Mary Higgins – Distinct Studios

Seeing Slowly

In the US, Labor Day signals that summer is over!

Announcements for art gatherings, openings and lectures are streaming into my email box and onto my social media feeds.

Before the art season starts again, I’d like to share an experience that jarred me.

It’s about social media.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Instagram. I post about art and artists.

Recently, I realized the need to slow down and return to the reason that I find art an essential part of my experience. I was looking at a large “coffee table” size art book of works on paper by the artist, Do Ho Suh. I stopped myself suddenly because I realized that I was flipping through the pages as if I was randomly scrolling through Instagram. I was scanning not seeing.

After multiple sessions of scanning the book, I had become aware. I slowed down. I began to experience his drawings and prints. The work began to reveal itself. It was an intense experience.

How do you look at art – both in person and online? How have social media platforms impacted the way you look and see?

During conversations about social media, I often advocate for social media as “Marketing” with a capital M. That’s it!

Until recently I had not considered its subtle but real impact on the way that I look and see.

For lessons in slowing down, I recommend a valuable book in my art book collection entitled “Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern Art” by Michael Findlay. You may know his book “The Value of Art”. If you are new to the art, I recommend reading “Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern Art” first before going on to “The Value of Art”. Both are well written but “Seeing Slowly” is more personal.

Check it out!

Bibliography

Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern Art
Michael Findlay
Prestel, 2017
ISBN: 9783791383835

Seeing SlowlyMary Higgins2022-09-07T16:48:38+00:00

Slow Light IV on Vimeo

Slow Light IV by Chee Keong Kung
Wood, Metal Acrylic, color pencil, spray paint
14.5″ x 9″ x 1.5″

Chee’s work explores the tension between geometry and the gestural mark.

His work is in private, corporate, and institutional collections, including The National Museum Art Gallery of Singapore and The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Slow Light IV and others are available through Distinct Studios Fine Art.

You can see additional videos on Distinct Studios Vimeo profile.

Slow Light IV on VimeoMary Higgins2022-07-18T21:54:20+00:00

The Ostinato and Coda Series by Sarah J. Hull

The Ostinato and Coda Series by Fiber and Conceptual Artist Sarah J. Hull
Exhibition Dates: July 5, 2022 through August 15, 2022
Exhibit Reception and Artist Talk: Saturday July 30, 2022, 2-4PM

Distinct Studios Fine Art is pleased to present Sarah J. Hull’s Ostinato and Coda series in the Small House Gallery of Goodwin House in Alexandria, Virginia in July and August of 2022.

Sarah has a background in architecture, science and visual art. She received her BA in Architecture from Wesllesley College with pertinent course work at M.I.T. Her varied background informs her work including her explorations of music.

In her art, she explores the rhythmic variation in our daily lives. Using natural fibers and hand embroidery stitches, each work explores it’s “objectness” with the tension created between hand-stitched materials and the structure of the underlying grid. The resulting work creates a mediative presence.

In her process, she begins with a concept that has has inspired her. She then follows that idea in a series of works that create an iteration of the theme. The Ostinato series demonstrates this process elegantly. In music, an Ostinato is a short melodic phrase repeated throughout a composition, sometimes slightly varied. A rhythmic Ostinato is a short, constantly repeated rhythmic pattern. In the Ostinato series by Sarah, she uses the concept of repetition with slight variation to create fiber based works that hold their own as single works but displayed together form a visual melody.

Sarah currently lives and works in Washington DC. She is active in the art community through the District of Columbia Art Center (DCAC),
nationally through the New York based National Association of Women Artists (NAWA), and internationally through the UK based Society for Embroidered Work (S.E.W.). Currently, she is enrolled in the Royal School of Needlework’s Certificate & Diploma program and was a member of the 2019 – 2020 DCAC Sparkplug cohort. Most recently, she successfully presented an independent solo exhibition of her most recent series The Topologicals at Studio 1469 in Washington DC and was one of the artists in Distinct Studios first group exhibition in 2022, Before, During, After at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virgina.

In the Studio

Photo Credit: Oliva Weise

The Ostinato and Coda Series by Sarah J. HullMary Higgins2022-07-11T22:41:30+00:00

Sarah Hull Solo Exhibition at Studio 1469

Location:
STUDIO 1469
1469 Harvard St (rear)
Washington, DC

GALLERY HOURS
Fridays 3:00pm – 7:00pm
Saturdays 12:00pm – 4:00pm
By appointment: email sarah@sarahjhull.com

Press Release for Taxonomy of Evanescence

April 29 – May 22, 2022

Opening Reception: April 29, 2022 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Artist talk: May 12, 2022 6:30pm (in person and live stream)

Closing Reception: May 22, 2022 10:30am – 12:30am (bagels and coffee)

Sarah J. Hull proudly presents her solo exhibition at Studio 1469, Taxonomy of Evanescence. Featuring works primarily from two of her recent series, this exhibition considers the mechanics of awareness and memory and how they interact not only with each other, but also with time and space. These themes converge in the thoughtful meditations on the traces of existence that remain and those that fade. Fading, just as energy fields that extend towards a point where its amplitude decreases.

Memories overlap and merge over time. In these works, fabric, threads and paint are layered one upon another to not only create directional movement within the structure of the main geometric elements, but also create forms that gently emerge and recede from the surface and the viewer. Each piece takes on an organic quality creating a dialogue between the materials, “the hand,” and the underlying grid through the use of natural fibers and hand embroidery. The underlying grid provides the groundwork where basic forms are mirrored, disrupted, and subjected to rotational symmetries and inversions. In some works, only faint remnants of the grid remains.

Speaking about her work, she says: “Just as I watch a piece unfold as it is created, I hope that each piece manifests slowly to the viewer, increasingly revealing its hand-worked existence. This temporal experience of introspection, inquiry, reflection, and pleasure connects me with the work and the viewer. I hope the intimacy of each piece sparks internal contemplation in the viewer as art of a more complex and responsive experience – just as with an individual’s interaction and connections within the fabric of community and society.”

The naturally occurring rhythmic repetition and variation present in nature, described by science and mathematics and echoed in daily personal existence provides the foundational inspiration for the work. Each piece is at once a meditation on personal exploration, the interconnectedness of individuals, and the greater forces of life itself.

You can learn more about Sarah and her work by visiting her Distinct Studios artist’s page.

Sarah Hull Solo Exhibition at Studio 1469Mary Higgins2022-04-28T16:53:24+00:00

It’s a Wrap – Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience

I’ve learned that some times the best opportunities come when you least expect them. The opportunity to collaborate with Angie Newman Johnson Gallery on an exhibition as Distinct Studios LLC came after a year of unexpected personal twists and turns that made the experience of starting up an arts consultancy challenging. We could not have asked for a better experience right out of the gate. It was a rewarding experience to curate this exhibition for the community of EHS and also for the arts community at large. Thank you to Elizabeth Vorlicek and the team at the Ainslie Arts Center of Episcopal High School and all of the exhibiting artists. Thank you as well to everyone that came out on a rainy evening in February for the in-person opening. We appreciate you! Below is a link to the exhibition page and a gallery of photos from the opening reception and the exhibition. Stay tuned!

Visit exhibition page for Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience – February 14th – March 22nd, 2022

It’s a Wrap – Before, During, After: Art Shaping ResilienceMary Higgins2022-04-04T16:11:13+00:00

Adjoa J. Burrowes featured in ” A View from the Easel”

Distinct Studios Artist, Adjoa J. Burrowes is featured in a recent Hyperallergic’s A View from the Easel feature. I am delighted that Adjoa’s studio is in a recent Hyperallergic post. Thank you Hyperallergic!!

Click on the link and scroll or swipe down. Adjoa’s studio is the second feature.

A View From the Easel

Adjoa J. Burrowes featured in ” A View from the Easel”Mary Higgins2022-03-18T20:40:14+00:00

Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience

Dates: February 14th – March 22, 2021

Angie Newman Johnson Gallery
Episcopal High School
3900 West Braddock Road
Alexandria, VA 22302

For appointments contact Michael Windsor at maw@episcopalhighschool. org

Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience showcases the work of nine contemporary visual artists who communicate through art their personal experience of a world that has been altered by concurrent global challenges.

A key objective of this exhibit is to explore how the art object can shape and strengthen resilience. These nine artists create work that communicate universally shared feelings of loss, fear, and illness but also of cultural identity, renewal, and hope. We contend that the creative act itself strengthens an artist’s ability to comeback from difficulties but also that their work can shape resilience in the viewer.

The artists exhibiting in Before, During, After are Adjoa J Burrowes, Gail Shaw-Clemons, Alonzo Davis, Joan Dreyer, Mary Welch Higgins, Sarah J Hull, Akemi Maegawa, Alexandra N Sherman, Elizabeth Vorlicek.

Curated by Mary Welch Higgins

Before, During, After: Art Shaping ResilienceMary Higgins2022-02-16T20:42:21+00:00

Upcoming Exhibition

Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience

Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience showcases the work of nine contemporary visual artists who communicate through art their personal experience of a world that has been altered by concurrent global challenges.

A key objective of this exhibit is to explore how the art object can shape and strengthen resilience. These nine artists create work that communicate universally shared feelings of loss, fear, and illness but also of cultural identity, renewal, and hope. We contend that the creative act itself strengthens an artist’s ability to comeback from difficulties but also that their work can shape resilience in the viewer.

The artists exhibiting in Before, During, After are Adjoa J Burrowes, Gail Shaw-Clemons, Alonzo Davis, Joan Dreyer, Mary Welch Higgins, Sarah J Hull, Akemi Maegawa, Alexandra N Sherman, Elizabeth Vorlicek.

Curated by Mary Welch Higgins

Dates: February 14th – March 22, 2021

Angie Newman Johnson Gallery
Episcopal High School
3900 West Braddock Road
Alexandria, VA 22302

For an appointment time and on campus directions: Contact gallery assistant, Michael Windsor at maw@episcopalhighschool. org

Upcoming ExhibitionMary Higgins2022-02-14T19:41:01+00:00

Phronesis by Sarah J. Hull

….the moment before the initial thought begins is just as important as the thought itself….

“Phronesis (Ancient Greek: φρόνησῐς, romanized: phrónēsis), translated into English by terms such as prudence, practical virtue and practical wisdom is an ancient Greek word for a type of wisdom or intelligence relevant to practical action. It implies both good judgment and excellence of character and habits, and was a common topic of discussion in ancient Greek philosophy, in ways which are still influential today.”

Wikipedia

Phronesis by Sarah J. HULL

Silk, Cotton, Linen

21 x 13 x 1.25 in

Large cool white embroidered square with a strong diagonal from the top left to the bottom right centered on the top half of a 21” high raw linen caves, above a collection of smaller warm white embroidered squares with a diagonal from the top right to bottom left. The middle square is left blank revealing the embroidery ground.

See additional available work by Sarah on her Artist’s Page.

Phronesis by Sarah J. HullMary Higgins2022-02-02T13:10:16+00:00

Ancient Queen Series by Adjoa Burrowes

Artist Statement

“This series references the honeybee and its endangered plight in the world. The textured layers recall the hexagon shape of the honey cells. Through my research I’ve learned that the honeybee has appeared as a symbol in cultures throughout the world and through all times. In this ongoing work I aim to draw attention to current environmental concerns and mans’ negative effect on the natural world. “

“Though I was born and raised in the city of Chicago, I have strong connections to the earth including the southern town of Warm Springs, Georgia where my parents were born. My summers as a child were spent in Michigan camping, swimming, picking berries, and playing in sprawling sand dunes. My strong memories in natural environments translate into themes in many of my abstract 2D works on paper.”

Visit Adjoa J. Burrowes page to see additional available work.

Ancient Queen Series by Adjoa BurrowesMary Higgins2022-01-03T20:26:37+00:00

marywh

About Mary Higgins

The Ostinato and Coda Series by Fiber and Conceptual Artist Sarah J. Hull Exhibition Dates: July 5, 2022 through August 15, 2022 Exhibit Reception and Artist Talk: Saturday July 30, 2022, 2-4PM

In the Studio

Press Release for Taxonomy of Evanescence

Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience

Dates: February 14th – March 22, 2021

The Ostinato and Coda Series by Fiber and Conceptual Artist Sarah J. Hull
Exhibition Dates: July 5, 2022 through August 15, 2022
Exhibit Reception and Artist Talk: Saturday July 30, 2022, 2-4PM