Turning the Tables with Alexis and Richard

Hello again, I have something very awesome that I have been saving for a short time. Within the last few months, I asked Alexis Iammarino and her father, Richard Iammarino some questions. Here they are in all their interesting glory...

Knowing that you and your father are both practicing artists, had you ever worked with him on a visual art piece before? (If so, can you describe or link it for us?)

We used to play a game of I draw you draw when I was a kid. Dad says, "Sometimes we'd just start with a mark on the paper and take from there. See what it would become." I have a few journal pages from when I'm 5 years old or so and you can see that we often drew together. But we have not worked together in this way, through the mail and with the intent of making a collaborative art piece as adults. We spend a lot of our weekly phone calls discussing and checking up on what each other are up to. We talk about art a lot. But as far as executing a piece together, this is our first time.

*Side note: We have worked together on decorative painting projects in private residences. We once did a HUGE floor painting, it was faux marquetry to restore this massive Russian medallion (Geometrically a massive mandala in a way! HA!). That was a beast of a project and what I remember most about that process was how seamless our problem solving was. We figured it out with more or less total confidence in each other we pulled it off. It was such a feat in it's scale.

What is the difference between working with your father, side-by-side and working by yourself in the studio on these mandala pieces (I know that you worked in both ways)?

Certainly it's a big surprise when it comes through the mail...Dad never knew what to expect. And he knows me well, so I guess he could expect that he would be surprised. I'd handle the progression in bolder less incremental ways. I'm more spontaneous and he's a bit of thinker about it. We're sitting here thinking this over and we're saying that he'd unpack them and think for days about what to do next, whereas I'd open and take a look and respond pretty immediately.

The difference between working on it side-by-side, which was just a week when he's been visiting, from working on it in our own space for months. The difference is, we can field each others opinions and collaborate when we're together in the same room. Dad just said that maybe we're responding and doing what we want when it arrives in the mail, sorta like the balls in your court, you respond and do what you want. Then I asked, do you think we're not collaborating when we're apart?  He answers, "Of course we're collaborating, but it's not the same - we're trying to pull the different approaches. We certainly have different approaches. We come from entirely different background in terms of our age, simply and also information/training and influences. But the same time we understand what we're doing, our thought process is very similar." 

Process wise for me, it was different in that I was working more slowly on our piece when Dad and I were working together in the same space. We've just exchanged thoughts about how he can be more critical about the minute decisions (self critical in terms of what would effect what, BUT this really has not so much to with this piece it self, but instead it has to do with how he's been tackling his current paintings in E. Cambridge) and I was just playful and felt that whatever we did could be figured out, or resolvable. He's just reminded me that this was all a very playful process between us and that it wasn't as natural to work such boldly with colors. He thinks that was a challenge in unifying the composition and the wholeness of it because our color sensibilities differ so much.

He became very invested in 'tying it all together' to create a 'unified design'. And towards the end the last few days he made a bold suggestion to pick up some colored vellum/acetate to introduce color to the black and white areas. He thought of it as a glaze from his own painting practices....neat-O huh?

You tend to work very collaboratively being a community artist and arts/dance facilitator, but do you have any new insights into the collaborative process, in working with him?

Shana, this could be a shocker - wait for it, wait for it......
We're sitting here and we're asking ourselves did we do a mandala? Oh my. We've been sharing drawings in the mail and responding to one another. We've both introduced circles, spherical motifs, but in the sense that we've not been working from a center and building out concentrically. Shana, this actually feeling sorta wild, he just said to me "Oooo, making a mandala would have been fun!". I mentioned that other folks were making mandalas with the ATCTE, but now as we sit here, I have this feeling if only initially like I've misguided us in a way, at least in that we didn't make this piece as a Mandala.

Actually feel a little flabbergasted - anyway we're gonna finish what we've been working on and see if it seems to resonate with the work you've been collecting. I'll have to write back to you. Tell me, is it possible that we did this wrong? I don't think we've being playing my the rules here...seems silly, like a curve ball to throw your way. Wow.

Meanwhile, dad wants to do a Mandala with me.

I always think of you foremost as a dancer because of your physical energy. and constant movement. If you were tasked to 'illustrate' the concept of the mandala with the human body as your medium, what do you think it would look like? Is it possible to describe it or sketch it? 

The strongest example from my personal experience that would best illustrate a the concept of a mandala is this excerpt of a piece I collaborated on with my dearest and nearest dance collaborator Lindsay Levesque.  I am in the pink and she wears the white shirt.

Why I share this is that what you see here is a choreographic structure based on our own respective movement phrases, done with no counts and phrased only using the similarities of our body's frames - literally the length of our legs and so on. We are proportionately similar and we allowed our timing to be determinant of the speed and ease that we both have moving in and out of the floor or from low to high - The material you see here is material we've rehearsed and rehearsed countless times for each other witnessing the differences and making minute changes to make the material meld into a seamless set of movements that have been sequenced in such a way that we always realign in perfect unison even when we can't see each other.

This is like the collaborative mandala in that sense that the participants/performers seek a certain unity even as they pursue separate formal trajectories in the same space and time. Also our choice of how to integrate the sound for this piece was mandala-like.

 

We both selected pieces of music and they were played simultaneously as a single track in stereo, from their own speakers to create a unique piece unintended by the composers. One was an instrumental composed by Arvo Part and the chant was early European/Georgian a cappella chants. The length, the finality of the piece was determined by playing both songs on repeat until they ended on the same note...that was over 15 mins. 

There are two more dancers in this section. Although there were four performers we really conceived of each pair as a solo because of the level of specificity and how the unison was achieved by deep team work and physical listening. For instance in the sections of the piece when all four of us were out there we were a duet.

This piece was the final section in an evening length work that she and I set for our senior project at Goucher College. It was the first and most profound and most instructive of any collaboration I've participated in to date. Really.

Whirling Dervishes

Wow right? This of course comes to mind. 

Korean Dance

I am not familiar with this company or their cause, I came across it watching other whirling dervish footage on youtube. What I observe here also relates to the idea of mandala: there is centered focal point/individual that generates energy or engine for peripheral agents that feed back and compliment it with minute, coordinated gestures and subtle shifts of weight.

Turning the Tables: Now it's your turn to ask me a question! Anything you like, and you'll find my answer on the blog, along with your interview...Alexis asks...

What is the most pervasive self-reflexive observation participants make about their role as a collaborator in this project?

Hmm, like meta-art? You know, I don't think I would have been able to answer this question until I curated the actual show and saw them all together in one cohesive group....and it really was surprisingly cohesive. But I think I've found that the references within the pieces are all very elemental. True, everyone brought their own meaning to the mandala, and it seems to tie in with where their interest are as artists and human beings. 

Heather is part Native American, so she referenced birds and wings in both of her pieces with me. There were quite a few other natural elements involved with animals and or myth: a turtle, snake, eagle, spider, scarab beetle, raven, nymph. Danielle and Brian both do math based art, so a bit of "sacred geometry" was reflected...there were also a few pieces that involved the idea of space/the universe/galaxies. One that stunned me when I opened it was Wes and his two year old daughter's piece. What they created bore a striking resemblance to the "tree of life", it actually took my breath away upon first glance...she created something so elemental. Stunning.

 

We had some flower motifs, quite a few sticks and branches, which were collected by me and Elbee, and Paula mentioned drawing with a pecan branch into the earth when she was young. Her statement actually encapsulated a lot for me, and when I read it aloud at the artist talk I had a hard time of it...just because it meant everything and it was so powerful for me to read to others. I thought, "This is what the project is all about." It was so simple and gorgeous, it got to the heart of creating...so I think it speaks to some universal principles about the mandala and my hopes for the project.

“I can remember making art at three years old. My first paintbrush was a twig from my grandfather’s pecan tree; my first canvas was the earth itself. I remember being five year old, swinging by my knees from a low-hung, makeshift trapeze, etching into the soil spirals and circles that had meaning only for me. The act of drawing was beautiful to me and gave me peace of mind. It still does..."

-Paula Phillips

So yeah, the short answer is: people used what they knew and were familiar with, they leaned on and borrowed from their natural environment, myth, science, math, dreams and the universe. PERFECTLY self reflexive, if you ask me.

"Monad", by Guest Blogger, D. Garzelloni

Our own D. Garzelloni will be taking us through a few interesting concepts with her first guest blog post for ATCTE! Thanks so much, D!
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MONAD

“One principle must make the universe a single complex living creature, one from all.” - Plotinus

When I was a kid, my neighborhood friend Vicki and I invented a game. Separated from most of the neighborhood by age and gender, Vicki and I compensated by creating our own unique activities. One afternoon, while drawing in the dirt with sticks, we came up with the circle game and it quickly became our go-to game for filling time and space. First, we would draw a huge circle in the dirt and then we took turns drawing circles within the circle. We could make them any size we wanted, anywhere within the circle we wanted, eventually filling all the of the space and the game would be done. No winner, no loser. There was only one rule: in the process of drawing our circle, we could not upset any of the other circles or the main circle. Making our own marks, while maintaining the integrity of the whole; we were becoming individuals separate from each other, but still connected, connected to each other and the whole of nature.  

 

"There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres" -Pythagoras

 

Math is a difficult subject for most people to discuss even casually. Most of us struggle with math and the realization that we suck at it was, for most of us, a watershed event in our childhood. It was the first concrete limit placed on our potential and intelligence, it changed the way we were taught in school and the way we looked at the future. The few kids fortunate enough to excel at math were rewarded by being shouldered with additional academic responsibilities, the unrealistic expectations of parents and teachers and the prospect of a formal education that never ends. The math we were expected to master in school had little to do with real mathematics, and good or bad at it, we all had math ruined for us at an early age.

Imagine a time in human history when mathematics were regarded with awe, steeped in magic and mystery, rendering the secrets of the universe equally knowable to all mankind and then consider how our modern world is structured to create a sense of dread and inferiority at the mere mention of math.  Most of us would claim not to know or understand mathematics and yet, we are captivated by its principles clearly visible in nature in flowers, shells, crystals, plants, and insects. Our fear of math is a facet of our alienation from nature and ourselves, the Monad promises us reconciliation by reconnecting us with the language of the universe; Mathematics.

The ancient Greek mathematician, philosopher, and mystic, Pythagoras (c.570 - c.495BC), believed mathematical principles were the principles of all things and that all things can be known through numbers. Pythagoras, a mysterious figure who inspired messianic-like awe in his followers including Plato, was hugely influential in Western thought and philosophy as well as esoteric traditions such as Alchemy, Numerology, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry.

Symbolizing perfection, unity, wholeness, divine nature, and design excellence, Monad is the Greek term for the principles represented by the circle. From the root word ‘menein’ which means ‘to be stable’ and monas or ‘oneness’ we get ‘Monad’. The Monad was known to the Pythagoreans as The First, the Seed, the Essence, the Builder, the Foundation, the Immutable Truth and Destiny.

Assigning a numerical value to the circle takes it out of the realm of the symbolic and brings it into the material world, where we can see concrete examples of how it works. The mathematical meaning simply reiterates the symbolic meaning. The circle symbolizes wholeness and, as wholeness preserves the identity of all it encounters, the philosophers gave it a numerical value of 1. The number one, sometimes referred to as ‘unity’, preserves wholeness, any number multiplied or divided by 1 equals the number. As a result, 1 is its own factorial, its own square, its own cube and so on.

5 ÷ 1 = 5   (5 remains itself)
5 × 1 = 5   (5 remains itself)

The circle is, quite literally, the mother of all geometric shapes. As all subsequent numbers proceed in single increments from the number one, all geometric shapes are inscribed within the Monad. All pattern and symmetry proceed from one shape. 

 

The circle is the cradle of our symbolic and mathematical universe, it embodies the characteristics of unity, everywhere the same and all circles are equal. It is the womb of our creative universe as well. The circle makes a mate for itself by contemplating itself, reflecting itself, casting its own shadow, by dividing and therefore multiplying itself. This process is mirrored though geometry in an ancient geometric construction called the vesica piscis, the Birth of the Other.  

"Life is born only of the spark of opposites." - Carl Jung

The ancients called the principal of ‘two-ness’ or ‘otherness’ the Dyad. They considered it with suspicion as it seemed to revolt from unity, distancing itself from the Monad. They referred to it as ‘audacity’ for its boldness and ‘anguish’ because of its separation from the whole. The Dyad is polarity; it is at the root of our notion of separateness, separateness from each other and from nature. The paradox of the Dyad is that while it appears to be separate, its opposite poles remember, and attract one another, which is why the ancients also called the Dyad ‘illusion’. The Dyad is at the basis for every creative process, as creativity allows us to discover and return to ourselves, in our deepest selves, we are beyond all polarity.

Discovery of the Circle is the discovery of the Self separate from the Other, an inside separate and distinct from the outside. It is our first glimpse into the perfection, polarity, unity and order inborn in ourselves and Nature. Everywhere wholeness and unity exist, yet remain unapparent, as in a seemingly simple yet profound children’s game.

So This Is My Plan...

....make more mandalas.

No but seriously, I have decided to devote my energy this year, for the second year of my visual thesis to the ATCTE project. Not only have I felt that I have neglected it, and everyone for a year, but I really need a break from the domestic violence heaviness that I was so focused on last year. So here's what's going to happen....A COMMUNITY BONANZA!

I've been thinking of some new ideas for the project, in terms of promotion and exhibition and highlighting some of the existing artists (you guys!) as well as adding some new artists to the fold. My drive is to work with community, and it occurred to me that this is a community. You're all a part of my online community, as well as being a community of artists, and friends. I was thinking of highlighting some of you in artist interviews, but I would like your input! This is a chance for me to, in essence, work for you this year. How do you want to be seen? Where? What types of venues? What state (or country)? How can I help you, as an artist in this project? I am willing to travel, and curate this thing all over the place. Let me know! I would at least like all of the existing pieces to be included in my final thesis show, which will be in May. I will be sending you all information about that soon enough, but I am very excited for the near (and far) future!

And without further adieu, I finished my last round with the piece that Elbee started... I actually incorporated the paper that D. Garzelloni used to wrap my last package from her. So thanks D., it's now in the background of this one!

Conception to birth, plus the finished piece, Cycle 4, Round 4

Elbee to Shana R. Goetsch
Tallahassee, FL to Milwaukee, WI

  Shana R. Goetsch to Elbee

Milwaukee, WI to Tallahassee, FL

 Elbee to Shana R. Goetsch
Tallahassee, FL to Baltimore, MD

Shana R. Goetsch and Elbee

Mandala completed in Baltimore MD

woohoo!

Alternate Cycles

Something tragic has happened....one of the mandalas from Cycle 3 did not make it, due to unforeseen issues. RIP buddy. Okay, well anyway, the fix to this little snafu arrived in the mail to me this week! So Danielle and I are in the process of a do-over for one of our two mandalas. She started a new one that has some collage elements and some gesso on an old board game. I'm told it's called "Ludo"...well, here it is and we're starting again!

Cycle 3.5, Round 1:

D. Garzelloni to Shana R. Goetsch
Chicago, IL to Baltimore, MD

I'm actually pretty excited about this new one, because it's quite a bit smaller than the other we are creating together.

Falling Down and Getting Back Up

While the mandala was on its way to me, from Danielle, I received an email from her. I share this with her permission, but I think it illustrates one of the challenges that lie in store for each of the artists working on this series: when to stop....since it's a shared project.

"...you are gonna have to change stuff. i have a hard time with this...i usually work with an idea of a finished piece in my head and this is really painful. not know where it's going or when to stop working....working on the thing, was like i kept falling down but couldn't figure out why.

sorry i fell down on yer project."

(ETA: Let me clarify, that I found this letter to be so cute and humorous, because she had nothing to worry about. Yet it brought up a relevant struggle for artists, 'the letting go'. I think every one of us has had the same thought in our minds, at some point during this process. I know I felt as if I 'fell down' on it during round two with Heather.)

I also received several photocopied packets from D. along in the package. One is called "Animal Speak" and has a lot of information about spiders in it. The other is a packet entitled, "A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe" which contains information regarding the Breath of the Compassionate (the universe being formed around it) and eight-fold geometry.

...Grandmother Spider has eight legs, doesn't she? D. is one smart chic.

D. has hand-painted (not airbrushed!) a pattern, of which I assume to be eight-fold geometry, onto the piece she sent me this round. She used gold, which is one of the colors she told me she has been using a lot lately. I went a different route, and used a reductive method on the piece I worked on. I scraped the paint from the wrapping paper in selected areas (no easy task), and added an Egyptian-looking eyeball (it's actually Alicia Key's eyeball) because I felt that the pattern was reminiscent of the lotus flower and other Egyptian symbols. Here we go...

Cycle 3, Round 2:

D. Garzelloni to Shana R. Goetsch
Chicago, IL to Milwaukee, WI

Shana R. Goetsch to D. Garzelloni
Milwaukee, WI to Chicago IL

...That Carries Countless Tensions

I love this part. Today in the mail, I received another artist's first mandala piece! Danielle Garzelloni has sent me something complex and wickedly precise. (I actually uttered "ooooo, complex!" when I opened it) I tend to think of stained glass when I look at it now. Both of these pieces will eventually make it to 18x24" size, as one of us has overshot the agreed upon size, and one of us has undershot it, purposely. This snafu will just add a new element/layer into that piece, I think. Danielle has started her mandala on what looks like patterned wrapping paper, with gesso or white paint thinly applied over the top. I think it was reflective paper originally. She then helpfully drew a complex web of circles as a guide for me to possibly follow, beyond the ones that she perfected in black.

And speaking of webs, the piece I started for D. had some key words included in the package. The words I gave her are: "Grandmother Spider", which is a reference to a Native American tale. Grandmother Spider made the stars in the sky. I thought this was such a sweet, and yet powerful concept. The story, and the character of her legend reminded me of my own strong grandmother. So I drew upon imagery from her (and my) ancestors for the concept of Grandmother Spider in this mandala. We'll see what D. chooses to do with the information, I'm not holding her down to that plan (but I hope she considers it). Here we go...

Cycle 3, Round 1:

D. Garzelloni to Shana R. Goetsch
(Chicago, IL to Milwaukee, WI)

Shana R. Goetsch to D. Garzelloni
(Milwaukee, WI to Chicago, IL)

It Reacts Upon Its Maker

From ‘Alchemical Studies: Commentary on “The Secret of the Golden Flower” C.G. Jung 1957

“When my patients produce these mandala pictures, it is naturally not the result of suggestion…The pictures arise quite spontaneously, and from two sources. One source is the unconscious, which spontaneously produces fantasies of this kind; the other is life, which, if lived with utter devotion, brings an intuition of the self, of one’s own individual being. When the self finds expression in such drawings, the unconscious reacts by enforcing an attitude of devotion to life. For in complete agreement with the Eastern view, the mandala is not only a means of expression, but also produces an effect. It reacts upon its maker. Age-old magical effects lie hidden in this symbol, for it is derived from the “protective circle” or “charmed circle”, whose magic has been preserved in countless folk customs.”

The above information was supplied by Danielle Garzelloni (text emphasis hers). She also happens to be the second artist in this project. Danielle is an artist currently living in Chicago, Illinois. Although her media varies, she has always been thematically consistent. In her work, she serves up ancient symbolism, geometry, psychology, gods, goddesses, animal totems, and spiritualism. All of this, with a dollop of the alchemical on the side. She has fascinating work...

The Moon in the Hare
Danielle Garzelloni
Chicago, IL

Providence II
Danielle Garzelloni
Chicago, IL

Mermaid II
Danielle Garzelloni
Chicago, IL

You can find more of D. Garzelloni's work here.