Fate

Mongolian Shaman Tent

Free Now

"...no experience has been too unimportant, and the smallest event unfolds like a fate, and fate itself is like a wonderful, wide fabric in which every thread is guided by an infinitely tender hand and supported by a hundred others."-Rilke

I tend to think of life as both a scavenger/treasure hunt...where you run and find a clue then run to the next, I also imagine that we are a giant puzzle, and we don't know what our picture is. We go about trying out pieces, and slowly putting our lives together. As we go along we realize that something from the past now fits, and we make progress and put that piece in its place, we also realize that our puzzle is only part of the larger puzzle, of life, and that we are all connected to the same game. Our ancestors contributed their pieces that lay the ground for ours....so, I guess "knowing" what we are going to be forever is the same as being stuck, completely faithless....because every day presents another piece or clue to our game. The "Unknowing" is our challenge, but it is also the fun and the space to find the next clue and adventure. Personal fate that I am tremendously excited about is a similarity between my most recent works, ( Free Now and Shrine of Summers Shells) and their connection to Mongolian Shamanic Shrines (ovoo's). A good friend recently suggested I see the movie, "The Horse Boy" because she felt their was a similarity between my sculpture and the shamans in the movie. I am so grateful to her, for being so attentive to my sculpture and so considerate to pass this recommendation on to me. The movie was incredibly moving and inspiring, for many reasons and I highly recommend it!

I am soooo excited about this connection.....where am I going next?

Mongolian Ovoo

Black Birds In The Trees

....The leaves are falling so quickly and I feel a sadness as I watch them fall. I want to hold time so I can savor these hues for longer. Winter is approaching soft and cold.....

I wrote this yesterday in my journal only to be followed by opening Rumi at random to read:

" Don't complain about autumn.
Walk with grief like an old friend.
Listen to what he says.

Sometimes the cold and dark of cave
give the opening we most want."-Rumi ( Backpain)

I was really wanting to hold on to what so obviously I cannot change, time, life. I wanted to stand under the trees supporting all the leaves so they wouldn't fall, so I could feel their beauty, bright and orange. But I know better...I am learning I have no control...and that beauty doesn't die.

So, yesterday on my home from dropping off Sunny, I saw this view in the graveyard and it further reminded me of my grief and challenge to accept change. It reminded me of last autumn passing black bags in the trees on the highway as we drove to my sisters memorial. I remember the grief so thick, I remembered thinking that the bags looked like crows, but because I "knew" they were bags my feeling towards them was different then to birds in trees, and wondering how our minds are closed by what we "know".

Artfullness....

A beautiful view while apple picking with Sunny

Right now I am not physically in the process of making art every day. Meaning, physically going in to a studio and painting or sculpting, whatever. I don't have a studio, and I don't have the time or means at the moment. Hopefully not for long though, actually definitely not for long!

However I am still practicing my art, just differently. I am reading, writing, meditating each morning. I am walking, I am seeing, I am listening, I am feeling and I thought that I would begin to share some of this side of my art with you, sometimes; like today.

Things aren't so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us to believe; most experiances are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has entered, and more unsayable than other things are works of art, thise mysterious existences, whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life. -Rilke

Sunny exploring a castle of rustling leaves

Our inspiration comes as a surprise to us.
Following them our lives are fresh and unpredictable.-Agnes Martin

Pictures of Free Now

I have taken down Free Now. These are a few pictures taken at different times, different days.
(I am looking forward to seeing other peoples pictures)

This was a tremendous experience artistically and personally for many reasons.
I loved working outdoors, I loved working with these materials, I loved doing something so new, I loved having a dialogue with the farmer who loaned me his land.

I loved following the inspiration.

I love and miss my sister who continues to be my guiding muse and teacher.

Free Now

F r e e N o w
Please Visit in Person at 1300 rt. 8 Germantown, NY 12526 (Between rt9 & 9G)
(It will only be at this location until this Thursday!)

“Free Now” a sculpture/movable environmental installation. Free Now is created using discarded clothing, step ladders and feather wings. The sculpture stands about 20ft high and is approximately 30ft in diameter. Free Now is inspired by my sister Summer's courage to live here on earth, as well as her courage to leave this earth. The sculpture is also inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus, and all the many bird girls who painfully struggle to walk this earth out of love, but eventually return to the sky and sun where their spirits can freely fly. The piece is made so it can be easily dismantled and re-mantled allowing me to put it in different environments and public spaces both indoors and out ( the beach, a field, an empty building as well as a traditional gallery). Thus sharing the piece freely with the public.
This is the first public viewing!


Free at last
by Antony and the Johnson

Way down yonder in the graveyard walk
I thank God I'm free at last
Me and my Jesus going to meet and talk
I thank God I'm free at last

On my knees when the light pass'd by
I thank God I'm free at last
Tho't my soul would rise and fly
I thank God I'm free at last

Some of these mornings, bright and fair
I thank God I'm free at last
Goin' meet my Jesus
In the middle of the air
I thank God I'm free at last



In addition to my work, I encourage you to visit the Icarus Project online.

" The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of 'mental illness' rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework."-Icarus Project

"He cares no more for warnings, he rushes through the sky,
Braving the crags of ether, daring the gods on high,

Black 'gainst the crimson sunset, golden o'er cloudy snows,
With all Adventure in his heart the first winged man arose.

Dropping gold, dropping gold, where the mists of morning rolled,

On he kept his way undaunted, though his breaths were stabs of cold,
Through the mystery of dawning that no mortal may behold.

Now he shouts, now he sings in the rapture of his wings,
And his great heart burns intenser with the strength of his desire,

As he circles like a swallow, wheeling, flaming, gyre on gyre.

Gazing straight at the sun, half his pilgrimage is done,

And he staggers for a moment, hurries on, reels backward, swerves
In a rain of scattered feathers as he falls in broken curves.

Icarus, Icarus, though the end is piteous,
Yet forever, yea, forever we shall see thee rising thus,

See the first supernal glory, not the ruin hideous.

You were Man, you who ran farther than our eyes can scan,
Man absurd, gigantic, eager for impossible Romance,
Overthrowing all Hell's legions with one warped and broken lance."


A passage from the poem-"Winged Man" by Stephen Vincent Benet 1907






Swim with me my mama when I dive in the ocean of death

I will cry if I am not with my family

You could be my friend eternally




Swim with me my sister when I dive in the great white ocean

We must try, try to find a way that we can see

See each others faces in the sea



Swim with me my sister when I dive in the great white ocean


We must try, try to find a way that we can see

See each others faces in the sea

The Great Ocean of Time-Antony and the Johnsons

Reminder: Salon Tomorrow

Reminder, Me and Gianni are hosting a salon of our artwork tomorrow from 12pm-4pm at our Hudson house. The address is 10 south 7 st, just off Warren st. near the Iron Horse Bar. We were there hanging work today, and it looks fabulous! There will be older works as well as brand new pieces! The Artsit Salons and Open Studio's are being held alongside the festivities of ARTSWALK in Hudson these next two weekends. Next weekend you will need to check out Gretchen Kelly and Dan Rupes studios My work may also be seen at the Cannon Ball Factory, and in MIX on Warren st.

Please note, 'Free Now' will be installed for veiwing next weekend, it was posponed due to the current weather conditions. I will update you as soon as its up!

Upcoming Events & News

Preparing to assemble Free Now, a new sculpture installation in the Bird Girl Project.
Will be assembled to full scale (aprox 20' x 30') next weekend!

T h e B I G n e w s i s :

I am incredibly honored, encouraged and inspired to be the recipient of the Linda Arnoud Individual Artist Grant!!! I was awarded this grant on the merit of my work and to further develop of my artistic practice. The monies awarded will be used this year towards new work in the Bird Girl Project.
The other BIG news is: There are many art happenings upcoming and right now that I am in! ArtsWalk 2009 Oct. 9-18th
Windows on Warren: Artist Gretchen Kelly Curated Windows on the 400 block of Warren st. In Hudson NY. New paintings of mine are hanging in Mix at 438 warren. One of my VERY favorite stores in Hudson, selling the most discerning contemporary furnishings and art! Take Me To The River: Juried Art Show celebrating the Hudson River, hanging at the CCCA gallery at 209 Warren st.
Oct 10th
Artist Studios and Salons: I will be hosting a salon featuring recent paintings, as well as work by my husband Gianni Iacono at our house in Hudson, NY. The address is 10 south 7st. Hudson NY 12534. We will be open to the public from 12-4pm. I welcome the opportunity to introduce my work personally. All works will be available to purchase.
Free Now: A Sculpture Installation from my ongoing Bird Girl Project, will be assembled for its first public viewing this weekend (this weekend only at this location)! Free Now, will be at a large farm at #1300 rt. 8, ( between rt. 9g & rt. 9-close to the intersection of rt.9 in Germantown, NY). I am VERY excited to present this piece publicly, and will update this posting with photographs and a work statement once the piece is live. I aim to assemble it this Friday, weather permitting.

10/16 Film Festival:I will be showing my new film, Walking from the Bird Girl Project at the Spotty Dog I will be available for Q&A . The Spotty Dog is at 440 Warren st. Hudson NY.

Ongoing: Carrie Haddad Gallery, at 622 Warren st. in Hudson, NY always has work available to be seen and purchased.