~R. BLAIR SULLIVAN . . ICELAND
NEW YORK ARTISTS – ON THE MOVE
R. BLAIR SULLIVAN is moving to . . REYKJAVIK, ICELAND, in the fall, 2019.
NYC STUDIO VISIT – MAY 11, 2019.
luckily I was able to catch him in his studio recently: Sat May 11, 2019.
the studio is small, compact . . but holds a lot / both storage, ‘forage’, supplies, computer, works in progress, & works complete, and on exhibit.
the space is located under the Essex Flowers storefront gallery, 19 Monroe St, Chinatown, Two Bridges / Lower East Side / Manhattan, NYC.
even though it’s sub-level, it had natural light coming from windows facing a tiny, mostly ventilation / inner ‘courtyard’, which made it feel fresh, and filled with agreeable light, both natural and man-made.
the lighting was important – because the works were subtle in surface, details, material and . . shape.
hand-sculpted, they were almost: bones.
this head (phone) . . of ‘hands’– was one of several that referenced / or were of a series of similar 3-D sculptures made from ‘cold porcelain’ / just like the ‘wishbone’ sharing hands, ‘Holding (First Position)’, 2018 . . featured in the post below – covering his participation in ‘Stream 5: Give and Take’, a Two Chairs curatorial presentation / alongside a rural stream, in Vermont.
Cold Porcelain . . “is an inexpensive, non-toxic, easy-to-work material, which despite is name, is not porcelain (clay).
its main components being cornstarch and white glue.” (the web)
and, they do project a mysterious smooth, strong but fragile appearing surface – very fluid, yet rigid. totally in tune with that specific DIY medium.
like I said, very human bone-like.
while many other pieces were fashioned simply from ‘foraged’ computer screen filters, on the right; and some were a combo – the middle. no matter, all things R. Blair Sullivan: light, light-handed . .
and somehow: historical ?
black line drawing, detail.
R. Blair Sullivan: wishbone . . legs.
obviously, very radical & contemporary / yet feeling ‘ancient’ ?
maybe, because bare bones – are associated with . . archaeologist ‘digs’ ?
the works are kind of a cross between ‘craft’ and DIY . . vs. pure concept.
the impression I got was more concept – than craft.
the skills, though flawless, fluid, were subservient.
it was visual ‘poetry’ . . . over ‘function’.
another – combo.
a small mirror-like . . inner (/) landscape ?
other pieces were . . waver-y !! reflective, and optical.
made from old TV or computer monitor screens / which he forages off the streets.
well, if waver-y, isn’t a word, it should be.
a more typical . . found artist / ‘metal’ sculptural forage, with some kind of very unusual, scientific ‘light show’ / going on behind the ‘scenes’.
I didn’t even want to ask – what it was. how it worked. though, now I notice a wire of some kind, hanging from it. the pure mystery was – astounding. gorgeous. kinetic. magical.
a kind of . . animated ‘sunset – in a ‘snow-globe’.
Northern Lights, anybody ?
note: re the wire . . .
there are a small set of LED lights inside the sculpture, to illuminate the ‘content’.
this had depth. solidity, weight. and, yet . . what was going on – inside.
very scientific / amoeba-like, when you looked deeper. a sense of both ‘found’ ‘assemblage’, and folk art . . DNA ?
as if people, could do . . DNA – DIY !!
are these pieces, light boxes ?
LED lights.
this one definitely skews . . folk art, and history. and DIY.
that’s an old vintage ‘popcorn’ quilt, puffing around / and, an Appalachian folk art, shrunken dried & carved – apple head !!
btw: the teeth . . are fashioned from white Sculpy / polymer clay.
Blair, or Ryan as his friends call him . . told me, he made the carved apple head himself.
it is a traditional North American, mostly Appalachian folk art / made from dried apples, sometimes called shrunken heads. they were commonly used as DIY doll heads.
the apple is peeled, then carved, then dunked in lemon juice & water, to keep it from turning yellow / then dried.
often put on the top of a stick. then clothed, I guess.
the Seneca Indians were the first American peoples to make these dolls, they went on to become popular with the ‘whittlers’ of the Appalachian Blue Ridge mountains. (the web)
this plexi-case, holds an actual, cloth-based DIY doll family / folk art, he picked up in . . Ohio.
I believe that’s where he grew up.
note: Ryan is from . . Lancaster, Ohio.
so that’s his Chinese-influenced, landscape brushwork watercolor in the background, and a close-up of the precious, hand-made ragged doll family. the branch, is a piece of ‘bark engrabed naturally, ot organically by beetle egg pathways, which he found on Etsy !!
a note from Ryan:
“the ‘Chinese’ landscape, as you call it, was done in collaboration with my, at the time, 3 year old daughter. The dolls are ‘worry dolls’, and it’s called ‘Family’.”
lovely.
R. Blair Sullivan . . also has a series of lenticular candles . . happening.
as well as, a whole pile of DIY (?) candles – in flame / black & white primitive – photos.
note: the ‘Candle Flames’ . . .
“are called ‘chemigrams’. No camera and no darkroom. They are basically paintings done on on photo paper with photo chemistry. The interesting thing about the candle flames in particular however, is that it’s all done with black-and-white chemistry and because I did the process in reverse, I got color out of it – which was a surprise to me.”
~R. BLAIR SULLIVAN
does he hand color . . the flames ?
it’s kind of a zen situation, even though the artist in there with you, you don’t want to break the poetry, by asking . . too many questions.
note: the ‘Candle Flames’ . . .
“are called ‘chemigrams’. No camera and no darkroom. They are basically paintings done on on photo paper with photo chemistry. The interesting thing about the candle flames in particular however, is that it’s all done with black-and-white chemistry and because I did the process in reverse, I got color out of it – which was a surprise to me.”
~R. BLAIR SULLIVAN
R. BLAIR SULLIVAN, for whatever reasons, Iceland . . calls.
life is, is, is . . . a mystery, or so they say !!
yet, sometimes as it plays out, it definite feels like, as if it fulfills . . a destiny.
Mr. R. Blair Sullivan . . . .
Mr. Snowdrop / Mr. Flame / Mr. Cold / Mr. Folk art / Mr. Waverl-y / Mr. Innovator / optical scientist.
Mr. Forager !!
Happy Trails !! in Iceland . . land of snow, and winter folk / and folk tales / told around the fire.
see: R. BLAIR SULLIVAN – ARTIST PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH