2013: Unicorn

January 3, 2014
Big Canoe, GA

Light snow began drifting down around midnight here in the mountains of Big Canoe and by morning an inch or two partially covered the leaf-strewn ground, rising up from my house and the creek, with a delicate texture of mostly white and a scattering of brown. The many dark tree trunks stand in high contrast to that surface and their shadows add another element to this highly graphic landscape on this sunny day. As I gaze out in wonder at this constantly changing scene through the grid of my window-wall, I am transported by “Voice for solo flute” by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. Paradise? Well, as close as I can come.

This experience was bested by the mid-December full moon experienced here in the mountains with a ghostly light on the leaves as a kind of prelude to the snow seen in daylight today. The tree trunks were also bathed in that eerie moon-glow. The clear night sky, free from any ambient light here in the wilderness, was bejeweled with a million stars. This was an encounter here without parallel. Day or night, winter, spring, summer or fall, this mountain locus continuously reinforces my severe case of topophilia, a special love for a peculiar place.

The Holiday Seasons kept me busy starting with my return from Kyoto just before Thanksgiving. This gave me time to plan and host Page, Jeanne, her mother and grandson Lee for dinner here at Big Canoe. Then a rush into Christmas! Shopping, decorating the house here, which seems to take longer each year with numerous trips up and down stairs to storage areas in disarray. But it all came together so I could join former UGA grad Ben Landers, wife Dawn, their 9-month-old twin boys and Ben’s brother George for our annual pre-Christmas celebration in Adairsville. Andrea, Jerry and Isabella, my devoted Athens and BC “house-and-GK-care guys”, joined for festivities here on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was spent in Atlanta with the family at Jeanne’s mom’s. Lee and I spent a day at the Museum of Design Atlanta viewing the work of Paul Rand, graphic designer of the UPS, IBM and ABC corporate identities, plus a host of other works. Then we crossed Peachtree Street to the Woodruff Center for lunch at our favorite restaurant there, and then to the High Museum for “Go West!” a wide-ranging exhibition of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and objects plus “The Art of the Louvre’s Tuileries Garden” — from the Wild West to the formality of Paris all in a few hours! Former student Lee Heidel, Ginger and Camille were here to ring in the New Year and for Lee’s web design expertise with a PowerPoint presentation I am due to give to the Athens Torch Club in February, “Installation Art: A personal Journey”.

Of course, in competition with Big Canoe for a special place in my heart and soul is Kyoto. Fall arrival there in September was just after a major typhoon resulting in major flooding in some areas outside the city. The water levels in the rivers where I walk daily had subsided, but it was evident from debris left behind that water had reach the walking path level in some places. My daily walks offer the opportunity to observe bird life, enjoy the mountains to the east and north of the rivers, and mingle with others who are out biking or walking for business or pleasure. My contact with the natural world in my area of Kyoto is quite different from that in North Georgia but the-impact on me is as powerful and is one aspect of this city that draws me back year after year. This was the 30th of my (often multiple = 55+) annual visits.

Exhibitions: Another reason for my love of Kyoto is the opportunity to view major exhibitions of great diversity. Among those was a fall show at the Museum of Modern Art Kyoto (MoMAK) of works from the Imperial Collection including huge and finely woven tapestries, huge ceramic pieces, paintings, and a variety of craft media; The Kobe Biennale with nearly 80 huge sea-going containers each with the installation of an individual artist, plus a large solo show of paintings by a Japanese artist who was obsessed with “Y” intersections and painted many of them; The National Museum of Art, Osaka mounted “Your Portrait: A Tetsumi Kudo Retrospective”, whose work was as varied and eccentric as the artist who was obsessed with “sex, pollution, atomic power and genetics”; an exhibition at the Shiga Prefectural Museum devoted, to Soetsu Yanagi the founder of the Mingei (folk craft/anonymous artist) Movement with objects in all craft media plus publications, documents and photographs. I attended these exhibitions with my dear friend of 30+ years, Kiyoji Tsuji, who invited me, as the curator of Gallery Maronie, to have my first solo show in Kyoto in 1984. He’s a wealth of information on Japanese culture, art, crafts and life, so each experience with him is another chapter in my “Japanese Studies”. Kiyo is now a professor at Seian University of Art and. Design in art management.

Events: Soon after my arrival in September there was an exhibition opening and symposium on fiber arts education at Seian University of Art and Design in Shiga Prefecture. The 5 participants, all known to me, each had a large work in the gallery. In addition to the symposium participants there were many fiber artists from Kyoto and beyond in attendance. The whole event was launched with the usual welcoming speeches and a grand buffet of ‘art designed’ and tasty foods. As a consequence of all of this, I was able to see and greet many old friends. It was, indeed, something like a welcoming party! Actually, I did have many parties to celebrate my October birthday with friends, some of whom have late October birthdays as well. The Tsuji family and I always have a huge Italian Feast at a friend’s cafe. Malta buona!

Performances: There were quite a few dance and music events this fall with several that were outstanding. My friend, installation collaborator and Butoh dancer, Ima Tenko, had a solo performance that was a knockout! The venue was Gojo Kaikan, a small, old, traditional theater once used for geisha dance performances. This performance began with a Western style cabaret number with Ima-san in bold makeup, blonde wig, sequined dress, high heels, purple ostrich feather fan and skimpy jeweled bra and G-string. The recorded music was perfect for a bump and grind routine plus strip tease that was transfixing. She is total dance pro! Next, on stage, she slowly striped and transformed herself into the Butoh-style white makeup and costume for the remaining segments of the program. Her other venue was the funky ‘live house’, Urban Guild, where Ima-san has performed many times previously. In this instance she was accompanied by a cello and accordion with a very contemporary twist. She was ‘dressed’ in white body makeup and a tiny red loincloth but decorated by a constantly evolving projection that gave the impression of a painted or tattooed body. Another triumph! “Amaterasu” was an outstanding event that brought together Tomasaburo, a famous Kabuki actor and Kodo, a drum group known around the world. The story revolves around mythical Amaterasu, who is both Goddess of the Sun and the Universe, played by Tomasaburo, while all other acting, dancing and music roles are taken by members of the Kodo group. The costumes, setting, extensive use of fabric, instrumental and vocal music all melded together into one very memorable performance. There were also events with a Brazilian group in black body paint and one with a new take on ‘Kabuki plus Noh’.

Summer was spent here in the mountains with daily visits to the Fitness Center and the Disharoon Lake beach with occasional trips back to Athens, including the AthFest music and arts festival, plus visits with Page and family in Atlanta, In late August I made my annual fly-and-rental car trip North to visit family in WI and MI. Cousin Mick Lueder, now in Whitewater, was first on my agenda and she was prepared with a ‘to do’ list that we worked on together. We also made our annual pilgrimage to Lake Mills’ Sandy Beach at Rock Lake for a picnic and relaxing on the grass in the shade. Next it was on to Kohler, WI to visit nephew, Kurk Anderson, his wife Paula and daughter Katie who was off to college the next day. Then on to MI where I spent time with niece Kris and her daughter Maya in Boyne City, with many occasions for fun, good food, conversation and beach time. Then a bit further north to sister Karol and husband John’s ‘log house in the woods’ (actually there’s lots of lawn plus a pond teeming with goldfish) for a very relaxed visit. There were exceptions, however, when Karol and I made intense shopping assaults on discount shops and resale stores. In that regard Karol is “Expert 1st Class”.

My spring sojourn to Kyoto began in late March in time to enjoy the cherry blossom viewing (Ohanami) for the 5th such season since retirement. The first morning I awoke to a group of itinerant monks walking and chanting down my nameless street. (Only major streets have names, otherwise we have a house # in a cho a kind of sub-sub-ward. Consequently, you cannot really find a place, private or public, without a map,) I continued my intense search for lost (?), but definitely found (!), stuff for my show there in the fall of 2014. Once found and evaluated for creative potential most objects are mounted on black board in frames, painted black, either individually or, more likely, in assemblage style. I have found enough pieces to assemble a complete costume on some sort of manikin, but most will be wall hung in frames or without. There is a tie between gloves and keys as the most frequently lost items and they will keep me busy sorting and framing. The numerous ¥100 (Dollar) Shops, on which I have become expert, provide me with a vast variety of frames or shallow boxes, types, and sizes to be painted and filled with my ‘foundlings’. I was busy with this effort in the fall and need to wind up everything this coming spring as the show will open in September soon after my fall arrival.

The two monthly flea markets and 1st Sunday Antique Fair drew me in each time the weather permitted. A rainy day is a death knell to these outdoor events. My eye is on red silk undergarments (nagajuban) that will be the focus of a future installation as well as rolled kimono lengths (tanmono), in a variety of colors and patterns, which I will use for an installation at the UGA School of Art this coming summer. That is all still very vague now except in concept, with space yet to be decided. Gallery and museum exhibitions kept me on the move with friend Kiyo to share the fun. Two highlights were “50th Anniversary of Museum of Modern Kyoto” with two floors of work from their permanent collection including an Art Deco bar saved when the original building was destroyed. I was delighted to see my two small works from the 1980s on display on the upper floor with the 20th Century work. The labels were reversed but the staff was pleased to know and subsequently made the change. The 2nd major exhibition event was a show of the “Unicorn and the Lady” tapestry series from the Musee de Cluny in Paris at The National Museum of Art Osaka. I was once again transported to Textile Heaven having seen them in Paris in the late 1950s and now in Japan! It was time for me to be the gallery guide for Kiyo as I had lectured on them for years at UGA. However, as often happens, I talk too loudly and this brings the security staff on the run to shush me. As is often the case with museum shows these days, they cover the walls in oversized photos so we could have a close look at technique, structure and materials without setting off alarms!

Best wishes for health, happiness and prosperity in 2014 THE YEAR OF THE HORSE. Thus, “Hi-Yo Silver Away!” which was embedded in my memory from listening, with my father, to “The Lone Ranger” on the radio in the 1940s. Yes, that long ago.