2014 – Page 3 – Deidre Adams

I am excellent!

the proper means of investigating truth, approx. 40 x 108 inches ©2014 Deidre Adams
found papers, dressmaker’s pattern tissue, thread

Does my post title sound obnoxious? I’m working on getting better at horn-tooting, but there’s a fine line between believing in yourself and beating people over the head with it.

Last October, I wrote about some new work that I started during my residency at the Vermont Studio Center (here). I’ve continued to work on these, and when the call for entries for Form, Not Function came up this year, I decided I was ready to release some of it out into the world. Fortunately, they agreed, and the work was accepted into the show.

Yes, I know you’re supposed to make the work only for yourself and not care what anyone thinks. In fact, that is how I felt when I was making these. But on the other hand, I really don’t want to make my work in a vacuum. And this work is so different for me, and for anyone who’s familiar with my work, that I wasn’t sure how it was going to be received.

So it certainly was a pleasant surprise to be notified that I had received an award at the exhibition — the Award of Excellence in Memory of Textile Artist Alma Lesch, presented by DELvelopment Foundation. I found out from a lovely voice mail message, which also said that the piece had been the subject of a lot of discussion. I can’t imagine anything nicer to hear about one’s work. So yay!

the proper means of investigating truth, detail

May 12th, 2014|Art, Exhibitions|17 Comments

Visiting my artwork in Lake Tahoe

Iterations No. 2, 30 x 66 inches, installed outside the Ritz-Carlton Club Lake Tahoe member lounge

It’s always a highly desirable thing to get an installation photo of your artwork, even if that can sometimes take five years or more. In 2009, 3 of my works were acquired by the Ritz-Carlton Highlands in Lake Tahoe, California, thanks to Judy Hagler and Translations Gallery in Denver (sadly, no longer in business.) This particular piece, Iterations No. 2, represented the 2nd time I had made this work, because they liked the first one but it had already been sold. See the story here.

Lake Tahoe is not the most convenient place to get to from Denver, but I finally had a good opportunity to go there when a driving trip to San Francisco became a reality last week.

The Ritz has three of my works in all, but finding them on the property was surprisingly difficult. It’s a huge facility, and they do not have a comprehensive list of all the work installed there. I was there for a long time and searched all over the hotel and residence buildings, but I was only able to find two of the three, with a promise by the Director of Operations there to try to track down the 3rd one and send me a photo.

This is the other one I was able to locate, in the lobby of the residence building.

Horizon No. XI, 34 x 34 inches, installed in the lobby of the Ritz Carlton Highlands Lake Tahoe residence building.

It’s a beautiful, luxurious resort. Some day when I’m rich and famous, I’ll come back here for a ski vacation.

I also took the opportunity to gaze upon the magnificent turquoise waters of the lake itself. I definitely want to find a reason to come back here; it’s spectacular!

May 10th, 2014|Installations|1 Comment

Tarnish – at Visarts, Rockville

Detail of Lesley Riley’s Ten of Cups

Yesterday I got a chance to see “my” show, Tarnish, an exhibition of contemporary textile works made by members of Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) who live in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Well, it’s not really my show as such, but I do feel a sense of ownership because I was the juror for it.

After being on the other end of the jurying process many times, I’ve always wanted to have a chance to do it myself. It was somewhat more difficult than I’d imagined, mainly because no matter how good a photograph might be, it is just vastly different from seeing the work in person. This is especially true of textile work, because a flat image doesn’t convey the subtleties of texture and stitch. The problem intensifies as the size of the work increases, although details help, of course.

When I finally got to see the exhibition, I could not have been more pleased. The gallery space is beautiful, and the show has a well-defined flow and spacing. The best thing, though, is the work itself. Each piece is executed with a unique voice and a superb mastery of concept and craftsmanship. I never cease to be amazed at how many ways there are to use the medium of fabric and stitch.

Here are some selected images from the exhibition. After having talked about how hard it is to imagine the real piece from a photo, I have to apologize for the image quality here. These were taken with my phone, but I’m just too excited about the show and they’re are all I have.