Wandering but not Lost

Printing in purple

2012-02-15T07:28:00.000-05:00

Setting up my printing guides on the press and soaking paper.

Purple color palette.

Inking a plate and pulling a print.

I've been spending a lot of time in the print studio lately. There is a very precise ritual and rhythm to printmaking that I enjoy. I can easily loose myself in the process for several hours.

My printing playlist--

Somebody That I Used to Know / Gotye
The Ghost Inside / Broken Bells
Punching in a Dream / The Naked and Famous
Walking with a Ghost / Tegan and Sara
Too Much / Sufjan Stevens
Santa Fe / Beirut
Heartbeats / José González
Because the Night / Patti Smith
Can't You Hear Me Knocking / The Rolling Stones

Open Studios

2012-02-13T07:03:00.000-05:00

You are happily invited to take a peek into my studio and that of my 100 other fellow grad students at the Second Annual SMFA Open Studios.

Join us on Friday + Saturday, March 2-3, 2012 from 6-9pm at the Mission Hill Studio Building!

SMFA Grad Open Studios
Mission Hill Studio Building
160 Saint Alphonsus Street
Boston, MA 02120

For more info please visit: http://smfaopengradstudios.blogspot.com/

SPQR

2012-02-06T19:18:00.003-05:00

This is a project I've been working on as part of a print exchange between the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Edinburgh College of Art.

The concept was for 50 select students and faculty on each side of the Atlantic to construct a pair of boxes with the dimensions of 5x8x1" The material, medium, and contents were completely open, but under the general title of Transatlantic Fun-o-Pack. One box will remain in the permanent collection of each school.

After a couple of false starts, I was still at a loss for what I wanted to make for this show. I've been thinking about Rome lately and after finishing the edition of Roman Faces, I decided to make the box about Rome (which was my last Transatlantic journey...)

The box is a drop lid structure made out of bookboard and covered in fine weave linen bookcloth. The color reminded me of the buildings in Rome. The cover and interior tray are lined with vintage architectural drawings of the Pantheon.

Each box contains an edition of the small book Roman Faces, a plaster hand (one of several I bought as "relics" in a shop near the Vatican), and a panoramic accordion book of Rome.

The panorama was created by combining half a dozen sketches from my sketchbook. I created a litho plate of the final composition and printed the image in red. The covers are bound in a hand marbled paper purchased in Rome. The overall dimensions of the book are 17 x 5.25" (opened).

SPQR is from the Latin phrase Senātus Populusque Rōmānus or "the Senate and People of Rome", an ancient abbreviation used as the modern emblem for the city of Rome.

copyright Kate Castelli 2012

Doing what you love

2012-02-02T09:36:00.000-05:00

The artist as a child...with a purple crayon.

Somewhere along the line I stopped doing what I loved. I got caught up in thinking about what I am doing, what I should be doing, and I lost a vital connection to my work. Over the last several months I have felt increasingly indifferent to my work, a feeling that is painful and confusing and ever so murky. I got stuck in my head. It wasn’t the same familiar feeling of “artist’s block,” it was something else. Something I couldn’t name.

I need to start drawing again.
I need to remember why I love line...
and printmaking...
and booking making...
I need to start doing what I love.
Again.

Roman Faces (a tiny book)

2012-01-14T15:21:00.001-05:00

The assembly line for an edition of 25 tiny books.

After visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art last week, I went through my sketchbooks and realized how many faces I draw in museums. I filled a dozen pages when I was in Rome, mostly at the Vatican and the Musei Capitolini (see the original post here). So I decided to make a tiny book. Actually I decided to make an edition of 25 tiny books.

Some page selections from Roman Faces

I played around with several different ideas, but I really wanted to lay out an entire book on an 8.5x11" page. The book would be a simple signature or pamphlet, printed double sided in black and white. I had an entire package of vintage onionskin typing paper. The paper was very light and slightly translucent. I loved the way the drawings were slightly visible on both sides, creating a deep layering effect when they were bound together.

The finished book measures 2.125 x 2.75". It is a single signature with 32 pages and a cover. It includes 30 drawings.

copyright Kate Castelli 2012

Friday Inspiration: The Renaissance Portrait

2012-01-13T08:04:00.000-05:00

Portrait of A Young Man, Biago d'Antonio, (ca. 1470)

Last week I took a quick trip to New York City for a change of scenery and some badly needed inspiration. In my wanderings I found myself at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the exhibition called The Renaissance Portrait from Dontatello to Bellini

Portrait of a Young Woman (Ginerva de'Benci?), Lorenzo di Credi (ca. 1575-80)

I was absolutely enthralled by the work. The Renaissance saw the birth of the individual as an idea and these works are some of the earliest examples of artists concentrating on depicting recognizable likenesses. The subjects of these portraits were real people-- and I found myself looking at the paintings, not necessarily as works of art, but as a document of a person. They were living and breathing centuries ago, and somehow their likeness survived into this new millennium. It was quietly humbling. And exquisitely beautiful.

Portrait of a Young Man with a Ring, Francesco del Cossa, (ca. 1472-74)

I have always been fascinated by portraiture and I realized that I draw from portraits in museums quite frequently in my sketchbooks.

Some sketches from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

In Time

2012-01-04T16:22:00.000-05:00

Screenshots of Christian Marclay's mesmerizing The Clock, on view at the MFA

It is a brand new year and I am grateful to have some time off before the start of a new semester. It feels like such a luxury to pause for a little while.

What's in store for the beginning of 2012?

My latest submission to The Sketchbook Project
A revamped, updated, and brand spanking new website
An exchange show between SMFA and Edinburgh College of Art
Experimental Letterpress at the Center for Book Arts, NYC
Lots of printmaking...

And hopefully some more frequent blog updates!

To you and yours...

2011-12-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

May your holidays be merry & bright!

Sherlock Holmes

2011-12-23T08:30:00.000-05:00

A vintage illustration from my collection.

My good friend Ellen and her husband Matt decided to start a rad blog called Fanartica where a bunch of illustrators get together and pay homage to their favorite bits of pop culture. You can read a great interview of Ellen and Matt here.

Ellen informed me that they were doing a Sherlock Holmes theme, and knowing my deep love of the great detective, she made me promise on my honor to do a guest post.

I first fell in love with Sherlock Holmes after reading The Hound of the Baskervilles one summer when I was a kid. Since then, I've read every story forwards and backwards. I love that London, the city itself, is as much of a character as Watson or Mrs. Hudson or Lestrade.

Check out my guest post here!

Sixty-Eight

2011-12-18T12:25:00.000-05:00

Keith Richards' hands by Francesco Carrozzini

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards...

As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

Install

2011-12-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

This piece is different every time I install it, and I really enjoy that process. I start with one page and the narrative makes itself. It was great to be able to install it on a larger wall space than I have in my studio (even though it was only temporary!)

Museum School Art Sale

2011-12-01T07:21:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to have two series of work (both framed and unframed) in the upcoming art sale at the Museum School. This annual sale features celebrated alumni, current undergrad and grad students, faculty, and affiliated artists of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Proceeds benefit the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Scholarship Fund.

You can visit smfa.edu/artsale for more information!

School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
230 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115

Autoportrait

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Portrait of the Artist
page from the "Guide to London" series
sumi ink wash on vintage paper
4.25 x 6.625"

copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Taking over

2011-11-10T00:25:00.000-05:00

Pigeons

2011-11-08T21:33:00.000-05:00

I recently found out that pigeons are sometimes called Rock Doves. It sounds more dignified. I am always fascinated by city pigeons.

Remarkably Tame Pigeons
page from the "Guide to London" series
sumi ink wash on vintage paper
4.25 x 6.625"

copyright Kate Castelli 2011

This line

2011-11-04T07:29:00.000-04:00

Not that one. This one.

This Line
page from the "Guide to London" series
sumi ink wash on vintage paper
4.25 x 6.625"

copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Almost

2011-11-03T20:27:00.002-04:00

Two pages from my current series of work.

I am dissecting a book and reacting to words or phrases on each page. I use ink to edit out everything else and then I reorder them into new narrative structures. The book itself is a quirky little guidebook to London from 1938, which has some of the strangest descriptive language.

London was the first city I fell in love with and the book was published while Europe was on the edge of war. It describes places that no longer exist, and places that haven't changed since Queen Elizabeth the First drew breath.

An Almost Straight Line / A Straight Line
two pages from the "Guide to London" series
sumi ink wash on vintage paper
4.25 x 6.625" each

copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Endeavouring

2011-10-20T19:17:00.003-04:00

In my studio the question is no longer what but how...

How many pages are there?
How am I going to make room?
How are they going to hang?
How fragile are they?
How readable?
How obscure?
How black?

But the most important question is...How does a book take over a room?

I don't know yet, but I'm working on it.

Ramble

2011-10-12T23:34:00.001-04:00

Where I've been spending my time (Part 2)

2011-10-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

Papermaking: molds and deckles, felts, pulp strainers,
and the fiber mixer

I've been spending a lot of my time making paper this semester. As a bookmaker and someone who works primarily on paper, I've always wanted to learn the process. It is a messy, long, wonderfully tactile process.

I've been working mostly in the Eastern sheet forming style to make delicate sheets. I've been imbedding images and text and playing around with the transparency of the fibers. Recently I've begun to work in the Western style to make thick sheets using cotton fiber.

Where I've been spending my time (part I)

2011-09-30T22:26:00.000-04:00

The print shop and litho stones

Grad school is wonderful, and frustrating, and exhausting all at the same time. I have been spending 12-14 hours a day in the studio several days a week. I'm very much in the experimental and exploratory stages of work-- nothing is solid or certain. I have to constantly remind myself to play right now, and worry about the why later.

I've been spending a lot of my time in the print shop, and most specifically doing lithography in depth for the first time. I always feel at home in the shop-- the smell of the ink, the weight of the paper, the methodical process, and the thrill of pulling a print off the plate.

(I have several prints in the works that I'll share soon...)

Friday Inspiration: Chairs + Postcards

2011-09-02T20:53:00.001-04:00

Vintage postcards of chairs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It's September and the city is bursting at the seams with students and the academic year has begun anew. I am looking forward to autumn and the crisp weather and changing colors.

I started the graduate program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts today. I'll be earning my MFA over the next 2 years.

And so it begins...

Earthquake Stikman

2011-08-24T21:18:00.001-04:00

A Stikman outside the International Center of Photography on 8th Ave in New York City on the day of the earthquake.

Simple magic

2011-08-21T20:39:00.001-04:00

The Bushnell Park Carousel, Hartford, CT.

When I was a kid my father used to take me to the magnificent carousel at Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut. It was built in 1914 and still runs today. When I was little I had two favorite horses: one was an elaborately carved horse in knights armor, and the other was a beautiful hardword horse with a flowing chestnut mane. Both of them were jumper horses-- the horses that went up and down as the carousel went round and round. I loved it. It was a magical place.

I went back today with my father and he bought me two tickets so I could ride my favorites. As the third bell rang and the carousel started up, and the lights whirled, and the organ played-- I realized the magic was still there.

Friday Inspiration: Intersections

2011-08-19T00:02:00.003-04:00

Intersecting silhouettes.

Eyes

2011-08-15T13:48:00.000-04:00

The fragments of something new-- block printed eyes on vintage Japanese rice paper

These eyes remind me of a self portrait Picasso drew over a photograph by David Douglas Duncan, which looks identical to an ancient Egyptian tomb decoration found in the Museum of Fine Arts. They are also the eyes of saints from illuminated manuscripts or ancient Roman funerary portraits or many other threads that weave in and out of art history.

Playlist for a rainy day--

I Don't Want Love / The Antlers

Skip the Charades / Cold War Kids

Turning Tables / Adele

Skinny Love / Bon Iver

Country Lane / Telekinesis

Powerman / The Kinks

Dancing with Mr. D / The Rolling Stones

Because the Night / Patti Smith

Envelope

2011-08-08T08:11:00.000-04:00

click to enlarge...

I've always stuck some sort of envelope in the back of each of my sketchbooks. It holds bits and pieces I find and the fragments that are yet to be used. This is a selection of ephemera from the current envelope. The wings are from an article on hummingbirds from a 1960s era National Geographic.

video vidi visum

2011-08-03T21:55:00.003-04:00

Unblinking...

Sentence Fragments

2011-08-01T07:04:00.000-04:00

Dissecting type, channeling DaDa, and playing in my sketchbook.

sketchbook pages copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Happy Birthday

2011-07-22T15:51:00.002-04:00

Today is Alexander Calder's 113th Birthday. I sent an email to my father this morning informing him of that fact. When I got home later this afternoon I found the most delightful response. My father bought a little cake for "Steggy," Calder's monumental sculpture in Hartford, Connecticut.

I've loved Calder since I was very small and I spent many a summer day running around underneath Steggy.

Steggy wanted cake, and I can't stop smiling.

(photos courtesy of the best father ever, Daniel Castelli)

Tumult in the clouds

2011-07-13T16:47:00.000-04:00

Biplanes always bring to mind Yeats' poem, "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death." There is something strangely elegant about them-- the open cockpit with nothing between you and the clouds but a taut and fragile frame. It must have been terrifying and beautiful.

sketchbook copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Sleepless

2011-07-13T00:38:00.001-04:00

I am captivated by this image I found in the Library of Congress archives.

It's too hot to sleep and my mind is restless and wandering...

biplanes / looking up / negative space / London / nectarines / semiotics / September / lithography / grids / Holga / carousel horses / greyscale / Sherlock Holmes / home / the city / holding my breath / sketchbooks / the Charles River / back porches / tanned shoulders / mix tapes / red / W.S. Merwin / humming birds / palazzo / avocados / envelopes / eyes / hazelnuts / rabbits / absence / presence

Sketching

2011-07-05T23:43:00.001-04:00

Sketching in Fort Point on a very hot afternoon.

The North End

2011-07-01T18:05:00.000-04:00

Spent a beautiful sunny afternoon in the North End with my students yesterday. I even managed to get in a quick sketch and a cannoli.

sketchbook copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Greetings From...

2011-06-21T07:19:00.008-04:00

And happy first day of summer.

Hello my friend...

2011-06-20T10:27:00.000-04:00

In front of the Taj Ballroom on Arlington Street.

Specimens

2011-06-14T20:28:00.002-04:00

I spent a cold, grey afternoon at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. I'm fascinated by how the specimens are organized and labelled. Especially the extensive collection of hummingbirds. They are elegant and slightly disturbing at the same time.

Sometimes in order to understand the shape of things, I have to draw around them.

And I currently have the song Skip the Charades by Cold War Kids stuck in my head.

sketchbook copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Wandering

2011-06-11T11:28:00.001-04:00

We are a landscape of all we have seen. (Isamu Noguchi)

Wandering but not Lost
12 page single signature
monotype, ink, and ephemera
7.5 x 6.25" opened

copyright Kate Castelli 2011

They are especially fond of Saints

2011-06-04T11:50:00.001-04:00

Some of the more surreal experiences I had in Rome were when I encountered the relics and bones of various saints. It is one thing to go to the Church of Saint Agnese and quite another to see her martyred skull.

They are especially fond of Saints
accordion structure with hardcovers
block-prints on rice paper, sumi ink, and ephemera
4.625 x 17.25" opened

copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Wandering but not lost

2011-06-01T12:13:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the universe reminds us that everything is going to be okay. And it will be. The last couple of days I have found myself grateful for the sun on my face, the company of friends, and the vibrant fabric of the city.

I haven't stopped wandering, but I am not lost.

A studio playlist for the first glimmer of summer--

Starálfur / Sigur Ros
Moonlight Mile / The Rolling Stones
These Days / Nico
Down the Line / Jose Gonzalez
In the Night / Basia Bulat
Whose Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses / U2
Babys / Bon Iver
Welcome Home / Radical Face
In the Sun / Michael Stipe
She Belongs to Me / Bob Dylan
Skinny Love / Bon Iver
White Blank Page / Mumford and Sons
Wild Horses / The Rolling Stones

Friday Inspiration: Looking Up

2011-05-27T15:31:00.001-04:00

A view of Flocks, by Carolina Aragon

Summer seems to have arrived. It's perfect weather to walk everywhere and sleep with the windows open. I love summer in the city.

In my recent wanderings I noticed these fluttering flocks of birds strung across intersections in Cambridge. The are a temporary art installation by Carolina Aragon.

More information about the project here-- http://www.cambridgeflocks.com/

My constant

2011-05-24T15:05:00.000-04:00

Everything begins and ends in a sketchbook.

Work in progress

2011-05-14T11:01:00.000-04:00

Something is finally brewing in the studio...

Friday Inspiration: William Kentridge

2011-05-13T16:21:00.001-04:00

Untitled (Rhino), lithograph and collage with watercolor (2007)

Crowd Pleaser (Fig 1), etching with red crayon (2005)

Typewriter with Drinking Glass, etching (2003)

Handspring II, sugarlift, aquatint, drypoint (2009)

William Kentridge is one of those artists that has been cataloged in my brain for a while, but only recently has really resonated with me.

Two things happened:

Firstly, I had the opportunity to hear him speak at Boston University. I couldn't take notes fast enough in my Moleskin. Kentridge's process is multifaceted and fascinating.

And secondly I stumbled on the book William Kentridge: Trace, Prints from the Museum of Modern Art (2010), and was quickly introduced to his facile range of printmaking.

Kentridge is exceptionally prolific. He will engage in an idea or concept in several mediums. He is best known for his experimental films and stop motion animations that are both sociopolitical and viscerally personal. In the last decade he has generated a wide range of prints, staged theatrical productions and designed large scale tapestries.

When asked what he prefers to work in, he simply answered: "Any medium that is flexible and that I can think in."

Stepping Back

2011-05-09T20:35:00.001-04:00

I'm still here.
Just been taking a step back.

Friday Inspiration: Correspondence

2011-04-08T18:54:00.001-04:00

Once upon a time people wrote letters...

Feeling impossibly blank in the studio these days...not an unfamiliar feeling, but never a welcome one.

Angelus

2011-04-02T08:16:00.000-04:00

Ponte Sant'Angelo, Rome, taken with my 35mm Holga

Friday Inspiration: Post Cards

2011-04-01T10:24:00.000-04:00

Some favorites from my collection...(click to enlarge)

I love postcards. There is something wonderful about them-- a small glimpse into a far off place. The act of sending the postcard itself is interesting. It is a visual correspondence unlike any other. A desire to share what you have seen.

I always seem to find postcard vendors when I go abroad-- most recently the Mercato Delle Stampe in the Piazza Borghese in Rome. Or the Marche aux Timbres et Cartes-Postales near the Champs Elysee in Paris. The vendors rarely speak English but are content to let me browse. The hunt is part of the fun.

Friday Inspiration: Layers

2011-03-25T07:23:00.002-04:00

Rome--

The day I got lost on purpose and sketched.

I want to go back so badly it hurts.

Beyond the Book

2011-03-20T22:58:00.001-04:00

Luna 424 (click to enlarge)

Numeri Cardinali (click to enlarge)

Two of my books were selected for the 5th Annual Beyond the Book Show at the Honan-Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library!

Luna 424 and Numeri Cardinali will be on view from March 26th through May 7th at 300 North Harvard Street, Allston, MA.

books copyright Kate Castelli 2010

Roman Faces

2011-03-18T06:02:00.000-04:00

After visiting the Sistine Chapel, I spent the rest of the afternoon drawing in the Museo Chiaramonti, the Greek and Roman antiquities wing of the Vatican Museum. It was a long vaulted corridor with hundreds of portrait busts and statues of emperors, gods, goddesses, philosophers and plebeians.

I am fascinated by their eternally blank stares.

(sidenote) Everything in the Vatican Museum is obsessively numbers and cataloged. All the portraits were labeled with both a cardinal number and a Roman numeral.

sketchbook pages copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Galleria Borghese

2011-03-17T09:23:00.003-04:00

Galleria Borghese, considered one of the finest private art collections in the world.

The Galleria Borghese is the former villa of the powerful aristocratic Borghese family. The house was built in the early part of the 17th Century and the gardens were renovated in the English style in late 18th Century.

The Borghese Family were patrons of Bernini and avid collectors of Caravaggio. You can soak up the masters as you walk through the gilded rooms-- not only works by Caravaggio and Bernini, but also Raphael, Titian, and Rubens.

The gardens are spectacular with hedge mazes and lemon and orange trees in fruit. The Galleria Borghese is located in the Villa Borghese, an elegant emerald oasis about the size of Central Park. You could hardly tell that you were still in Rome. It was splendid.

sketchbook copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Hadrian and Sant'Angelo

2011-03-16T09:18:00.004-04:00

Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo is an imposing fortress on the banks of the Tiber. It was originally Hadrian's mausoleum, but was converted into a Papal fortress in the 6th Century and used through the sack of Rome in 1527. There is a secret passageway that leads to the Vatican Palaces.

Ponte Sant'Angelo with the Basilica of St. Peter's in the distance.

Ponte Sant'Angelo is a footbridge across the Tiber in front of the fortress. The original arches of the bridge were built by Hadrian in 136 CE, and later expanded upon as the banks of the Tiber were widened. Bernini added splendid pairs of angels across the bridge in the 17th Century.

Bernini's angels.

Piazza Navona

2011-03-15T09:15:00.000-04:00

Piazza Navona boasts a church by Boromini and a fountain by Bernini. (click to enlarge)

Piazza Navona was built on the remains of an ancient Roman Arena and boasts not one but three fountains.

The Chiesa di Sant'Agnese Agone was designed by Boromini and is asymmetrical. The ornate fountain in the middle of the piazza is the Fontana dei Quattro Fumeri, or the Fountain of the Four Rivers. The fountain was designed by Bernini, an archrival of Boromini. One of the figures on the fountain is shielding his eyes from the sight of the church-- Bernini is literally telling off Boromini for all eternity.

(detail) The piazza is bordered by cafes.

The asymmetrical Chiesa di Sant'Agnese Agone (click to enlarge)

The piazza was lively and had surprisingly few tourists. I spent the afternoon sitting on a bench being serenaded by street musicians and drawing. An old couple sat next to me for a while doing their crossword puzzles, and I got a cluck of approval as they were leaving.

sketchbook spreads copyright Kate Castelli 2011

San Pietro

2011-03-14T12:12:00.002-04:00

St. Peter's Basilica

A view of St. Peter's Square (click to enlarge)

St. Peter's square is magnificent. I stayed near the Vatican City and my first afternoon in Rome I got a gelato and sat in the square in awe. The square encircles you in its arms.

The line to get inside often wrapped around the square in the morning. You have to pass through airport level security before you are allowed into the Papal State. The Basilica is overwhelming. Nothing prepared me for the splendor of the interior (or the vastness). As soon as I walked in my whole being felt different. It was very humbling to be inside one of the most sacred spaces of the Roman Catholic faith.

The square was full of life from dawn until dark and I returned there many times over the week to draw or to just sit with the sun on my face.

sketchbook pages copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Rome

2011-03-13T16:43:00.005-04:00

(click to enlarge)

A panoramic view of Rome from atop Capitoline Hill. In the far left corner you can see the edge of the Roman Forum, and the distant basilica of Saint Peter's is the dome second from the right.

Detail of the many basilicas...

Rome was simply splendid. I was spoiled with abundant sunshine, delicious food, lots of wandering, and most importantly-- lots of sketching. More to come...

sketchbook copyright Kate Castelli 2011

A Roman Holiday

2011-03-05T13:29:00.000-05:00

I'm off on my very own Roman Holiday. I'll be drawing, eating, and soaking up the Eternal City for a week. Arrivederci!

Friday Inspiration: In the Beginning

2011-03-04T14:13:00.000-05:00

The artist as a child...wandering around the galleries of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Art has been my life for as long as I can remember. I feel unconditionally at home in museums and galleries. They are one of the only places I can truly breathe. If I ever need to calm down or clear my head or escape for a while, an hour at a museum does wonders. It is both humbling and inspiring-- museums are my cathedrals.

Take Three...

2011-03-01T18:57:00.003-05:00

The 100 Chairs wait patiently for me to layout a new grid.

All the chairs (minus a few pieces that have found new homes) are now on view at The Arsenal Center for the Arts through the early part of Spring.

Kate Castelli: Chairs
Arsenal Center for the Arts
March 3- April 16

Opening Reception concurrent with
"Drawing from Line, from Process to Purpose"
Thursday March 17th
5:30 - 7:30 pm

321 Arsenal Street, Watertown MA
Directions

Friday Inspiration: A desire to be elsewhere

2011-02-25T14:03:00.000-05:00

Andre Kertész, Champs-Élysées 1927-9

Chairs...

Chairs in Paris.

I love this photograph.

Sunny Sunday Stikman

2011-02-20T13:06:00.000-05:00

A lonely Stikman in the middle of Mass. Ave near Harvard Law...

Friday Inspiration: Alexander Calder

2011-02-18T19:59:00.003-05:00

Alexander Calder has been my favorite artist since I could walk. All artists have a favorite artist, or at least one individual whose work means something to them on an intangible level. Calder makes me smile. So here are seven reasons why I love him...

1. His playfulness and joie de vivre.

2. "Steggy"

Also know as Stegosaurus, a monumental public sculpture in Hartford, Connecticut erected in 1973. I used to play under it as a little kid. I was captivated by the giant red beast. It is still very magical to me.

(top photo by Daniel Castelli, 2001)

3. His creatures

He is famous for his monumental sculpture and mobiles, but almost any major exhibition on Calder will include a least a few of his small toy sized creatures. Some are fanciful (top, Dragon, 1957) or devised from the everyday (bottom, Elephant c.1940). They are quirky and clever.

4. His color palette

Calder's favorite color was red, and he used it in abundance. His palette was almost exclusively limited to the primary colors and black and white.

(above, Red Nose, 1969)

5. His devotion to public sculpture

There are hundreds of public works by Calder in 24 states and 18 countries. He is pictured about with Spirale (1958), in front of the UNESCO Building in Paris. Calder spent the early part of his career in Paris and split his time between the United States and France for the remainder of his life.

6. He drew with wire

And it leaves me speechless. (Portrait of Amedee Ozenfant, c.1930)

7. He invented the Mobile

He created sculpture that defied gravity, played with balance, and mesmerized with movement. He made us gaze upwards and wonder.

The Original

2011-02-13T19:13:00.001-05:00

The best pizza in the world can be found at Pepe's Pizza on Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut. No arguments. I've been going there for my entire life, and before that my parents started going when they were in college.

On a summer weekend you can stand in line for almost an hour. And it is worth it. This weekend we didn't have to wait too long in the cold, but long enough to do a sketch of the sign. Our family favorite is bacon and mozzarella. Such a treat!

Friday Inspiration: Ephemera

2011-02-11T07:49:00.003-05:00

ephemera (noun) transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. From the Greek ephemeros (ἐφήμερα) "for a day."

One of my favorite words in the English language.

I am captivated by ephemera, the commonplace, the discarded. I am like a magpie. I salvage fleeting, ordinary fragments. I find them by chance or by knowing where to look. I hunt in used bookstores, print shops, antique shops, and flea markets. I find bits and pieces on the ground.

These leftover and forgotten things are the bare elements and materials in my work. They are as essential as any bottle of ink or pencil or scissors in the studio.

Philosophy

2011-02-07T21:59:00.000-05:00

Friday Inspiration: Joseph Cornell

2011-02-04T17:46:00.002-05:00

Grand Hotel de la Boule-d'Or, early 1950s, Dallas Museum of Art

Untitled (Dovecote, American Gothic) c. 1954-1956, The Robert Lerhman Art Trust

Untitled (Caravaggio Boy), c. 1950, private collection

Today I headed over to the Museum of Fine Arts new American wing for some badly needed visual stimulation. I wandered around a corner on the 3rd floor and was met with four works by Joseph Cornell. They literally took my breath away. I have never actually seen his work in person. I think my face was so close to the glass that I fogged it up.

I was introduced to Cornell's work as an undergrad, and it was one of those moments where I thought "How could I have not known about him?" He has been a source of fascination and inspiration ever since.

Cornell tamed the chaos of the universe. He collected and ordered fragments of the everyday, working his strange alchemy to create something from nothing. Much of his work has an underlying grid structure and each element is connected. Cornell created exquisitely self contained worlds within his boxes and assemblages. Although they were carefully composed, Cornell always left something unsaid. That is the beauty of his work.

Conversation

2011-02-02T22:35:00.002-05:00

Conversation
photocopy and ink on graph paper
8 x 8"

Snow day. The impossibility of February and feeling listless in the studio. When I get frustrated in the studio I draw lines...lots of lines. Either long continuous lines (like these) or small concise marks like above. It becomes very meditative.

I haven't decided if this drawing is finished on its own, or if it will be incorporated into a book. To be determined...

Dozzina

2011-01-31T19:39:00.003-05:00

Spread 12 (Thonet Chairs)

I finished Sketchbook No. 12 (or technically No. 15, but that is neither here nor there)

I seem to finish a sketchbook every 7 months or so. I had been neglecting this one for a while to focus on other projects, but suddenly there were only about a dozen pages left and I had the urge to just finish it. I go through phases of being very into my sketchbook as an object unto itself and times when it goes untouched for weeks. I always get a little bit sad when a sketchbook is finished and a little bit anxious when I begin a new one.

You can see the entire sketchbook here.

Spread 19 (Egyptian Wing)

Sketchbook Project 2011

2011-01-21T13:41:00.003-05:00

{The full interior} Chairs, lines, and graph paper...

{Pages 4-5} A double spread of small chair studies from Paris.

{pages 14-15} A sketch from Paris and the resulting linoprint.

I participated for the third time in The Sketchbook Project. I absolutely loved the sketchbook I did last year, and was really excited to be able to pick my own "theme" this time. I chose "Lines and Grids," it seemed to most fitting for my work.

After much procrastination and an extremely chaotic autumn, I found myself in the exact same situation as last year. I had a month before the due date and an empty book. So I cut the binding at the spine and removed all the pages. Then I made a my own simple signature structure of 16 pages and sewed it back into the cover.

I decided to create a book that combined the sketches I did of chairs in Paris with the linoprints that developed later in the summer from the sketches. The intense vertical lines are something I've always done in my sketchbooks as a sort of meditative exercise.

I had all these elements, and it was excruciating to put this book together. Nothing was working, I was really sick of chairs and I was past the point of the ability to start over. I just had to slog through it. It all eventually came together, although I am a bit ambivalent about the end result.

Lines and Grids (And Chairs)

16 pages, single signature with soft cover

linoprint, photocopy and ink wash on graph paper with ephemera
8.125 x 10" opened
copyright Kate Castelli 2010

Snow Day

2011-01-12T16:36:00.000-05:00

Snowy chairs in Bryant Park, NYC, taken with my new 35mm Holga

I woke up today to a blanket of muffled white. Almost 18" of snow was a perfect excuse to stay inside, drink Earl Grey tea, and get a head start on work for the new semester.

Two Thousand Eleven

2011-01-10T21:35:00.002-05:00

Renaissance faces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in my tiny traveling sketchbook (page size is 2x4").

Went down to New York City for a couple of days. Wandered around in the snow, went to museums, drank a lot of hot beverages and ate cupcakes. I still prefer Boston, but it is nice to visit the Big Apple every once in a while.

I found a GIANT Stikman on Madison Avenue in front of the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was about 12 inches, as opposed to the usual 6 inches.

Wishing you...

2010-12-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

Horizon (line)

2010-12-21T00:25:00.001-05:00

Sketchbook Spreads 15-17
block printing, ink, and hand-stitching on graph paper
7 x 9.5" opened (each)

copyright Kate Castelli 2010

The myth of Keith

2010-12-18T00:00:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards...
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

I have been working my way through Keith's autobiography, a hefty volume simply titled Life. As a rabid Stones fan, it is required reading to say the least. And knowing their history backwards and forwards, I wasn't expecting any groundbreaking revelations. But what did surprise me was the compelling conversational tone in which he conjures his memories.

He writes the way he sings or plays a riff. There is an unflinching honesty and directness. He offers up his entire self, down to the bone. The memories, the history, the myths, and in the end you realize something that he himself has never forgotten, that Keith is just being Keith.

Sketchbook Keith
linoprint and hand-stitching
4.5 x 7"
(Keith always seems to appear in my sketchbooks. )

copyright Kate Castelli 2010

To the bone

2010-12-16T10:43:00.000-05:00

The Defeated

Beyond surprise, my ribs start up from the ground.

After I had sunk, the waters went down.

The horizon I was making for runs through my eyes.

It has woven its simple nest among my bones.

{W.S. Merwin, from The Moving Target, Atheneum 1963}

:::::::::

I became enamored with W.S. Merwin when I found a poem of his on the London Underground a couple of years ago. I admired the brevity and haunting confidence of his verse. His work is direct, but it lingers with you. That is how The Defeated remained with me, and Separation before it.

Simple Nest
ink on vintage end-page with handstitching
4.25 x 5"

copyright Kate Castelli 2010

So what is it about chairs?

2010-12-09T09:23:00.002-05:00

Self portrait with chair, Paris.

After three years, I'm still trying to figure it out. Chairs are defined by their functionality, but this functionality is only defined by the presence of people. Empty chairs imply the absence of people. It is in this absence that I can see the chair.

Recently I have become fascinated by the space around the chair, the void, the negative, and how that defines what I see. What is not there is still felt by what is, and so the chairs remain.

{Tonight}

Chairs at Twelve Chairs
Opening reception, Thursday, December 9, 6-9pm.

Come see a lot of chairs, enjoy some jazz, and have some festive food and drink!

Twelve Chairs
319 A Street, Fort Point, Boston
Red line to South Station

Chairs at Twelve Chairs

2010-12-01T05:03:00.004-05:00

100 Chairs installation view at Twelve Chairs in Fort Point, Boston.

The chairs are strung in rows of 20 in front of the old industrial elevator doors and the factory windows.

The whole installation glows warmly in the afternoon light.

Cast shadows...

I had a great opportunity to create a new installation version of the 100 Chairs project. Because the space had these fabulous brick walls and high ceilings, recreating the 20 x 5 grid on a wall wasn't physically possible. I was initially intrigued by the huge industrial doors and wanted to use them as the backdrop for the work. My final solution was to utilize the corner and the industrial doors as well as the huge windows to "activate" the space. I am thrilled with the final installation.

---

Chairs at Twelve Chairs is on view beginning today through March 2011.

Opening reception is Thursday, December 9, 6-9pm.

Twelve Chairs
319 A Street, Fort Point, Boston
Red line to South Station

A glimmer...

2010-11-29T19:12:00.000-05:00

The new installation of 100 Chairs...

Trio

2010-11-28T17:59:00.002-05:00

On A Street, right in front of Twelve Chairs.

A very large Stikman on the side of a building on the corner of A Street and Melcher Street.

On Atlantic Ave, before crossing over the bridge.

A trio of Stikmen who call South Boston home. I found them all today as I was walking back from Twelve Chairs. I finished hanging the new show and installing a very different take on the 100 Chairs project. It's been a bit of a marathon to get everything done in the last couple of weeks...

(ps-- I have found 16 Stikmen in Boston!)

Stikman x3

2010-11-15T21:01:00.002-05:00

The return of a familiar friend in the last few weeks...

1. This past weekend at Syracuse University...

2. In Chinatown (Boston) after Dim Sum one Sunday...

3. Somewhere around Stuart Street...

I have been recently made aware of another one in Fort Point, but I haven't found him for myself yet.

Postcard

2010-11-09T21:37:00.002-05:00

Part of a new series I'm working on for the upcoming show at Twelve Chairs. The pieces are actually dimensional.

Chairs @ Twelve Chairs

2010-11-05T08:56:00.004-04:00

More chairs!

A new show in collaboration with Glovebox and the Fort Point Design Studio, Twelve Chairs!

This is not just "round two," but a whole new show featuring my work over the last 2 years as well as brand new work and installations.

The show opens December 1, 2010 and runs through March 1, 2011.

For the official press release visit Glovebox

Opening Reception

Thursday December 9, 2010, 6-9pm

Twelve Chairs, 319 A Street, Fort Point, Boston, 02210

(Red line to South Station)

Featuring refreshments from local Fort Point eateries.

A preview...

2010-10-31T22:27:00.001-04:00

A sneak peek of the 100 Chairs installation!

When it rains, it pours

2010-10-29T20:49:00.000-04:00

Aftermath: the greyscale ink palette from the 100 Chairs...

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Everything is framed and ready to hang for the Chairs show. I took a few days off from the studio to catch my breath. The universe had other plans for me.

Stay tuned for some very exciting news in the next couple of days...

Four

2010-10-21T18:05:00.003-04:00

Four very different iterations from the final 30 or so I did in the series. I can't wait to see all 100 hanging up in a grid.

MassMarket

2010-10-13T19:14:00.001-04:00

I'll be selling prints, stationary, and other assorted whatnot alongside the talented Amanda Atkins and Ellen Crenshaw at Mass Market 7!

Mass Market is a DIY (do it yourself) flea market where artists, crafters, clothing designers, jewelry designers, photographers record sellers, local bands, button makers, bookbinders, photographers, djs, vegan and vegetarian bakers, and many others come together for a day of swapping, sharing, selling and buying
art.

Sunday December 12, 11-5pm
MassArt, 621 Huntington Ave, Boston
www.masscraftmarket.org

Studio wall

2010-10-12T09:31:00.000-04:00

Chairs, greyscale, Sumi ink, Pantone Black U-GPFM, Giorgio Morandi, postcards...on my mind and on the studio wall.

100

2010-10-10T10:10:00.001-04:00

One hundred chairs...

049

2010-10-08T22:04:00.001-04:00

"A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous."
--Mies van der Rohe

No. 49
Sumi ink wash on Khadi paper, 4x6"
copyright Kate Castelli 2010

Inversion

2010-10-07T08:53:00.004-04:00

I go through seasons with my sketchbook. Lately I have been focusing on other projects and my upcoming show, so it got put on the back burner. But I've been experimenting with the paper cuts and what better place to experiment than a sketchbook?

The left hand page was assembled from all the scraps leftover at the end of the night.

Sketchbook Spread 11
cut paper and hand-stitching
7 x 9.5" opened

copyright Kate Castelli 2010

Papercut

2010-10-05T09:41:00.001-04:00

Another experiment...

SHOW

2010-10-01T10:21:00.002-04:00

I am so thrilled to announce that I am having a show of my work in November. The show features my explorations and iterations of chairs over the last year. And it will also be the first installation view of the 100 Chairs project.

Chairs: New work by Kate Castelli

Cafe Japonaise
1032 Commonwealth Ave, Boston
B-line to Babcock Street.

November 1-30, 2010

Please join me for the opening reception on Monday November 1st, 2010 6-8 pm.

MICE @ AIB

2010-09-24T08:35:00.000-04:00

MICE: Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo
A festival dedicated to independent, alternative, small-press and self-published comics, webcomics and 'zines. More info here

I will be selling prints alongside other talented alumni, including my good friends and fellow artists Barbara Geoghegan, Val Arruda, Ellen Crenshaw and Amanda Atkins!

The Art Institute of Boston
700 Beacon Street
Boston MA 02215
(Green line to Kenmore T-stop)

Free admission!

Saturday September 25th
10-6pm

Happiness is...

2010-09-22T19:52:00.000-04:00

Happiness is a red chair.

Well...two red chairs to be exact. I fell in love with the classic Emeco Navy chairs a couple of years ago and hoped one day to own one. After months of waiting I am now the proud owner of a pair of Emeco 111 Navy chairs. They have found a happy home in my studio where I plan to sit in one and draw the other. Quite the utilitarian muse.

I think a new chair series is in the works...

Fabric

2010-09-21T19:43:00.002-04:00

A proof swatch of chair fabric that I recently designed...

Variations

2010-09-02T22:23:00.004-04:00

Two more... Sumi ink wash on Khadi paper, 4x6"

Two very different iterations from the same night. Some become more abstracted than others. I never quite know what the end result will be, they just become something unto themselves. That's part of the fascination of doing them.

In their natural habitat (the High Line, Chelsea NYC)

Iterations

2010-08-31T22:15:00.000-04:00

Two more iterations. Sumi ink wash on Khadi paper, 4x6"

I've spent three nights in a row listening to the Rolling Stones and doing chair studies. I loose track of time and the pile grows...

I'm thinking of doing 100. Just because.

I'd love to hang them all in a grid in a gallery space. Just rows and rows of chairs. I am intrigued by multiples, variations, and iterations.

Cut

2010-08-29T14:06:00.001-04:00

A little experiment...

Assume

2010-08-27T15:36:00.001-04:00

Assume that This has always been
sumi ink wash on vintage paper with hand-stitching
8.75 x 6.625"

Trois

2010-08-25T11:32:00.004-04:00

Three chair studies of the bistro chairs on the High Line in Chelsea, NYC. Sumi ink wash on Khadi paper (a wonderfully thick cotton rag paper made in India). 4x6 inches each.

I did about a dozen and half chair studies last night listening to the rain and the Rolling Stones.

I like doing these ghost chairs, but I don't know what to do with them. They seem to be a departure from my usual. This is not a bad thing, it is just a challenge to reconcile them with the other work I am doing.

copyright Kate Castelli 2010