Cover Letter, Packet 1

Nicole L. Ponsler

09/10/2008

This packet period, I read various texts regarding art and trauma as well as pain and recovery. In keeping with this theme, I researched a myriad of artists whose work responds to personal, environmental and cultural trauma. I began preliminary work on the pebble stone mosaic project. I re-negotiated my contract regarding the LexArts mural and am awaiting word of its acceptance. Lastly, I maintained a journal, sketchbook, as well as blog correspondence, compiled a list of “art and suffering” quotes and revamped my website (www.4pawportraits.com). As a result of this work, I am feeling very inspired and focused on a substantial theme that continuously reveals new avenues of study and inquiry.

The reading that I have been doing has lead to two sketches, particularly Judith Herman’s, Trauma and Recovery which I am still wading through at a snail’s pace because every page seems so relevant to me and to my intended area of study. Similarly, I finished reading the three articles that you gave the group regarding art and trauma. I also found the biography of Eva Hesse by Lucy Lippard very stimulating in the study of Hesse’s role as a woman artist working during a time when women had no defined place in a male dominated oeuvre. In addition I have been researching Emmanual Jal who is a musician and writer whose work responds to his life as a Sudanese child soldier. I also listened to an interview with author David Lovelace who wrote a memoir detailing his family’s struggles with bipolarity. Specifically, Lovelace describes how writing and creativity were both a product of, as well as an antidote to their disorder. I just finished Sherman Alexie’s newest novel titled The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Lastly, I revisited two books that I had previously enjoyed including Anthony Lappe’s Shooting War and the Frances Bacon Retrospective by Faar, Peppiatt and Yard.

In addition to the previously mentioned artists, I have also looked at contemporary and historic artists from the standpoint of those who respond to traumatic life experiences through their work. Those artists include Artemesia Gentileschi, Oto Dix, Eduard Munch, Julie Speed, Kehinde Wiley, Scott Greene, Max Beckmann, Miao Xiaochun, Mathew Cerlety, Frieda Khalo, Alice Neel, Wangechi Mutu, Andrea Lehrmann, Goya, Rebecca Belmore, James Luna and Walton Ford.

I have been looking at various artists who work in the realm of public art and/or who incorporate community into their practice. These artists include, Jay Michael Walker, Hilary Carlip, Paul “Moose” Curtis, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Angela Ellsworth, as well as various graffiti artists working in Baghdad. In looking at these artists, I am particularly interested in how they engage community, either through hands-on involvement, or through more subtle means. I am interested in the notion of public art largely because of its accessibility to an audience that may not regularly visit museums and galleries. I feel like we are living amidst an artistic renaissance in which art plays a more obvious and present role in defining culture, responding to present-day issues as well as acting as a mirror to the human condition. I think the internet plays a huge role in making art more accessible, as does the resurgence of public art. In keeping with this theme, I am exploring ways of incorporating community in order to make the pebble stone mosaic more relevant and successful.

I spent much of these three weeks planning and in meetings for the pebble stone mosaic. To this end, I revised the working sketch, met with the mayor and city employees regarding infrastructure, hired and brought up to date an assistant and solidified outreach plans for volunteer participation. At present, I’ve compiled a list of volunteers to begin stone collection while we await the completion of necessary infrastructure. I have organized a community meeting to announce the particulars of the project and recruit additional volunteers. I have also been developing two sketches for upcoming paintings. These sketches reflect much of the reading that I have been doing regarding art and trauma, particularly, Judith Herman’s Trauma and Recovery.

As you peruse through the attached packet, I would like you to bare the following questions in mind:

-Should I define a course description for Art History for the duration of my study plan as I am considering continuing my education in that field, following my studies at Goddard?

-How effective are the sketches that I’ve provided? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

-Your thoughts on my description of the pebblestone mosaic project to date, especially insight involving community development/incorporation.

-Have I provided what you are looking for in a packet? Any specific details that I’ve left out…I’m feeling a little uncertain that I’ve covered all the bases.