Spring is bursting forth!

Each One: The Button Project at the 9/11 Museum

NOW: Letters By Hand

After the coldest spring I can recall in decades, we finally have the delicious days of spring that we dream of all winter.  Not only are the buds luscious and full, but my calendar is ripe with shows, new art and other events. Here are the highlights:

• “Well Used, Well Loved”. – this two year community project will be exhibited at George Marshall Gallery. Opening May 26 from 5-7. 
• Artist Talk - Sunday June 24th, 3 PM, George Marshall Gallery
• Members Juried Biennial, Fuller Craft Museum,  Opening May 20th, 2-5 PM
• Monhegan Island Artist’s Residency - I have been awarded a 5 week residency for the fall!
• “Each One:The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial” is on exhibit at the September 11th Museum and Memorial. I was finally able to visit the museum last month.

In the studio,  I am exploring new works, weaving, stitching and dyeing. More images and updates will follow soon!

Samples with indigo and rust dyes

The Button Project goes to NYC

The Button Project in NYC. Photo by Jin S. Lee, 9/11 Memorial

The Button Project in NYC

The Button Project a 9/11 Memorial

Seventeen years ago I designed and created “The Button project: a 9/11 Memorial.”  It was through the making of this piece piece that I came to know what it means to be a community artist.Last winter the National September 11th Memorial and Museum asked to borrow the piece from the the City of Portsmouth.The piece is  now installed in a special exhibit with three other pieces inspired by the events of 9/11. Needless to say – I am thrilled to have this piece here.All photos by Jin S. Lee 9/11 Memorial

I’m glad I wore a T shirt today.

Each One: The Button Project – detail

Sitting in the brilliant sun, lap top in my lap (how ironic) in the waiting area of a windshield replacement shop – I am feeling grateful for small measures. I am glad that I wore a t-shirt today – it’s hot here. Life offers multiple opportunities for gratitude – and I’ll certainly step into this simple gesture right now.There are a many of other things I am grateful for as well – and that’s where this blog post will go.1. “Each One: The Button Project: a 9/11 Memorial” has been invited for exhibit at the September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York City! The curator Jan Ramirez reached out to me this winter – and the piece will travel to NYC for exhibit from March until September. I’ll post more information when the details are settled. Thanks to the City of Portsmouth NH (who owns the piece) for graciously loaning the work to the 9/11 Museum.2. “Well Used, Well Loved” my current and on-going community art project is in a winter phase – meaning I am germinating ideas and closure – even though there appears to be not much happening on the surface. Check out the blog link to learn more about this long term community art project that focuses on age, beauty, attachment and impermanence.

Detail of new art with Shifu embroidery

3. Pecha Kucha is a local presentation of 10 area creatives who each get 20 slides for 20 seconds each image. I will be a presenter this week – February 23rd. 7:30 at 3S ArtSpace My topic is “Across the Divide: community art in turbulent times”. It’s free, it’s local and it’s creative. Hope to see you there!4. New art – Last month I was an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson VT. For an entire month I had the space, time and opportunity to focus on my work. In preparation,  I spent time last fall weaving works that I hoped to complete with embroidery and other details during my time at VSC. I was able to complete two large works as well as 5 smaller pieces.  I hope to have these news works up in my gallery soon.

Shifu paper prior to cutting and spinning

5. The process of making thread from paper – Shifu - continues to fascinate and motivate my work. The act of writing or drawing on kozo paper – then carefully cutting it into strips and spinning it into thread has held magic for me for over a decade. Most of my current works employ this thread – so each piece has some hidden text or image embedded into the cloth. This technique is also an easy way for me to include the thoughts, images and words of others into my work. And this work is portable – when I travel for the next month I will be taking my drop spindle and papers to spin.

Drop spindle and papers for spinning

Summer of Love, Peace and Grief

I know from experience that the wider my heart gets stretched the more deeply I feel every breath, witness the smallest details and am able to be present. This summer events in my life stretched my heart wider, deeper and taller than I thought possible. On August 18th my dear brother Weston, my traveling soul mate on our trans-Atlantic crossing, was tragically killed. Please go to my Woven Voices blog to learn and read more.

Wes in his ever present welder's hat

Along with the enormity of this event, I have been weaving hundreds of prayer flags and sending them out across the lands and waters to fly in homes, gardens, schools and churches. Thank you again to all my Kickstarter backers who have supported this project. We have woven over 600 prayer flags just this summer!Wes would be among the first to say “Life goes on.” And on.Another milestone is that “Each One: The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial has been purchased and has a permanent home!  On September 6th,  the city councilors of Portsmouth NH voted to use gifted funds to purchase the art work in honor and recognition of  Mayor Sirrell, Portsmouth mayor from 1997-2005.

"Each One: The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial" at City Hall Portsmouth, NH

This posting will be brief, because truthfully I am often at a loss for words.As the healing and transformation continue, I trust that my words will return. Meanwhile I make art, weave and draw in an attempt to navigate this new landscape. My expanded heart is my north star.