April 2023
Thesis show proposals went out:
“Women Asunder”, is a proposed exhibition and installation of my dissertation show resulting from my practice based research PhD,” Mosaic: An Art of Brokenness, Chaos and Repair”. Identity can be a fragmentary composite of experiences, memory and of relationships. Through sculptures, drawings and constructions, In/between is an investigative family journey about displacement within the historical framing of a post-holocaust community. My project will culminate with a presentation/exhibition and lecture in Berlin, the place where my birthmother was born and hidden for 4 years, where my grandparents were abducted from and murdered, an ancestral home lost. Using a feminist, relational approach to art-making that is tactile, integrative and improvisational, I am proposing to bring a body of 10-12 wall sculptures to a venue in Berlin in 2024-25. These timely topics of maternalism and birth politics through the exploration of autoethnographic feminist narratives intertwine post-generational trauma, identity, and the multidisciplinary art methodologies of mosaic. Through gallery discussions within the Berlin art community, I hope to bring new insights on forced immigration, birth politics, displacement, acceptance and understanding.My practice is multidisciplinary, employing a synthesis of material knowledge to negate traditional characterizations of the mosaic art form.The works are constructed out of written, drawn and recomposed ceramic pieces that are set like traditional mosaics in mortar on board. The sculptures are mounted on the wall and can be easily installed and deinstalled. For this project I aim to publish a visual and narrative catalog to document and reflect on the entire project.
Ran a 4-day workshop for 8 practitioners:
Embracing the Broken: Mosaic and Metaphor
Each one of us holds beautiful yet imperfect stories within us that, when expressed through art can be shared and bring connection and healing to the world. We can repair by telling our own, original stories. In this four-day workshop, lead by artist and CMS founder Karen Ami, students will compose and create works with personal and collected items as well as a selection of studio materials provided at the workshop.
Mosaics are a specific art form built upon a framework or narrative. While not collage or assemblage, this medium shares the action/process of gathering, collecting, and reinvention. Shards, nostalgic relics, fragmented and fractured materials are fixed and set into mortar -restoring and giving new life to what was broken, an action of redemption and repair. Through a series of exercises, students will write, draw, compose and play relating to an issue or story that will generate a work in mosaic.
Using the philosophy of Wabi Sabi as well as the practice of kintsugi, students will discuss essays on process and practice by various artists. Assignments will focus on a series of mosaic ‘sketches’, creating original tesserae, or elements out of clay, and drawing ‘cartoons’ as a process for recording ideas and planning new works. Students will complete a final piece incorporating the concepts and possibilities offered in this workshop. Topics will include sourcing materials, the importance of appropriate substrates and adhesives and drawing for mosaic designs.
Wrote this essay:
The Paralysis of Perfection
©KarenAmi 2023
What is perfect? We may find perfection in nature or symmetry and harmony these ideals can be paralyzing in the creative process. Our life experiences are full of missteps, trials and errors, and mistakes. We move closer to the myth of perfection with knowledge, reflection, and acceptance through the discomfort of growth and transformation. Our own unrealistic expectations for ourselves can prevent us from growing and thriving as creatives. The ability to allow ourselves to make mistakes and play is the key to imaginative productivity. At the core of perfectionism is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of not measuring up to other's expectations. Fear of judgement or disapproval of others. This fear can be crippling, especially in the arts which requires us to constantly be producing and putting our whole selves on the line. That vulnerability can stop a perfectionist in their tracks, making it nearly impossible to make anything at all. It is difficult to be creative when you are coming from a place of self-doubt, anxiety and worry about failure.
Perfectionism is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can motivate you to perform at a high level and deliver top-quality work. On the other hand, it can cause you unnecessary anxiety and slow you down. Perfectionists worry that if they let go of their ‘meticulousness and conscientiousness’ it will hurt performance and standing. That is not to say that skill, technique, and methodology is not an important part of art practice- it is. Yet when we focus more on the structures of the art form ( technique, etc) we may be sacrificing our creativity and art.You are perfectly imperfect. Our ability to adapt and learn and change can help return to a place to play and find joy (again) in art practice.
Perfectionism in Art Practice:
1. Practice accepting where you are currently with your work. It can be difficult when you first start out (or really at any stage) to accept the gap between where you are and where you want to be. You have a vision for your work, but your skills just aren’t taking you there ... yet.
2. Learn to love your work and yourself regardless of where you want to be. If you are gentle and accepting of your process, you will get there in time.
3. Focus on making more work, more sketches, more models, instead of endlessly picking apart one project.
4. Lower your expectations of yourself and your work .Realize that you don’t have to create a masterpiece every time you enter the studio. If you go in and fingerpaint and it feels good, you learn something, you stretch yourself, and enjoy the process, that is a success. You don’t have to say something huge with every artwork that you make. Take the pressure off and you will enjoy yourself along the way.
5. Since art and creating is a process, you can always change directions, add new ideas, and develop a plan as you go along. Write down all your idea ina notebook, prioritize them if you like. Come to terms with the ones that just aren’t possible due to budget or logistics or physics, or whatever the roadblocks might be that are in the way.