks to get a great photo.  Veronika asked DoN to help her hang her show at Apple Jacks Studio at 319 North 11th St, 4th Floor, Philadelphia, the arts building near Vine Street, it’s flattering to be asked for artistic advise, especially in a hot art spot like the Khmer Building with Vox Populi and Tiger Strikes Asteroid.  We decided to arrange the work formally with an even eyesight line with some quirky informal arrangement of the smaller pieces mixed in.  With the broad spectrum lighting Veronika installed and the industrial loft vibe of the gallery, the photographs looked perfectly amazing.

Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio

Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio

Veronika Schmude explained to DoN, “All of these are the Richmond Power Plant except for the center piece, the center one is called Machine and was taken at Global Dye.  Which they’re apparently shooting a movie in; the Richmond Power Plant had a bunch of movies shot there: 12 Monkeys (Special Edition), is the most known, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Two-Disc Special Edition), that was shot there as well, parts of it and it’s actually a fascinating building.” DoN wondered how one get’s inside a locale like an abandoned power plant?  “They make attempts to keep us out by putting grating and a fence but..” A conversation starts between Veronika and a couple of her explorer pals about which tools the authorities would be consider those used for breaking and entering and those for hobbyists, Dremel Rotary Tools are for hobbyists (wink, wink!)

Acting normal and like you belong there is a technique the explorers use if confronted with questions as to why they’re there.  “I’ve always been fascinated with abandoned buildings and industrial sites since I was a kid.  I would go into abandoned buildings in the town I grew up in, Springdale PA, about forty miles outside of Pittsburgh.  And between the abandoned warehouses along the train tracks and the abandoned homes I came across interesting stories and one story in particular.“

Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio

Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio

“There was this one house that was cut into three different apartments.  Well, this one apartment I went into, they were all open, because it was a small town and they didn’t need to lock up anything really.  Everything was left as is, they literally picked up and left, down to food on the stove in the pot and I ended up later meeting the woman who used to live there.  She was obese to the point of bed-ridden, her husband had elephantiasis, and they used to have two kids living in this apartment.  And, according to them, these children became possessed and they literally had to pick up and leave and the children were eventually taken away because they were, well, they had some problems.”

DoN asked Veronika about the emotional sensations she experiences exploring abandoned spaces since she started as a kid?  “Yeah, I have to say there is something almost appealing, very sexy about the whole smell of, like, decay and rust and the air’s so thick you can feel the particles, there’s dust landing on you. There’s something like also very innocent about it because it takes me back to my childhood, but, it’s a thrill, too.  I mean, it’s definitely a rush getting into these places without getting busted.  Getting back out with everything intact.  Some buildings I have to be quicker than others, get in and get out, depending on if there’s homeless or whatnot, squatters.  I shoot with a Canon 450D, on my last shoot which at the Saint Nickolas Coal breakers I borrowed a friends camera, both Canon, and an Canon XTi, the Canon XTi has a 135 mm wide angle and my camera, the 450D, had a 90 mm normal lens which I use for closer, smaller shots.  I use a color enhancing filter and I adjust my white balance to give a warm tone or a cool tone…which gives that warm red hue, makes the rust colors really pop.”

Veronika Schmude at Apple Jacks Studio, 319 North 11th Street, Floor 4, Philadelphia PA 19107

Written and photographed by DoN Brewer

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Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

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Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

DoN asked Kathryn Pannepackerr about the title of her fiber arts show at the William Way LGBT Community Center at 1315 Spruce Street called Shagging, what’s it mean?  “Get your jiggy on!  The title I started with was much too long, it was called Shag Tagging Graffiti Art for All, it was just too wordy, so I kind of just broke it down to the essence, Shagging. So, you know, working with fibers, a lot of texture, real simple knotting, kind of like shag rugs, my whimsical, funny, playful side, the sexy side of shagging.”  So it is a double entendre like rolling around on the rug?  “Well, it’s good to know that under it is chain link fence.”  Another metaphor?  “In a way, yeah.  A lot of this work came from doing a lot of guerilla work outside on chain link fences around abandoned lots around the city.  Just wanting to bring art outside for everybody, so that it’s really accessible for anyone.”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

“I’ve been known to go around and tag, make little checker boards or little, beautiful ditties, on fences and gates throughout many years.  But, the last year or two in particular mostly on chain link fences.  So, I got this idea, why not get a huge roll of chain link fence at Home Depot?  You have to get it on line, and like an eighty pound order came, a huge roll, the idea was just to break it up and start doing huge wall pieces that I would exhibit in museums and galleries with the thought of art outside for everybody or art inside, sort of merge the two.  Inside/outside.  The other thing was I wanted to do large abstract painting-like pieces that were all about color and shape.  Sort of like intuitive, quick and expressive.”

What do you mean quick?  “Well, there’s nothing quick about textiles so I guess in a way it’s a funny way to think of it, but, it’s really just getting the juncture at the link of the fence and tying a knot and cutting it long enough so that it’s a shaggy knot.”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

“But, quick in the sense of, the background study that I have with with very detailed French tapestry which is pictorial flat weave, hyper-intensive timing, this was doing my own designs, simple forms and shapes, abstract, painterly-like, so, even though there’s nothing real quick about it, it’s certainly quicker than flat weave tapestry.”

DoN asked, “How do you do it?  Is it hanging on the wall or do you just lay on the floor?”  Kathryn Pannepacker replied, “No, I actually would hang it between a door frame or I’ve got those pipe looms, like a coat rack, or something like that, so I just hang it from there.  The other thing is that people are always giving me yarns, it’s sort of like an ongoing thing.  It’s kind of like a joke, that when I run out of yarn, I’m going to change careers because I’ve got this idea in my head that it should be OK that everyone changes careers at least three times in life, that should be a cultural given.  Like at one point in time I would have liked to be a farmer or sell flowers on the corner.  But I think when I run out of yarn I’ll switch careers but people keep giving yarn, so I’ve got more work to make.”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

At this point in our conversation a group of students entered the gallery and DoN followed around while Kathryn Pannepacker described the work.  “Many of these pieces are done by homeless men and women or people in recovery, so we would use the pellum fabric, to ask lead-in questions like, ‘What does home mean to you?’  So, they would write their comments into the weave and add that to the fencing.  The fabric is called pellum, a non-woven interfacing that a tailor might use inside of a coat.  And the beauty of working with this material is that after they would write and tie a knoe you don’t necessarily read the message on it.  So, it’s a nice opportunity for folks to share their thoughts and feelings but if they want to keep it private they can keep it private.  So, in some of the cases they wanted to share their thoughts, so, I also recorded on a paper a list that writes it all out, like blessings, and prayers, poems and words of advice or things they’re looking forward to.”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

“What gave me the idea was for a number of years I’ve been doing little weavings between fences and gates around the city, in fact, I was doing little ditty weavings between fences and gates wherever I would travel around the world and it would be a way of leaving a popcorn trail of what I was doing.  So, then I started to use chain link fences around abandoned lots around the city because, around different neighborhoods where I was living, it was so depressing, I just wanted to add some color and life to that abandoned lot.  I would do large, or smallish it didn’t matter, but like shags, colorful checker boards or whatever and the idea came from that and what would it take to bring that into a gallery.  You might find yourself, you know, you work so much in your studio, then we work in a classroom situation, you need your own time to feed yourself or refuel.  So I was like,’What’s the good link between what I’m doing in the community but also that going to inform my own personal work?”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

“In fifth grade we were introduced to macrame and we were making plant hangers with macrame and so immediately after that I was doing these like wall pieces with macrame knot but then I got into latch hooking and all that, so I love all that.”

Professor of Fibers at Tyler School of Art, Pazia Mannella, was with the group of students, so DoN took the opportunity to ask her feelings about FiberPhiladelphia 2012?  “I think it’s just amazing, especially someone who works in textiles and fibers, it’s so exciting to see so many examples of textile work and fiber arts work and really ranging from very traditional to experimental installation.  I was at all the opening events and it’s an amazing community that is in Philadelphia.”  DoN asked Professor Mannella about the political discussion surrounding women at this time and how fiber is often associated with women and her opinion of the political attack on women?  “Well, I do think historically fibers has been linked with women and I think that it’s important that the voices are heard within this political realm.  And that’s been kind of the issue with it being predominately men commenting on the health of women. I think that both men and women can react to a range of issues through fiber work.”

DoN commented that men seem to forget that women are taking care of business – the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the homes we live in, are often made possible by women.  Professor Mannella replied, “We’re really trying to increase our enrollment of men in our area, we have a male major, and we’ve had male majors in the past, but I think there has been a bit of a stigma with the word ‘fibers’ among, at least, the men, the male student population, in my experience.  But I think it’s interesting, some of the men that are taking our classes that are in their early twenties, they seem less affected by these gender debates, it’s just like there’s a difference among these young men, especially the ones in our class, they have a different point of view and they have respect for this craft and don’t feel stigmatized by it as a woman’s art.  So, it’s great to see all genders working with this technique.”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Kathryn Pannepacker said to DoN, “I have this funny way of just using up yarn, just shagging, being textural and fun.” The art in the William Way LGBT Community Center shows influences of Mondrian and Klee, DoN wondered if this was fulfilling a need to paint?  “Well, I do paint, but I don’t paint like this, I tend to paint more, sort of, art naive Matisse-like, paintings that might be narrative in a way or self portraits.  I think of me rolling a ball of yarn looking at my easel, like will you take me back when I’m ready to start painting again?  Because sometimes I get real affixed with weaving and then I shift over to a mural project or a painting project or get real intensely focussed with my time in community work.”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

“I wanted to share this with you, I’ve got this way of thinking, that may be a little nutsy at times, that you can’t call yourself an artist unless you’re making artwork.  The whole idea of really taking care of yourself in the studio and making sure you have enough of solitude time in the studio.  This work here, and the garland that’s outside the door is all part of the one-a-day series that I did.  When I get really intensely focussed on a project and I get back home in the studio, I like to do a one-a-day or something that’s going to bring me to my own series of exploration – color, texture…”

Shagging - Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

Shagging – Kathryn Pannepacker at William Way LGBT Community Center

“I got the good news about the Leeway Foundation grant, I wanted to start on my website, slowly, slowly, a blog charting the process of how I’m spending my time and what I’m doing.  I have all these great ideas but for now it’s a little now and then.”

Written and photographed by DoN Brewer