Manon Gignoux

In June 2008, I had the chance to take a class at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. It was an incredible, life-changing, inspiring two weeks that I will never forget. I met many amazing artists and learned a lot..both about dying fibers and how to live life as an artist.

Haystack is also where I first encountered Selvedge magazine. I came across issue #22 which is filled with dolls of all sorts. I went home determined to get a copy of that particular issue and a subscription.

(I did get a subscription eventually...for my birthday...it is so expensive it is a special occasion sort of purchase. I think of each issue with its beautiful photographs and heavy matte paper as a book for my permanent collection...no recycling these puppies!)

The main reason I was so enamored with issue #22, which I eventually won on Ebay, was for its photographs of  the work of Julie Arkell and Manon Gignoux. I'll post more on Arkell later. For now, have a look at the work of Gignoux.

Manon Gignoux is a French artist who makes textile sculptures, clothed objects, clothing and accessories.  I love her muted palette, use of layers and texture, and simple forms. Her figures are pared down to just the essential details. As the viewer, I have plenty of room to project personalities and invent stories. The fabrics are carefully chosen for their texture and hand...they carry with them a strong sense of history, of use, and of the beauty of the everyday. Besides Gignoux's figures, I especially enjoy the dressed objects. With a couple buttons and some carefully selected scraps of cloth, she magically gives a salt shaker or a bottle a unique personality.

Eventually, you will be able to see more of Gignoux's work on her website...but as of late, it has been taken down for an overhaul.

Melanie Bilenker

I have a fascination with hair. I prefer extreme haircuts...the kind where for days after my appointment, catching my reflection in a mirror or window takes me completely by surprise. (Who is that?!) I like to keep my hair when I get it cut. I keep it around as a record of time past...and now, as I am starting to get grays, as a record of "how my hair was". Sometimes I use hair in my artwork. I think of it as rope - for tying, restricting, confining, escaping - and I think of how it gets tangled, disheveled, and then combed back into place.

Many artists use hair in their work. One of my favorites is Melanie Bilenker. I can't remember how I first learned about her...but she is in my files. I always make a point of showing her work to my drawing students when we discuss alternate drawing materials. How can you make a line without charcoal o graphite. How does the material the line is made from effect the quality and meaning of the line?

All of these works are "drawn" with Bilenker's own hair. On her website, she writes "The Victorians kept lockets of hair and miniature portraits painted with ground hair and pigment to secure the memory of a lost love. In much the same way, I secure my memories through photographic images rendered in lines of my own hair, the physical remnants. I do not reproduce events, but quiet minutes, the mundane, the domestic, the ordinary moments."


I am excited about these pieces because of the simple, everyday scenes so carefully rendered. The sense of depth Bilenker carefully creates makes me feel I am peering into a window to another world.


You can see much more of Bilenker's work on her website.

TIm Walker

Now that I have the London based photographer, Tim Walker on my mind again, I have been searching out his work online.

Every time a new issue of Vogue arrives in my mailbox, I hastily flip through its pages, searching for any images by Tim Walker. I love his playfulness, his use of over the top props and sets, and his careful attention to color and texture. I always feel like I am peering into a perfectly orchestrated fairy tale.

There is a nice book of his work and process available, Tim Walker Pictures.

He also has a great website.

Lissy Elle Photography

Still exploring with world from the confines of my couch. (What would I do without the Internet? I almost can't imagine it.)

Today, I stumbled upon the photographs of Lissy Elle. She is reminding me of Alice & Wonderland, Tim Burton, and Tim Walker. I always love to go on these daydreams.You can see more of her work on her website and on Flickr.

Jessica Sanders

Since I am assigned to bed rest for the next couple weeks or so, I have been spending a lot of time online...maybe a little too much. "Creative research" I call it. Today it certainly paid off. I discovered the work of Jessica Sanders.

You can learn more about her here.

Doris Salcedo

About eight years ago or so, I started collecting magazine clippings and photos and organizing them in binders. This was spurred initially by being overrun by magazines. (I love ordering magazine subscriptions...it is always so great to go the mailbox and find something new and interesting waiting for me.) My binders, one for fashion, one for baking, one for cooking, one for dream home ideas, one for crafty projects I might just do some day, etc. allowed me to hang on to the best snippets of my magazines and recycle the rest (hopefully avoiding ending up as an eccentric elderly woman crushed in her home by her possessions someday). Unexpectedly, the binders also became a sort of Encyclopedia ala Betsy...a catalog of my interests and tastes that I could see change over time. An old-school version of Pinterest I guess...with scissors, glue, and protective plastic sleeves. 

When I entered grad school, my clippings expanded to include photos from library books. Of course I did not cut them out of library books...instead I scanned the photos and printed them out. When I flip through this binder, it is like entering a time warp. I am whisked back to my first couple years of study...the ideas, the struggles...ah....those were the days...

Today, I leafed through my "interesting artists" binder and I came across Doris Salcedo. She is an artist from Columbia and works with domestic furniture and cement, among other things. I never took the time to learn a lot about her specifically but I always respond to a certain haunting quality in many of her works. The fabric details emerging from the cement filled furniture seem like looming, heavy memories.

The images above include a range of Salcedo's pieces. You can read more about her here and check her out in PBS's Art 21, Season 5.

Mona Hatoum

Thinking about Lebanese born, Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum today. She seems like she will chase down any material or technique to best convey her ideas. You can read more about her here.