I had scoped out some galleries prior to heading to L.A. When I make trips and check out galleries, I always do so with low expectations. Partially because my taste has narrowed tremendously over the past couple years and partially because the artist whose work I want to see is not being exhibited at the moment. The majority of galleries I visited had some really great art and I was thrilled to see so much drawing. First on my list is the work of
Matthew Chambers at
Angstrom Gallery. The walls were lined with his drawings and read in somewhat of a series, each one slightly informing the other, yet each stood on its own as well. I just wanted to touch them all over. The fingerprints, smudges, and erasures appealed to my tactile self, but I think their 'I look like I was drawn by a crazy person' was part of their appeal too. Yes, I know, very insightful considering all the schooling I've had.
my talented friend kim presented me with one of her intricately cut photographs as a present for my birthday. she began with a series of photographed winter trees, which i was an admirer of and also got the pleasure of seeing up close. she'd print out the photo and then, many x-acto blades and calluses later, all of the negative space around the tree was cut away leaving only the skeleton of the bare tree remaining. she has since done a couple of leaves in this very same style. the leaf's skeletonized remains looks like it's seen a long cold winter. she float mounted it and throughout the day i get to see the varying play of light and shadow. i feel honored to have received such a lovely piece of work. she is part of my dekalb experience i miss and i'm grateful to have something around me that reminds me of her everyday.
