GENTLE PERSUASION TO ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Gentle Persusasion", 29x29 cm -
artist's photographs, digitally manipulated image,
velvet and gold ribbon, bead.
Copyright 2013

Some more new work has been finished so that I can feel that I'm also doing real things in the real work and not only digital work! It may not be immediately obvious but this one is meant to be part of the solutions when challenged with invisible illness - Project X is about the actual problem but I also meant to get on with finding a way of expressing some form of solutions. I wasn't planning on it this time, it just happened. I was attracted to the woman of the fin de siecle (c. 1900), gently gazing at a skull as was rather typical of the time of the Symbolist movement. Pondering mortality and all that... it's a bit ironic since it's actually an image that was meant to be erotic, on the other hand they were often seen as two sides of the same coin, the drive towards procreation versus the end of all earth bound drives.

I thought this one would be easy to scan but in fact it proved very hard to get the hue right, and the golden ribbon doesn't show up the way it does in reality. We're running out of laser ink cartridges and our artistic venture wowlookwhatigot didn't quite generate enough for a second hand ink jet printer as well as cartridges... we'll se how that goes (you can still support us if you like). It's a bother and a great shame but for the moment I just have to try and use what I have.

I would like for this image to be one that one can contemplate rather than analyse with the tools of a sharp intellect. There's pain, there's hardship, there's a kind of imprisonment... but there is also a kind of resignation that borders on acceptance. The velvet and the gold are meant to envelop the vulnerable character, and the very cheap "diamond" on the skull bears a gentle reference to Damien Hirst's famous work, "For the Love of God" in which real diamonds obtain questionable value... It also refers to the idea of the third eye, which signifies intuition and profound insight. There is a theatricality in this image which is not uncommon in my work. It points to the idea of "the world as a stage and the men and women as merely players". The photograph in the background is my own. There are large footsteps in the snow - I leave it to you to imagine what they could stand for. Life is hard but sometimes it's the most challenged people in this world who are "the golden people", and I like to believe it's all for a good reason. Controlling your life or fighting your destiny isn't what life is about. The toughest challenges can engender the most wisdom, but there is also a great deal of wisdom in the art of letting go of your own petty concerns at least intermittently, and to bear your destiny with dignity.

The theatre of life is the great play of Lila as suggested in non-dualist schools of Hinduism. Brahman is the Ultimate Creator. Freedom from necessity doesn't mean there is no "destiny", but this destiny is relative, while the play of lila is absolute.

"Brahman is full of all perfections. And to say that Brahman has some purpose in creating the world will mean that it wants to attain through the process of creation something which it has not. And that is impossible. Hence, there can be no purpose of Brahman in creating the world. The world is a mere spontaneous creation of Brahman. It is a Lila, or sport, of Brahman. It is created out of Bliss, by Bliss and for Bliss. Lila indicates a spontaneous sportive activity of Brahman as distinguished from a self-conscious volitional effort. The concept of Lila signifies freedom as distinguished from necessity."

—Ram Shanker Misra, The Integral Advaitism of Sri Aurobindo (from Wikipedia)

YOU CAN BE DIFFERENT, AS LONG AS YOU FIT IN

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "A Measure of Normality",
handmade mixed media collage with photographs,
copyright 2013

I thought I wasn't going to do bigger pictures but there you go, I couldn't help myself. I was struggling a bit as I had to spend most of my time on the floor.

This collage started with a Chinese newspaper and the photos of myself. As I was checking out this newspaper, I realised how many cultural cross references there were. In one single paper, there were discussions about Windows 8, Google, Ipad and brands such as Toyota, Opel and Roche. I speak a little bit of Chinese but I don't understand the characters. Nonetheless, I found it quite easy to guess what the articles were about simply on the basis of all the Western names, but also the images and the typography. The editorial is suggested with the image of a scribbling pen, the dating site has bold characters and a cheesy Western couple in the picture. A meditating monk is clearly not real, but a movie character, as he's surrounded by a romanticised candle lit environment. An article about UFO's is accompanied by a photo of all sorts of paraphernalia to do with UFO's and the belief therein. An image of a couple sleeping on top of their luggage on the floor clearly speaks of delays in transport. Nostalgia for the past is expressed in traditional imagery and pictures of Asian food, and a love of modernity expressed in the extensive article on computers. All in all, though the details escape me (for instance, what caused the delay and whose football scores are we talking about here?), it's clear that globalisation and information technology is making it easier for people to understand each other. 

The downside is the homogenisation. While humans have always attempted to "fit in" and not upset the general concensus about normality, the extensive relocations that are taking place cause more pertinent conflicts in the individuals and in their new surroundings. To what degree should you try and blend in and to what degree should you preserve your cultural heritage? How do you strike a balance so that everyone has a reason to be content - personally, and collectively? Society may be more tolerant of difference than it used to be, but we are still far from living harmoniously side by side. On the pages of this newspaper, which incidentally is aimed at Asians living in Europe, I have scribbled my own little notes the way you do - phone numbers that are relevant to my existance but also reminders of little idiosyncracies such as the format in which the British and the Finnish  express time (9 pm being 21.00 hrs, for instance), and issues related to differences in the use of the phone. For instance, I was in for a shock when I found that calling a UK service number from my mobile phone was expensive - this isn't the case in Finland, were landlines are largely abandoned.

There are also peculiarly English expressions that I learn as I seek counterparts to expressions in my own language, and ones that I'm thinking of in order to use them in my projects. My dad used to always circle the programs he thought we should watch in the TV guide with a red marker - the marker being a typical association with newspapers. Is paper on its way out, well we'd all like to know that, of course! Many people are starting to hold onto the slow consumption of the written text on real paper, rather than suck up lots of short stories on the internet.

You want to express your individuality - well I'm assuming in this time and age most of us do in one way or another - and society certainly encourages people to do so up to a point. How much room for individuality is there really? As soon as a belief system runs counter to the rules and regulations created by the government, there is trouble... The paradoxical message is, you can be different, as long as you fit in. I have wanted to express this idea through the use of the photos of myself, that could be passport photographs if it wasn't for the unusual set up (I'm possibly naked, with a bowler hat on my head - and of course in Magritte's famous world, the bowler hat stands for conformity). I also point to the idea that most of us want to be noticed in some way or another, as well as express our individual selves... we silently question the idea, whether there is really room for us too in an over populated world that is much governed by the collective consciousness.

Then there is the grid, that much loved symbol within modern and contemporary art... To me, it merely suggests that we are really all stuck inside of the grid, or the matrix of society. Perhaps in the end it's not so much a matter of getting unstuck and "living off grid", as loosening the rigid grid so that we can all breathe with greater ease.

EVENTUALLY, IT WILL ALL BE IN YOUR MIND, TOO

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Elsewhere, and the Stars Above",
handmade mixed media collage
copyright 2013

After a lot of video editing, I decided I should try and work with some physical media again. I didn't have any specific idea but this is what I came up with this time. Encouraged by the fact that Outside In has invited two of my "Project X" pieces (and very blatant they are too!) to Outside In West in Somerset House, Taunton (July-September), I have decided to try and persevere with Project X and the ideas surrounding invisible illness and fatigue in particular.

You may not have "real" mental issues, and your illness may not be "all in the head", but sooner or later, the issues with a chronically decripit body will get to your psyche. This image is meant to describe the sense that life goes on somewhere else, while the disabled person is a prisoner in a decripit body that they feel less than proud of. And of course, it's not just about what the body looks like (personally, I'm a master of camouflage), but what it feels like to the person in question. The old suite is the emblem of poor body image - can you guess what it originally was? As usual in my art, wallpaper  signifies the idea of covering something up. Red stands for blood (life, energy) and stars for hope and dreams... and where the seat of the life force should be, there's a black hole.

A STRAIGHTFORWARD COLLAGE ABOUT DISILLUSIONMENT AND INDIFFERENCE

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Your Indifference is Breaking my Heart", 55x38 cm, copyright 2012

This is my latest handmade collage for "Project X". In this one, I have as usual used a photo of myself. The background consists of pages from a book from about 1900 of poetry in the English language, it's a section of poetry that is "didactic and moral". Basically it's a lot of high flown, flowery words without much sincerity, the typical moralist "pointing fingers" in very explicit ways that was common in poetry of the 19th and 18th C - it's trying to teach us something about life, often in a rather self-righteous and shallow way. Yet it is still echoed in the way many people talk today when they try and advice you about how you should lead your life. It's easy to tell others how they should live but much harder to act accordingly. This is one of the basic truths about the human condition. It's typical that those who pretend to be spiritually minded in some way give themselves away by babbling too much. I think a certain reticence and control over the faculty of speech can be the sign of a greater spiritual mind. 

I wanted this image to be a direct confrontation with the viewer. It's you and me - alright? This is personal. I thought we were supposed to be in the same boat? Why are you indifferent? I want to know. Why have you closed off and decided that you don't need to be empathic and interested in people who are the so-called weaker members of society and that they should just pull themselves together? Why are you not helping to instigate laws that make us all truly equal in the deepest possible sense, where anyone who isn't out there with the intent of hurting others should be treated with respect and seen as a person worthy of a dignified life regardless of their ability to "contribute" to society? All of you out there, who don't notice my struggle to survive within the frame of this society, or care about anyone else in a similar, marginalized situation - you all break my heart. 

“This is personal. It's about you and me. Look me in the eye and tell me you really don't care that I'm not as able bodied as yourself. Look me in the eye and stop giving me all that moral bullshit about taking responsibility for my own health. I am. You have no idea to which degree I'm struggling to manage. But I can't do it alone. I can't do it without your help. Ultimately, society is the cause of my condition. You didn't realise that, did you? We're all in it together, whether you like it or not. Please, can't you see that? Your indifference is breaking my heart.”

DEEP WATERS - REVISION OF MY LATEST COLLAGE

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Deep Waters", 65x50 cm, copyright 2012

I decided to redo my latest collage from scratch. There were too many flaws in the first version that were hard to live with, I discussed it with Martin and simply had to concede that I could do better. I have said before that there is often a problem when a piece is conceived over a longer period of time and when it's fairly large, because it tends to be more tentative and less focused. What happened here was that some of the ideas just weren't as crisp as they could be. For instance, it made sense to try and keep all the other elements except the most semantically pertinent ones black and white. Thus the bottles all stand out a lot more. The bow in the child's hair is also in colour... as a last minute decision I decided to put it there as a more pertinent pointer to the contents of this piece.

The background is made up of many different found images of landscapes, but I took more care this time in making sure that there aren't too many seams that stand out. The idea of an explosion in the background became more obvious as I worked harder on printing out different size bottles and concentrating them visually. 

In this piece, I am talking about my own mother and her past issues with alcohol abuse as well as the effect it has had on my own life. Surviving and fighting the effects of neglect and stress during ones childhood is like fighting a windmill. There is also the fear of drowning in emotional residue and having to make constant efforts to cope. The signs so typical of British "health and safety" are ironic reminders of a society that pretends to care about its disadvantaged members. However, as usual it's possible for the viewer to see whatever they like to see in this image. 


My mother was evacuated from her home during WWII and put in foster care at the age of four. She had to revise her own identity and become part of a culture that was diametrically opposite her own. Something that sticks out from her vivid stories is how much she hated having a bow stuck in her hair. Her new mother was a prima ballerina and aristocrat.

I have been soul searching a lot, trying to decide whether talking about a dysfunctional childhood is a valid thing to do. Shouldn't I just get on with life and put all that behind me? Well, for one thing I have to try and just do whatever comes to me as a subject matter. There is no other way of being honest. The other thing is, I'm not really digging through past issues in a therapeutic kind of way. I simply wish to bring this subject matter to other people's attention by creating a visual representation of it. I want to communicate something that I'm familiar with. In this way I hope that my piece has more validity as art rather than as a therapeutic gesture. If anything, it could be therapeutic for other people to see such an image?

I struggled to finish this piece in time for the deadline of the Saatchi showdown for surreal art - I might as well participate. For this reason I had to try and get a good shot of the piece, which proved very hard.  The muscles in my back are aching so badly from leaning over, trying to retouch areas where the varnish caused milkiness... My art is not really surreal but it's the category they offer that comes the closest. I wish symbolic art would also be seen as a valid category. After all, it's a lot more meaningful than surreal art, that tends to be rather whimsical and nonsensical. I really hope this piece has got what it takes to make it to this year's open exhibition in the MOMA in Machyntlleth. This year's theme is "movement". Yes, it's related to the Olympics but there is no need to stick to sports and the like. The idea of fighting a windmill came to me already last autumn. I actually don't like modern windmills much, as they are ugly bits of engineering that clutter the landscape. Meanwhile they are supposed to be a "good thing". There's a paradox if ever there was one....

A JESTING REFERENCE TO DAMIEN HIRST... A NEW COLLAGE WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "The Impossibility of Sleeplessness and Damien Hirst isn't exactly making it any better"
copyright 2012

I wanted to do something with my abstract photography for Project X, but I sat for an entire day wondering what the heck to do with it. Eventually, having looked through a lot of imagery that could be used and found a photo we took for something Martin wanted to do a couple of years ago, this is what came about. It then occurred to me that it was very obviously about insomnia. The sense of walking a thin line or trying to balance my existence like a tight rope dancer when my medication is failing is imminent. When I mentioned "the impossibility" to Martin, he said oh be careful, that's what Damien Hirst has called a lot of his stuff. I thought that's excellent, yet another thing to lose sleep over! I mean his success, his money - and I'm not feeling any enormous kinship with his art, haha. In case it's not clear yet, my reference is ironic, if even sarcastic.


"In a general sense, this piece is about the fear of a sudden fall into a state of despair and depression, and how difficult it is to remain balanced and “on top of things”. More specifically this piece is about insomnia, which in severe cases involves constant threats of medication not working any more, while one is being pumped up with habit forming medication in the first place. It's the fear of going insane with severe cognitive and physical impairment and with physical flare ups due to lack of sufficient good quality sleep... and never getting any really useful help from the medical establishment. On top of this there's the sleep schedule which always goes wrong, ie. something disturbs one's routines and tips the wagon so you end up sleeping/dozing/lying around well into the afternoon and always feeling the day goes by while you're simply useless. Managing a condition that happens when you're not looking, is like walking a tight rope, knowing you could fall any time. This piece is part of Project X. When I thought of the name including the word "impossibility" it became a reference to titles by Damien Hirst and his rather (in my mind) undeserved financial success."

All the photos are my own except for that of the bird.

EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY FOR TOMORROW YOU WON'T DIE

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Be Merry for You Won't Die", 60x45cm copyright 2012 

It's time to publicize my recent piece in the series "Project X". I expect to use the cross in all images as the leading thread. Here, I ideas related to fibromyalgia developed. When your tender points are being tested and you're given a diagnosis, very often the doctor will tell you that you have very little to worry about since you won't die from it (the papers have "it won't kill you" spelled onto them). This is a stupid cliche that should be banned. What someone afflicted with this condition has in front of them is a life time of pain, fatigue, insomnia and a general insecurity about the future and how they will be able to cope with life's challenges. Initially, it was going to be a piece about the fallacy of excess positive thinking but this is what evolved instead. Your life, your future, is crossed out, you may try and take a positive stand (and of course you should try your best in this regard) but you are still going to remain in the realm of the unknown and stand on unstable ground, sometimes flattened by the weight of your ailment. 

Medicine, symbolized by serpents, is of no use, of course. One serpent is dead and the other is an imaginary sea creature, perhaps also a symbol of the unconscious and the realm of emotions. Flies and mosquitoes symbolize the irritation and being kept awake that is connected to insomnia. In the early days of the discovery of this condition and others such as ME, people were often told it was only in their head - and of course this happens still today, especially in regards to insomnia. 

The row of black windows indicate the people who don't look, don't see, and don't understand. Black lace could be a sign of mourning but also that the ugly truth is often covered up with a nicer idea of reality.

NEW WORK UNDER WAY...

"Don't you even think about putting me down!!"

The open studios are now closed... I have to say the last weekend was a bit of an anti climax and our press release (which really we shouldn't have had to make ourselves) appeared in the local paper one day before we closed... Some people have thought the PR was poor. Some people also came to us complaining that other artists and galleries that were supposed to be open weren't. That's pretty bad for us! I can understand people are upset when they have to drive far into the hills on tiny country roads...

The good news is that our work is well on its way. Martin's second drawing for the illustration project soon to be revealed didn't quite work out. I told him upfront that I didn't think it was good enough... after some initial irritation he agreed and started again. I think for that kind of project you can't expect to get it right right away - free drawing, requires so much practice. How many times I have also abandoned work in the middle, it hurts but it's sometimes necessary. So here are some shots of the work situation in my studio....

I tend to end up on the floor... especially when the work is big like this

However, what you don't see is me lying flat on my stomach trying to draw a pylon, moaning loudly in the process. My back muscles just won't take any such drawing practice. The big figure is bad enough... not to mention the clouds. The physical challenges are quite depressing but I try and find ways around the problems. It's going to be - I hope - quite a hefty collage about problems with society, featuring among other things this striking military chopter which was free on the internet... Though I'm a girl I can't help thinking it's quite cool as an object, but it's probably laden with missiles... Why doesn't it surprise me a war related picture like this is free wall paper!

Martin has started drawing:

This piece is about order and chaos as exemplified by the golden mean and the tendency of our reality towards entropy (the skull)... This is not part of his actual book project but something he has in mind and is practising on in order to get into the habit of drawing every day. You can buy it, please see his blog.

A BLAST - MY LATEST COLLAGE

"Contemplating the Nature of Triumph",
copyright Vivi-Mari Carpelan 2011

The open studio is still on, we are open this week 13th - 16th October. There has been a reasonably even stream of visitors, and where there has been interest in my stuff, I have certainly enjoyed connecting, talking about what I do but also chit chatting about life in general. Many visitors are artists themselves. It has been more worthwhile than I expected I think, and possibly a good thing that we have not been inundated with visitors. I have over 50 pieces on show, so it's really a kind of retrospective, and because it's in our home we get the benefit of hearing what people like and how they see the work. It makes me feel less invisible and more encouraged to go on creating. The things people ask the most are whether my pieces really are original rather than prints, because they seem so seamless. It's nice to hear, that people are keen to look at the technique while they try and figure out how it was done. People also often ask whether I exhibit a lot, and of course I tell them I have only lived in this country a year. It is also not easy to get galleries interested in these difficult times, they already have their best selling household artists and are not often eager to take risks. It will take time to get the art out there.

Beatrice is adamant that she should be part of my collages...

Bea has been in the studio all throughout the arts month, looking very cute
and amazingly tolerant towards the guests (even when there are several in the small space)

We also wanted to be working on our more concrete projects during this time so I have been sketching a bit for the big collage with all the men that I scanned out of one of Jim Harter's books, but I also wanted to do something turquoise and did in fact manage to complete a piece in a couple of days. Here it is - a blast! I don't seem to be able to help myself as I feel very attracted to the joyful and playful Indian imagery. I hope Indians can see that I respect their Gods though. It's good to go for lots of colour every once in a while, I think it is beneficial to one's state of mind. Perhaps I am really trying to defy the Welsh weather!

I got this big man's shirt from the RSC sale and am now using it for work!

Please read more about our open studios here and here!
Soon I have to refconfigure my computer and send it off to service... It will be hard to be without it.