The HOME Exhibit at the Pajaro Valley Arts Gallery has closed. After almost seven weeks away, my “Homefire 1957” incinerator piece is coming home.
When it’s in transit, I have learned to handle my work myself whenever possible. (Here’s one sad, sad example of why.) I figure if I break it, I am pre-forgiven. Others, they feel terrible all by themselves and I can’t assuage it! Consequently, I am glad for any nearby opportunities to show my stuff because I can deliver and pick up in person. If I have a driver, I hold pieces on my lap, but when I drive, I need to either fully pad and pack pieces in a lidded container or buckle them in thusly.
We do have a smidge of unfinished biz regarding this artwork. There’s one last side to look at: the front. (Links to all the other sides are below.) Let’s do it quickly and get on home.
This presentational side is both a preview and a summary of the piece. It presents its title masquerading as the “manufacturer” of the incinerator, which of course it could have been as “Homefire” is a great name for a backyard incinerator, if I do say so. And 1957 suggests a model number. The iron door would continue to be readable even when fully rusted – which paint would not.
The figure 8 originally indicated the size of the incinerator’s cast concrete body. It’s also the age I turned on my birthday that first week in October when the other events portrayed on the piece occurred. And then there’s that whiff of Infinity Symbol to make things more cosmic.
As for “Traveling Companion” in that nifty 50s combo typeface, part Stardust Casino, part cartoon titling? Turns out it’s one translation of “Sputnik” and a fitting way to acknowledge that we are all companions hurtling through our universe together. Our families. Our homes. The air we breathe. The earth we walk. The space we share. All one place.
–Liz Crain, who is bound to think of something else to say about this piece and/or the HOME Exhibit, but for now is happy to reach the current end of writing about both and go sit on the sofa and read.
Links for Posts About the HOME Exhibit and My Piece in It
My “Homefire 1957” Sculpture
- Between Two Fires – An overview of the finished work, including photos of it
- R&D for Homefire 1957 – A look at the information and image-gathering that went into this piece
- The Soviets Thumb Their Collective Nose – A description of the imagery and meaning on the back side
- Dad Points Things Out – An autobiographical moment in time on one side of the incinerator sculpture
- Apparently Space Stinks – A look at the third side: Roman phrases for smelly atmospheres
“HOME” Exhibit
- Bringing it All Home – Delivering my piece to the exhibit
- In Which I Find My Art Reception Mojo – Some tips on feeling at home at art receptions
- The Ur-HOME – A look at Dawn Motyka’s piece entitled “Sipa Pu: Hopi Creation Myth”
- The HOME of the Phoenix – Joan Tanzer’s “Lost Home Memory Box” assemblage
- The View from HOME – Maren Sinclair Hurn’s “Central Coast Summer” poetic wallpiece
- The Party’s Over, Time to Go HO… – Backstage at the gallery, picking up the work.