On Travel and Nakedness

Some of my work is traveling. Quilts going out, quilts coming back. I say often that my art isn’t done until it goes out on its own to be seen. I threaten to embed a video camera in the work so that I can track its journey and see the reactions of those who attend the shows.

Imagine being thrust into a box, rolled up with some of your pals, moving along conveyor belts in the darkness and into trucks to be thrown onto the porch of the museum or gallery. The curator unwraps you to new light and then you are on display, naked to the public. Saying what you must say, being who you must be. Out loud.

A selection of my work will join others on Martha’s Vineyard at the Featherstone Center for the Arts. It’s a group show including fiber artists Alice Beasley, ​Michele Beasley Maloney, Earamichia Brown, Shin-hee Chin, Chiaki Dosho, Pamela Flam, L'Merchie Frazier, Sharon Havelka, Natalya Khorover, Karol Kusmaul, Susan Lenz, Caroline MacMoran, Wen Redmond, Linda Syverson Guild, and Jaleeca Yancy. What a roster! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be part of a round table discussion with all of these artists?

Scrap column-detail, Paula Kovarik

I spent last week working again on the scrap piece that is taking over my studio. These will travel to the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska in January as part of a solo exhibition in one of their galleries. The pieces are a sort of retrospective of the works I have created in the past 20 years. Morphing them into a column has been revealing. I have more black scraps than colorful scraps. I see repetition in the stitching from one to the next. I like them the most when they move as if alive (I wonder if I could install a small motor that would activate that jittery motion?). Frayed edges add life.

Some of my beasts will travel to the Blue Spiral Gallery in Asheville, NC as part of the Common Thread exhibit they will mount in September. I’ll need to name them and figure out what it means when a herd member is separated from its herd.

This collage piece is in Little Rock, Arkansas as part of the Delta Triennial exhibition. The Arkansas Museum of Fine Art has been completely renovated and enlarged recently (and it was formidable before this) so I am really looking forward to visiting this piece myself. I can’t wait to see what the other artists have contributed to this great show. What are they saying out loud?

Everything seemed fine until the earth pushed back, 29” x 25”, PAULA KOVARIK

The whole world’s watching, detail, Paula Kovarik

Edward Hopper once said “If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.”

Art speaks. Out loud and naked. Go see some. You can talk back to it.

Herd

Two years of work, all in one place. The Herd has invaded the Austin Peay State University New Gallery.

Headless Herd members march into the exhibit on a platform. They are built of quilts made over the past ten years. Photo: Amir Aghareb

My art has an undercurrent of peculiarities and humor. I look for things that are uncanny—those elements in life that don’t quite make sense. They’re on the edge. Darkness seeps in with the cares of the day and moods of the moment. Scratchy, murky textures appear. Grids dissolve. Patterns stop repeating. There is often a dissolution in the narrative.

Moving from two-dimensional surfaces to three-dimensional forms, I built a herd this year. The members have no heads. They are diverse and a little disturbing. Where are they going? What has the herd heard to draw them here? Let loose upon my studio floor and tables, they wandered aimlessly. They could be me and you. They could be them. They stay together, they move as one, letting someone else or something else dictate their actions.

The Herd marches on its platform to watch the I watch too much tv news show.

At the gallery the Herd is flanked by Yesmen. They nod yes when you pull their strings. Area Environments provided some of the designs I created in the form of wallpaper. The piece hanging in front of the wall on the left (Many Moons) is the original that created the wallpaper behind it. Amazing to see my stitching in giant form.

Herd of stuffed headless beasts

photo: Amir Aghareb

One of the Yesmen floats in space with a chuckle on its face. photo: Amir Aghareb

The Dark Matter wallpaper, provided by Area Environments, frames these three pieces: Silos, The Usual Suspects and Thugs. I like how they merge with the patterned paper.

photo: Amir Aghareb

I love watching people get close to my work, zooming in on the detail of the work. Dark Heart, detail. photo: Amir Aghareb

Silos, detail

Michael Dickins at the sewing machine.

As part of the exhibit I had the opportunity to talk with community members about my work during an artist talk. There were a number of people with excellent questions, some of which I really had to think about before speaking. It’s great talking with people who are engaged and curious. The next day I entertained a large group of students during a gallery talk. What could be better? That evening the gallery was open to the public again. I set up a sewing machine so people could try drawing with stitch.

The folks at Austin Peay have been welcoming and supportive. Michael Dickins, the gallery director, created an environment for the work that enhanced the message and invited people to spend time thinking about the work. Dr. Dixie Webb wrote an essay about my work and the show that places me in the slipstream of other artists and art movements. Tobias Layman built benches and the platform to accommodate the works. The addition of the wallpaper from Area Environments topped it all off. As an artist I feel honored to have been invited to have this show. The bonus of meeting and working with these folks has been better than I could have imagined.

The show is up until September 16 in Clarksville, TN—a short hop from Nashville. A little bit of a drive from elsewhere. There is a virtual version of the show on their website.

My heartfelt thanks go to Austin Peay State University department of Art+Design, Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA), The Association of Academic Museums & Galleries (AAMG) and Area Environments for this opportunity.

Georgia on my mind

Fallout, detail, Paula Kovarik

I have a few pieces in an exhibit at the Hudgens Center for Art and Learning in Duluth, Georgia for the next couple of months. I think about those pieces out there on their own, holding their own among peers. How will the visitors take in the breadth of the show? How will my pieces fit in? 

If you are in Georgia, take a little time to check out the show. There are works by myself as well as Kevin Curry, Valerie S. Goodwin, Jess Jones, Joyce Watkins King and Macey Ley — All artists working in fiber. What could be better than that?

Into the Nature: Cycles, Habitats & Elements of Place

Curated by Angela Nichols

May 22 – July 28, 2018
Hudgens Center for Art and Learning
6400 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Building 300
Duluth, GA 30097
Exhibition Reception: Saturday, June 2

The selected works examine beauty, rhythm, conflict and topography; how the natural world is impacted by man and how human existence makes marks on the world. 

Here are some detail shots of the works I have at the show.