Ordinary Objects

Ordinary Objects

3D rotatable assemblage sculpture of blocks, alphabet letters, and original photographs. This work is the result of my project to photograph ordinary objects that I would not normally (at least before this project!) think to photograph starting from A to Z. The images are at right angles from the plane of the sculpture face and so are not visible till viewed from the side. One can then rotate the piece clockwise to reveal the images from A is for Almonds to Z is for Zipper.

26 inches in diameter, projects about 8 inches from the wall.

One of a kind. Price Available on request.

Ocean of Teardrops

“It is such a secret place, the land of tears.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

From a sailboat just off Camano Island (Utsalady Point on the left) with Whidbey Island the stretch of land just behind the point and all the way to the right, and the Olympic Mountains, the soft silhouette, just beyond Whidbey.

16″x20″ Limited edition of 25, 11″ x 14″ Limited edition of 50, archival pigmented ink on Museo silver rag. Also 9″x 11″ back lit in vintage black powder coated metal frame.

Prices available on request.

Lock Steps, Break Even XVI

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, built in 1911 and called the Ballard Locks by most, provides a way for boats to move from the salt water of Puget Sound and the fresh water of the Ship Canal, which connects eastward to Lake Union and Lake Washington or vice versa. These are the steps that are on the south side of the canal. Playing on the title, I liked this quote by Bill Maher:  “We need more people speaking out. This country is not overrun with rebels and free thinkers. It’s overrun with sheep and conformists.”

12″x16″ limited edition of 25 archival pigmented ink on Museo Silver Rag. #1 of 25 is displayed in a front lit vintage metal frame that is powder coated in black. Prices available on request.

Without Warning, Break Even XIII

This photographic diptych, like my previous post, is from my series Break Even, Break Even XIII, Without Warning. As with its companion piece, “Break Even XII, Warning,” at a distance it appears as textured rectangular blocks of color. In this case, cool and inviting with little indication that there is any danger nearby. Closer, details in the two desert meadow scenes taken in Catalina State Park can be discerned. The lower portion now emphasizes the paths leading without warning to the hidden dangers, more visible as one looks closer, at the top of the diptych. An allegory of life’s surprises, our mistakes, and an internal journey is the best way that I can describe what I hope viewers experience.

22″ x 24″ photo diptych, Archival pigmented ink on Museo Silver Rag.

Warning, Break Even XII

Recently invited to the art show, which ran from April to June, at Tucson’s Etherton’s Temple Gallery during the run of stage play “Red” about the artist Mark Rothko. Below is my artist statement.

Rothko’s large paintings at first may seem as variations on one another, but each one or series creates a strong mood, emotion, for him and his viewers. While he made his latter works devoid of any object or scene, for the most part mine are not. But, I want my works to view and feel differently depending on how far or close one gets to them. The emotions that one goes through seeing something at a distance, just discerning shapes and color or the lack of it, I hope grows, changes and contrasts with the mood that is produced as one gets closer to it. Through this visual transformation, I imagine ones thought processes kicking in trying to make sense of things that may be nonsense, reaching recognition and then, a reversal from the objective to the emotional, allegorical again.

This photographic diptych from my series Break Even, Break Even XII,Warning, produces that progression of thought and emotion for me. At a distance, it appears as textured rectangular blocks of color, warm but alerting. Closer, details in the two desert meadow scenes taken in Catalina State Park can be discerned. The reddening of the lower portion gives pause to one visually entering the hidden dangers, more visible now, at the top. An allegory of life’s issues and an internal journey is the best way that I can describe what I hope viewers experience. I know I have. – Diana Yakowitz

22″ x 24″ photo diptych, Archival pigmented ink on Museo Silver Rag, mounted on bamboo board.

Mandala, Homage to Nature from the series The Collection

Mandala, Homage to Nature from the series The Collection

Years ago, I did a shadow box sculpture with many of these vintage pins in the form of a garden gone wild. I wish I had photographed it before I dismantled it, but that was during one of the photographic breaks in my life. This new image in mandalic form unifies all of these different floral and a few fauna forms. Most were gifts over time. The backdrop is a vintage faux marble coffee table.

“You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.”  James M Barrie

16″ x 16″ Limited edition of 30, Archival pigmented ink on museo silver rag paper, prices available on request.

Each of these limited edition prints will be shadow box framed with two or more of the actual pins incorporated into the composition.

24

This image was shown as part of a show titled “Urbanity: Points of Views” and was among four naturally high contrast images under the title “The Things We Make.”

Tables set up for a VIP party inside the modern art section of the National Gallery in Washington, DC. seemed to be begging to be photographed. I could not resist contrasting it with the TV series 24 with its violence and fictional government. Here in the reality of the nations capitol, with a new more reasoned government, was a civil scene. So, I tilted it so that this fictional reality would better resemble the fictional TV disasters a second after this shot.

11″ x 14″ Limited edition of 50, Archival pigmented ink on museo silver rag, prices available on request.