Confidentially Speaking

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Confidentially Speaking

21.5 x 29.5 cm
Found photograph, found book clipping, ink and found paper
Note - The (white) holes under her arms are cut out.


"No repetition will ever exhaust the novelty of what comes. Even if one were able to imagine the contents of experience wholly repeated - always the same thing, the same person, the same landscape, the same place and the same text returning - the fact that the present is new would be enough to change everything. Temporalization itself makes it impossible not to be ingenuous in relation to time." — Jacques Derrida and Maurizio Ferraris, A Taste for the Secret, p. 70

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I didn't really think ahead when I started this project. One year. It is and isn't a long time. I thought I should do some reflection on the repetitive nature of this project since today marks the 38th *38*. That means 15 to go....(last one will be on June 12th).

My first conscious experience with repetition was when I was a kid and did Judo/Aikido for quite a few years. I was the only girl in the class - until my sister joined. I loved it more than most anything else and I think I didn't miss a day unless my family was out of town. Repetition consisted of learning the throws and falls. It was there that I learned about how to train your body to respond even if you were not conscious of what you were responding to. The idea that your body could respond without your mind thinking about it was really interesting. It proved to work, as years later I had a bike accident and flew over a woman's car to land in a perfect Judo fall. It was amazing. This could be seen as maybe the physical manifestation of memory through repetition.

But I think what has been consistently interesting for me is working with old photographs. I repeatedly look at the photos I have - so much so that I start feeling that I know these people. I had the very, very strange experience of buying a few snap shots of a woman at the (Mauer Park) flea market from one of my regular purveyors (of fine snap shots). A few weeks later I went back to the same seller and saw more images of the same woman. I remember recognizing her but not being able to understand how or why. I bought the images and only realized later that I already had other images of the same woman. Would this then be the manifestation of memory through the repetition of looking? What I do know is that this project has become it's own entity and subsequently carved a place for it's self in my weekly routine.

What's Behind Door Number 2

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What's Behind Door Number 2

19 x 27 cm
Found photographs, black permanent ink, found paper

Let's Make a Deal

Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the States in 1963 and ran consistently until 1976. The show was based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. In the simplest format, a contestant was given a prize, and the host offered them the opportunity to trade it in for another prize; however, the offered prize was concealed. It might be concealed on the stage behind one of three curtains, or behind "boxes" onstage (large panels painted to look like boxes), within smaller boxes brought out to the audience, or occasionally in other formats.




The initial prize given to the contestant might also be concealed, such as in a box, wallet or purse; or the player might be initially given a box or curtain. The format varied widely.
Prizes generally were either a legitimate prize, cash, or a "zonk". Legitimate prizes often included furniture and appliances, or vehicles. Zonks were unwanted prizes which could be anything from animals to large amounts of food, or something outlandish like a giant article of clothing or piece of furniture.

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I used to watch Let's Make a Deal a lot when I was a kid. I always loved the excitement that built up with what might be behind the curtain. In this current work Johanna is the lovely "Vanna White" who will open up door number 2. The key to the game show was that no one knew what the prize was going to be - and it is the same here.

They found themselves double lettering.

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Thanks for looking and have a good valentine's day -
as a friend reminded me : eat something sweet and heart shaped!

They found themselves double lettering.

20.5 x 27 cm
Found black and white photograph, felt, ribbon (from A.D. in DK), red thread, paper bag from the bakery, origami paper and magazine clippings

This work was inspired by some old fashioned postcards (with thread and material on the surface) my grandmother used to send my sister and I from Hungary:




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Happy Valentine's Day


I feel quite conflicted about Valentine's Day. On the one hand I completely recognize that it is a bogus capitalistic marketing scheme created by the service industry and the luxury sector to make some big money on the idea of "love". The question does remain: why do we need one day a year to "show our love to someone"? It is not really celebrated here in Germany... so does that mean they are missing out on the possibility of an extreme money making opportunity (For example think of how much money you could charge for roses today if you had a flower stand)? Or that couples simply don't need to be reminded that they should love their better half Today and only Today?! BUT that said, I do have to say I quite like this day and it could be because it always had to do with collage making when I was a kid.

I remember one time - a solid week before Valentine's Day - that my mom organized an after-school Valentine's Day making extravaganza. My friend's Lisa and Robbie came over (we were all about 8 years old), and my mom made each of us a heart shaped master pattern to use as the base of our Valentine's Day cards. She had gotten small shells, colored paper, felt tip markers (from Germany) and lots of glue and glitter. She encouraged us to make whatever we thought would be nice. We each made 30 cards - one for each of the other students in the class. I remember not liking everyone in my class but still making one for everyone (it was my mom's idea). The triumph of course came from putting those cards in each person's Valentine's Day 'receptacle' in the class room. Of course the question at the end of the day always was "How many cards did you get?"


(Thanks to L. for the title inspiration.)

Rachel thought about what was next.

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Rachel thought about what was next.

15 x 21 cm
Found magazine clippings, felt, graphite, watercolors, oil pastel

Note: The area between her raised arm and the collar of her shirt is cut out - in addition to her elbow sticking off the edge of the page.


I was looking forward to making the 38 this week. But somehow it was more challenging than most Thursdays.
Today is Chinese New Year - Happy Year of the Rat! That said, I thought I would be making a work about that. Well, somehow this is what happened... "Rachel thought about what was next."
Of course, I accept responsibility for this but my mind had such a different idea. I think it all started because I walked to the studio this morning - stopping off at the art store on Kastianallee. Immediately drawn to the wall display of glorious colors of pencils and oil pastels...I was reminded how I used to use oil pastels in art school forever ago. So I decided to get some. One thing led to another - Rachel and I became acquainted - and well, here you go.

P.S. Need I say how much I want her top? What is up with the fish?