contemporaryart

1970s selected works – emerging themes

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Hand colored etchings, 1975. With Drake University in Florence Italy, 1974-75– I had a class in metalwork/jewelry with Tomaso Fujimura and was introduced at the same time to etching at the Santa Reparata Printmaking Studio with Professors Dennis Olsen and Billy Ray Sandusky. In both settings I was fortunate to work in a uniquely free and casual technical environment, where my experimentation and rule breaking were not only accepted but encouraged. These experiences shaped my evolution as an artist and the way I work intuitively with materials.

Color viscosity etching, unique proof 1975.

1976. Embossing newspaper pulp sheets with objects, handsewing the sheets to create a 3-d pyramid form.

Saved items, buried in the wall. Installation photo from “Louisiana Environments,” Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA. 1977. Journaling, recordkeeping, history.

Letters, journals, writings-buried in the wall. Installation photo from “Louisiana Environments,” Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA. 1977.

My 74-75 Clothes. 1978-79. Collection of the Newcomb Art Museum, New Orleans, LA. Journaling, icon-making.

Italian Story 1978. Florentine rag/remnants, embroidered,pieced- then cut stacked, sliced. Collection of the Newcomb Art Museum, New Orleans, LA. Reusing, recycling, fabric as a primary material. Book as object.

The Bhagavad Gita-As it Is 1978. A copy of the Bhagavad Gita was given to me at an airport, and I pulped the pages to create this work. Transforming the physical, retaining the essence, aura.

Continental Shelf. 1978. Stacked and sliced magazines.

30-40 Compacted Artworks. 1978 Saving, recordkeeping, keeping a physical journal.

Newspaper pulp and bottles. 1978. Making art with everyday abundant materials, newspaper pulp as a binder, and a material with sculptural potential.

Restaurant Impressions. 1978. Latex, cardboard. I was beginning to use found objects as molds, a practice I continued!

.0319. 1978. Used restaurant paper napkins, made into pulp and sliced. I was working as a breakfast waitress at the PSA Hotel San Franciscan. I was toasting lots of bread and overwhelmed by paper waste. Compression, conserving, reusing, recycling.

Torn paper and carbon paper collage from a found ledger NYC, and wire. 1979.Paper, found and saved materials, compression. An early example of the emergence of these themes in my work.

The same ledger, collage with wax. A precursor to my paintings in wax of the mid-late 1980s.

.1340 King Street Gallery –installation photos 2023

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above: work by Thomas Doyle, Betsy Packard, and Jiazi Yin in “Blue,” at King Street Gallery, Montgomery College.

The following featured works are mine. They are of varied dates (1982 to 2023), sizes (98″x36″ is the largest), and materials (everyday and abundant-as well as saved, treasured ones). I’ve returned to used clothing as the primary. Mine is a green, slow art- right now more than ever-where conservation of resources is a priority.

.1315 1978

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Newspaper, paper, fabric. 10” x5”x 2 1/2”(current size). Collection of the artist.

I’ve posted several of this series earlier, but here is some background: In 1978, I made several of these “loaf like” forms, wanting to make something 3 dimensional rather than a sheet of paper with pulp. Initially I had used special paper as my material–saved notes, letters, ticketstubs, i.e.– paper collage elements. It was a first step in creating a “journal” of physical materials- the personal or specific nature of the contents now a mystery to anyone but myself. I wanted to obscure that personal, sentimental element from the work. Newspaper pulp followed as an abundant, easy source of material for sculpture. First I experimented by adding rolled newspaper or embedding colored paper or fabric in the pulp, and cross-sectioning to reveal the center. My stint as a breakfast waitress at the PSA Hotel San Franciscan exposed me to vast quantities of bread, and an appallingly huge volume of barely used paper napkins, which i stuffed in my bag to take home rather than trash. I made some pulp out of those, poured it into my windowscreen “loaf” mold, and left it outside to dry. It yellowed but was still damp after several cloudy days, so I carefully monitored it in a slow oven, where it turned a golden brown. At the same time I was doing some art modeling at the San Francisco Art Institute, thus was given permission to use their shop and saws. When i cut into that loaf , I continued cutting, because of the amazing texture and uncanny resemblance to bread. Several examples can be viewed in the archive in the PAPER category, as well as years 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981. “Bread” .0319, below:

.0319 9/1978