Artist in residence at Chateau d'Orquevaux. Never far from systemic constellations!
In particular, the air shimmers with the collective trauma women are noticing in this moment. The dinner conversations loop around Cornell, the waves of femicide in so many countries, and all the ways in which we are not safe in our daily lives. We represent several decades. We're all feeling it.
[I am in the process of writing a longer piece on this recurring theme. See it here, or at my substack ksole.substack.com GetConstellated]
Here I am in a small village off the beaten track in the Haute Marne region of France, surrounded by soft forests, misting yellow through chartreuse, olive green, and shades of orange to mid greens. The forested hills wrap around the Chateau d'Orquevaux where I'm in residence with 24 people from around the world. They are not so much from other countries as all the backgrounds, ancestries, and identities inhabiting Turtle Island and Canada in rich diversity. I am the only one from Aotearoa-New Zealand, and there are three from over our Tasman ditch, a poet and two visual artists. A woman from Rwanda.
In acknowledging that diversity, and the ancestors that people have brought with them, I also acknowledge the people here. Their ancestors endured among the toughest modern times. Under the occupation, the Chateau was sacked of all its art. that is not the only outrage of course, and the trauma surely lingers in current generations, even if the power of it has dwindled somewhat.
And here is so much joy in the little community brought together to make visual art, and the writers, sculpting language and emotion into stories and poems. It's intense. It's intense partly because we are so well provided for that the usual small chores of daily life are eliminated: wonderful meals, every need anticipated, like umbrellas at every doorway, just for example. This means 24/7 we are free to make our art. My room is in the poet's House in the village, which I share with the poet laureate of one of the US states, and an Australian artist. My studio in the former stables of the Chateau gurgles with the sound of the waterway when the back door is open.
So far, I have made a dozen paintings, and a couple of 3D pieces.
I have been waiting for a theme to appear, but so far nothing as cohesive as that has manifested. However, yesterday as I was painting I recalled that my Pop, my mother's father, painted flowers before he went off to WWI, somewhere quite near to where I am now. That enabled me to feel a lot better about the botanicals that keep coming out, despite my head saying no no, no more!
The drama and emotion of Pop, at war, and painting flowers, bringing back to NZ some gladioli corms, signalling a new passion for making colour through pollen transfer, has ended the wait.
There is enough in the air to work with. All will unfold all by itself, just as long as I keep showing up in my studio.
Here is the piece I was working on when Pop came into my thoughts.
Following this Residency I'll be in Italy with family until my return to Aotearoa New Zealand.
My calendar opens for appointments in early December. As always, my stated hours are not the only times I am available. If you live in another time zone please contact me to arrange a time that suits you. I'm looking forward to working with you online or in person in Napier.
My sessions are 60 and up to 75 minutes if the process requires a little more.
Use contact us, the booking page or click in one of the services below to secure your session.
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