June 2020

Kali’s Dream

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2020

A friend of mine is moving into a new apartment and taking his cat Kali with him. This provided me with the opportunity to give him a “house warming” gift, stay on Kali’s good side, and experiment with a somewhat different form of collage than I’ve done in the past. KALI’S DREAM, a minimalist collage using only card stock, expresses my belief that within every house cat and tabby there is the heart and soul of a tiger. As to why I want to remain on Kali’s good side, I’d refer you to a Google search of Indian mythology, or a couple of hours watching “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”. (2020) (12” x 12”)

 

EMERGENCE

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2020

I suspect that EMERGENCE will be interpreted differently by different people, and to be honest, my understanding of the piece is still changing with events. Originally, I saw the center figure as an act, or form of creation: now I am starting to see it more as a violent, explosive, eruption, like the outbreak of a virus as it starts to spread. My personal insight is that an abstract image may be, or at least is intended to be, timeless, but its message, even to the artist, will be changed by time and circumstances. EMERGENCE is a hand built and raku fired paper clay wall hanging mounted on quarter inch plywood. (2020) (21” x 15” x 2”).

Quarantining

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2020

As we enter week six, (or is it seven?) of staying at home, sheltering in place or self-quarantining and contemplating the economy, the pandemic and the civil unrest it seems that the days are starting to run into each other in a kind of grey fog. Is today Tuesday? When was the last time I was out of the house? What did I fix for lunch yesterday? QUARANTINING is an emotional response to the current situation. Unlike SAINT JOHN THE MOSAICIST it is a minimalist piece using only six pieces repurposed from a couple of uncompleted projects and a drab palette. It may also be an unfinished piece with the potential, like life, to brighten considerably. (2020) (24” x 24” x 2”) ($150)