I'm Crafty

Here I am in Portland. It's a very nice city, with incredibly pleasant weather, so don't believe what people tell you! This summer has been a succession of perfect, cloudless 85 degree days, which I occasionally dip my toes into in the form of a stroll through Mt. Tabor park, a diminuitive former volcano which now provides encouraging vistas of Portland's water sources. More often, I huddle inside, crocheting and trying to convince myself to pick up a brush.


Yes, I'm once again feeling the artist's version of writer's block. Some things never change. Luckily, I've managed to convince myself that my former procrastinatory pasttime, crocheting, can be a form of art! I've always loved "outsider art" - check out the Baltimore Museum of Visionary Art if you're there, it's incredible! - and I especially like those crazy people who treat crafts as though they're art. Crafts are generally looked down on by the art community, although I think this is changing - Ghada Amer is one example of a celebrated fine artist who has integrated a "craft" - embroidery - into her art very successfully. I've even seen examples of artists who have worked with crochet - Patricia Waller and Shauna Richardson are two examples. Obviously, their work is in a very different vein from mine, but I'm still happy to see it. 


All the artists I've mentioned are women. I think it's a pretty straightforward statement for female artists to appropriate a traditional "woman's craft" and "misuse" it in some way - by creating gory stuffed animals or embroidering pornographic images. This was certainly in my mind when I began crocheting movie lines, although the "statement" I'm making isn't really something I want to say, but rather something I am. I like to crochet - I like movies that are traditionally marketed towards guys. This isn't because I'm a freak, but because Hollywood seems to think women can't enjoy a good explosion, and would rather see two insipid brides dye each other's hair blue. Untrue! She's All That is probably as close as I'll get to a "chick flick" quote. I try to pick quotations that actively clash with the medium of crochet, because it's more interesting, and because it's hilarious to crochet "fuck." I'm constantly paranoid that a little old grandma is going to come over and ask what I'm making.


Ultimately, I'd like to combine these wall hangings with painting in some way. The Damien drawing with a crocheted frame is a tentative stab at that, though I don't think I'm quite there yet. I read Robert Rauschenberg's biography again, and I'm obsessed with combining EVERYTHING. But for now, I'm here. And look, it's sunny out again! Maybe I'll go to the park and crochet.