


.1226

Photos from Packard installation, “Yamaguchi, Spaulding, Packard,” Washington Project for the Arts. Jock Reynolds, Director. Washington, D.C., 1984
.1226
Photos from Packard installation, “Yamaguchi, Spaulding, Packard,” Washington Project for the Arts. Jock Reynolds, Director. Washington, D.C., 1984
Packard Installation photos. “Yamaguchi, Spaulding, Packard,” at Washington Project for the Arts. Jock Reynolds, Director. 1984, Washington, D.C.
Compressed newspaper with relief print. 13 1/2″x 5 1/2”x 2 1/4”. Collection of the artist.
Cake pan, broken glass, and plaster. 11” diam. x 2 1/4”. Collection of the artist.
Dryer lint and fabric scraps. 15″x 14 1/2″. Collection of the artist.
.0035 Pulped Book, .0020 Yellow Roses in Cement, .0042 Newspaper and Lint
.0762 Max’x Hair as Action Figures, .0319 Bread (paper napkins), .0150 5-Piece Place Setting,
.0149 Clothes of E. Kane, .0196 Journals and Letters Plastered in Wall, .0541 Tip Envelopes
.0320 Italian Story, .0031 Clothes, .0032 Paintings, Prints and Drawings 1976-1978
.0120 Coffee, .0084 Cup Hair in Tip Envelopes, .0086 Bread Journal
.0087 Work Clothes .0307 Choir .0173Compacted Artworks 1976-1978
The first work pictured–“Italian Story” is seminal–the precursor to these works and many that have followed, foreshadowing many of the themes I continue to address and return to: saving, re-use, record-keeping, journaling with materials, autobiography:
Here is the story behind this recurring theme:
“Italian Story” is made from bits of fabric that had already been used when I discovered and purchased them in a store on Via Santa Reparata in Florence, Italy in 1974 or 75. This unusual store was located a few doors down from the Santa Reparata Printmaking Studio where I was first introduced to the exciting medium of etching. In what felt like an un imaginable juxtapostion, this “store” was also located steps away from “The Last Supper,”1445-1450– by Andrea del Castagno –a dramatic and powerful work that impressed itself on my memory (accessed through a door on Via Ventisette Aprile at the corner with Santa Reparata) I was on a tight budget and had never been much of a shopper, but I looked through these piles(small hills!) of rags and chose the ones that reminded me most of the colors of the Tuscan landscape that was unlike anything I’d ever seen prior. I had grown up in a (nondescript)Chicago suburb. In Florence I had entered a thrilling stage of my artistic development. I was also fortunate to be on the receiving end of great unexpected encouragement and affirmation of my experimentation with less orthodox techniques and materials. I began to print on these fabric scraps, sew them together, embroider them. I started to make a quilt. Ultimately, i was unsatisfied with it visually. But it was a reflection of a lot of time, thought , and experience. It had the aura of some of my history on top of the history the rags held-the life that the fabric had before it came into my hands. Italy was my first experience of a culture older than that of the US, with visible layers of long history, In this piece I chose to layer, compress, and thereby distill this record, and reveal some mysterious sense of it by exposing the layers.
Grandma’s linens. 27”x 8”x 3 1/2”. Collection of the artist.
Plastic and plaster. 7″x 6″x 4 1/2″. Collection of the artist.
Artwork, rhoplex. 24″x 16″x 14″ approx. Location unknown.
Newspaper. 14 1/2″x 6 1/2”x 4 1/2”. Collection of the artist.
Exhibited at the Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., 1984.
Journals plastered in wall. Site piece, demolished.
Installed for the inaugural exhibition “Louisiana Environments,” at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, 1977.
Rags, cut, sewn, compacted. 8″x5″x4 1/2”. Collection of the Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane University.
Exhibited at the Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., 1984.
This piece is seminal–a precursor– foreshadowing many of the themes I continue to address and return to:
saving, re-use, record keeping, journaling with materials, autobiography. “Italian Story” is made from bits of fabric that had already been used when I discovered and purchased them in a store on Via Santa Reparata in Florence, Italy in 1974 or 75. This unusual store was located a few doors down from the Santa Reparata Printmaking Studio where I was first introduced to the exciting medium of etching. In what felt like an un imaginable juxtapostion, this “store” was also located steps away from “The Last Supper,”1445-1450– by Andrea del Castagno –a dramatic and powerful work that impressed itself on my memory (accessed through a door on Via Ventisette Aprile at the corner with Santa Reparata) I was on a tight budget and had never been much of a shopper, but I looked through these piles(small hills!) of rags and chose the ones that reminded me most of the colors of the Tuscan landscape that was unlike anything I’d ever seen prior. I had grown up in a (nondescript)Chicago suburb. In Florence I had entered a thrilling stage of my artistic development. I was also fortunate to be on the receiving end of great unexpected encouragement and affirmation of my experimentation with less orthodox techniques and materials. I began to print on these fabric scraps, sew them together, embroider them. I started to make a quilt. Ultimately, i was unsatisfied with it visually. But it was a reflection of a lot of time, thought , and experience. It had the aura of some of my history on top of the history the rags held-the life that the fabric had before it came into my hands. Italy was my first experience of a culture older than that of the US, with visible layers of long history, In this piece I chose to layer, compress, and thereby distill this record, and reveal some mysterious sense of it by exposing the layers.
30-40 Betsy Packard artworks from 1976-78, compacted. 19”x 15”x 9” and 18”x 15”x 9”. Location unknown.
Exhibited at the Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C.,1984.
Used paper napkins from PSAHotel, San Francisco. 13×4 3/4×3 1/2”. Collection of the artist.