Statement about the videos presented in the show

My videos are a “carnet de voyage” through childhood. I am taking notes (videotaping) on a regular basis. My background is socio-political graphic design but when I became a mother, it was obvious to me that one of the strangest and most interesting thing was happening right there in my house. So I decided to watch and videotape. I have two boys, they are usually willing to let me enter their space, sometimes it is them who ask me to videotape something specific.

I am using different medium in my work, both traditional and nontraditional: video, photography, murals, paintings, drawings, digital prints. My videos are often included in large scale installations where “here” (embodied by my close family) is put in perspective with “there” (represented by events happening in the world).

February 9 – February 29      
Rosalux Gallery: Open Door 7, Minneapolis, MN.

Selected artists for Open Door 7:  Samantha VanDeman, Morehshin Allahyari, Michele Guieu, Laura Andrews, Jonathan McFadden, Janet Abrams, James Hannaham, Justine Di Fiore, Garet Martin, Evie Woltil Richner, Dan Gerber, Dave Beck, David Wischer, Christopher Houltberg, Christi Furnas, Broc Blegen, Anthony Donatelle, Anne Labovitz, Amy Tillotson.

This year’s show was juried by Steve Dietz who is President and Artistic Director of Northern Lights.mn, which is responsible for the all night city wide art event Northern Spark Fest as well as Art(ists) on the Verge.
Opening Reception: Friday February 10th from 6pm – 10pm.

“Behind The Glass” was selected for the exhibition “Blue” at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. This video is inspired by the events which occurred in Japan in March 2011: the tsunami and its aftermaths, the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

BLUE
February 9 – March 17, 2012
Juried Exhibition by Karen Sjoholm, Program chair John F. Kennedy university, Berkeley Campus.

Sebastopol Center for the Arts
6780 Depot Street
Sebastopol 95472

Today I’ve sent 9 envelopes (9×12″ – 23x31cm) to the French nonprofit organization “Une vie un Arbre” which organizes each year an exhibition of mail art: “Festival d’Art Postal” in Vienne, France. The envelopes are for sale and the money goes to help children who are very ill.
The series I have sent is made of torn pieces of tissue paper and origami paper.

My friends Eric Meyer and Ivan Sigg have sent envelopes that you can see on their blogs. They will be special guests and present at the exhibition in Vienne, along with Christiane Berti, Sylvie Graindorge, Agnès Lachard, Evelyne Lanno, Eni Looka, Mariette.

More information about the association here (in French).

L’Association “Une vie, un arbre”
Festival d’art Postal
23, 24 et 25 mars 2012 à Vienne (Isère), France.

Nonprofit organization “Une Vie, Un Arbre”
Mail Art Festival
March 23, 24 & 25, 2012
Vienne, France.

See the envelopes I’ve sent in 2011 here.
The envelope I’ve sent in 2009 here.

Timeline Notes is an ongoing series of two minute videos about photographic notes I am taking every day with my cell phone: family, friends, landscapes, exhibitions I see, moments at home, in the car. Through the process of transforming the photos, I am getting closer to the idea I have of the memories layering through time in my mind: almost unrecognizable and abstract.

I have a version of “Alice” installed at Kaleid Gallery right now in San Jose.
This is a series of 5 from a larger series of drawings (paint and ink) on pages of “Alice in Wonderland”.
11″x7″ and 5.5″x7″ each. Size of the wall:8′x4′.

Next South First Fridays is February 3, 2012 at 7:00pm.

Kaleid Gallery
88 So. Fourth St.
San Jose, CA
(408) 947 1785

The dates of the show have been extended and the ensemble of paintings “Correspondences and Elevation” is still on display at NextSpace San Jose.
It comprises a series of crylic on canvas and mixed media on canvas. Sizes varies and are either 60″x36″, 48″x36″ or 36″x36″.

NextSpace Coworking + Innovation San Jose
97 S. 2nd St, Suite 100
San Jose, CA 95113
Open Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 5:30pm.
nextspacesj@nextspace.us

I created the short series “Warning signs” especially for the Billboard Art Project show in New Orleans. The series echoes the recent history of the town: the aftermath of Katrina’s hurricane which occurred August 29, 2005. It also directly refers to the Occupy movement, which protests against social and economic inequality and the role of the banking sector on government policies.

I was not there, the photos were taken by the Billboard Art Project. In this case, the way the photos were taken puts an emphasis on the barb-wired fence which enhances the meaning of the images on the billboards and I like it. This show was one where the images the artists sent were interspersed with advertising (and not shown as series). I would have like to see how it looks like!

The Billboard Art Project is a nonprofit organization that acquires digital billboards normally used for advertising and re-purposes them as roadside galleries. Projects are held in cities all over the country and are open to all individuals and groups who are interested in participating.

The Billboard Art Project
admin@bilboardartproject.com

The Billboard Art Project in Corona went very well! It was really interesting to see the slideshow on the LED billboard showing the images of the 95 participating artists. Each image was up for 10 seconds, some artists chose to double or triple that time.

In Corona, when I arrived the Thursday night after a 7 hours drive from the SF Bay Area (and lots of Santa Ana winds!), I was happy to see Lori Lipsman, who was coming from San Diego. We had the pleasure to meet David Morrison and Claire Accardo, from Richmond, creators and Directors of the BAP project and with a group of artists who came to see the show.

From the series “Signs” – the view on the 15 from the hotel

When we woke up the show was on. The hotel was just next to the billboard where the images were projected. We had a very good view from the 4th floor of the hotel.

From the series “Signs” – the “abstract view”

From the ground, we could see the billboard and the sky behind, which for the work I am doing for the BAP is not very interesting. The view from the 4th floor was perfect, offering a perspective on the busy hwy15.

But it was not obvious to take pictures of the billboard: in the morning the sun was right behind it, then it was sideways. The best shots were taken at the end of the day, which is very short. Night was around 5:00pm and then the images are extremely contrasted between the billboard bright surface and the pitch black background. I’ve got nice cars’ red lights with a slow speed.

Coming back and looking at my photos, I discovered that lots of them had nasty lines on them, my camera may not have liked the LED technology by day!

Journalist Steven Cuervas from KPCC radio came the Friday morning to interview the BAP and I’ve got the chance to talk a little about my series “Miles to”.

Drove back to the Bay area the Saturday morning, with much less wind, an empty road and beautiful sights of the golden mountains.