More Stairs

I'm continuing to work with the black and white photographs of stairs that I took in New Orleans. I have printed them out in black and white, placed objects on those photos, then photographed and printed those second-generation photographs. I've run into some technical snags, but they still seem quite appealing to me. Here are a few of the most recent ones:

I've used a clay head I originally made for my Dante's Inferno installation back in 1996. I've also been interested in text cubes and African carved animals.

Today I started working seriously on my large barrister's case cabinet.

Last Words

As I may have said here before, I work with the GRACE program, doing artmaking with residents in nursing homes in Greensboro and St. Johnsbury, Vermont. When I got back from New Orleans in late February, I found that there had been a lot of illness in one of the nursing homes, and several residents I worked with had died.

Death is real, and I often think how here in America (unlike in other places in the world) most people are not dying from bombing, murder, or starvation, but from old age at the end of a long life.

I bought a cool little alphabetized business card holder at a junk store in New Orleans, created by the Gordon K. Allen Company, "Funeral Coach Headquarters of the Southwest".

I have made cards with words related to death and end-of-life that are filed alphabetically.

Mark Waskow says he regards it as an "artist book". That's interesting.

THEM, US & YOU Video!

The Times-Argus interviewed me for a video about the current show at SPA that Sue Higby and I co-curated. Have a look!

"Salvage" at the Chandler Gallery in Randolph

I was away in New Orleans pretty much during the whole run of Salvage, an exhibit curated by the irrepressible Josh Turk. The last day of the exhibit is next Saturday, March 19, when the gallery is open from noon until 3:00. I'm showing two large pieces, Men's Cabinet and Medicine Cabinet, as well as three smaller boxes with figures.

Meg Brazill wrote an extensive review of the show for Seven Days, in which she said:

No salvage-based exhibit in Vermont would be complete without work by Cabot artist Janet Van Fleet. This one includes five of her mixed-media works. During this writer's visit, the 21.5-inch high "Men's Cabinet" attracted many gallerygoers, perhaps in part because Van Fleet invites viewers to open it. Inside, the cabinet resembles both a tiny curio shop and a dollhouse, with its invisible fourth wall and three levels. It holds some miniatures, including a piece of dollhouse furniture, along with human-scale objects such as full-size photographs. The piece suggests a glimpse into an unknown family's history. 

Them, Us, & You

I've co-curated an exhibit at Studio Place Arts called Them, Us, & You that I've been installing this week.

Here's a link to the interview I did on Vermont Public Radio about the exhibit.

I hope that, if you can, you will come to the opening reception on Saturday, March 12, 4-6 PM.

We are also having day-long activities on Saturday, March 26:

Special Event:  Sat., March 26th
Join us for all or part of the following:
10 – 11:30AM  –  Art project led by SPA artists (all ages)
1:30-2:30PM  –  “Walk & Talk” with the exhibit curators, Janet Van Fleet
& Sue Higby
4PM  –  Talk by anthropologist, artist & writer, Dana Walrath, Ph.D., MFA
“From Slavery to Syria:  Art and Social Justice”