Mother

#12 of my "Earth" series.

The barefooted woman has been living in my studio for quite some time. I love her, the way how she's smiling with such content, and then the head scarf which indicates various possible origins.

I cut her out a few years ago when I had intended to place her into a huge gardening scenery along with other people where I thought they would water rows and rows of root vegetables. But that very piece actually became something completely different at the end: an ocean with lots of fish competing with each other to get those tiny drops of water coming from a little red watering can tied to the sky ("Whatever It Takes," 2018).

Anyways, this woman had to stay in my drawer for a while. Now she's come out, she's here, taking care of business as "Mother."

"Mother"
Mixed media: clippings from a storybook and a Space collector's album, yellowed edges from book pages, ink, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book, 8" x 11"

Six Feet Apart

#11 of my "Earth" series.

For this one, I have used  an old copy of Goodnight Moon. I love this book, I didn't know it as a child because I grew up in Germany. But my children did, and it was one of their favorite bedtime stories. The words and storyline are simple and yet they deliver the message of peace in the most perfect way.

You may remember the framed picture of the three little bears that was hanging in the bunny's bedroom. Here I placed them six feet apart for obvious reasons. The mouse seems confused.

"Six Feet Apart"
Storybook clippings, scraps from fly leaves and softcovers, ink, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book, 8" x 11"

With Balloon

#10 of the 30-in-30 challenge that I wasn't able to complete in the month of February but which am continuing now that I am having so much time on my hands, for obvious sad reasons.

So this is "With Balloon."

I finished it yesterday. In a way, it is inspired by Banksy's Girl With Balloon. Only that this one is a grown woman, and she is holding on to her balloon, even though she seems quite apathetic about it.

The woman is cut from a sewing book, from a chapter about taking a woman's measurements.

I used balloons from many different children's books. Usually you find them in contexts with circus clowns or birthday parties or a day in the park. A symbol of fun and for childhood. There is something magical about balloons that makes children want to have one. Please Mom, can I have one? They would pick the one they love best, a difficult choice, and then they would hold the string, looking up at the balloon with joy and pride, smiling and probably dreaming about soaring up there, too. This fragile thing will suddenly end up as a wrinkly little thing, if you let it pop, and it will fly away if you don't hold it tightly. It's something to care for and something you have control over.

Later, when you realize that you are not in control over anything, balloons may appear in your dreams, telling you about your own ambitions and about opportunities that you have taken or lost. You can do anything, people like to say in this country. Well yes, that would be very nice. Banksy's Girl With Balloon, which actually is a girl without balloon, is probably as close to the balloon as she will ever be after the wind caught it.

"With Balloon"
Clippings from various children's books and a sewing manual, sewing thread, ink, on the hardcover back of a 1960's LIFE World Library book, 8" x 11"