On Wholesome Community
Community Wholesomeness
I’ve recently found myself spending evenings by the television, under my lap blanket, hand stitching student loan debt banners and enjoying a series re-watch of Schitt’s Creek. The show which aired from 2015-2020 has been a wholesome “comfort-watch” for me and Vaimo on the nights when we want to watch something. I first turned to it late last year because I needed to laugh out loud, and Moira Rose (arguably one of the best television characters ever to grace the small screen) consistently delivers. Her quirky affectation, the delivery of her lines, and word choices truly amaze. And the other members of the Rose family as well as the community members of Schitt’s Creek each bring their own delights. I find the escape to be exactly what I need for this moment and for my nervous system.
A couple of Thursdays ago when Vaimo and I found ourselves at the Joint Opening Reception of three impactful exhibitions at The Kaddatz Galleries in Fergus Falls, MN I was struck by a familiar feeling as I gazed upon the wall of silhouetted birds flying in Jess Torgerson and Erika Frikken’s portion of the galleries called For the Birds: A Means to Create, Not Waste. Jess asked me, “does it look too ‘live, laugh, love'?” And as I replied chuckling to myself, “actually, I’ve been rewatching Schitt’s Creek, and I just got to the season where Moira films The Crows Have Eyes 3, so to me I’m seeing Moira Rose here.” She laughed, and appreciated the reminder of the reference as I then moved on to spend several long minutes enjoying the gorgeous, elegant trash bird sculpture birthed into existence by the hands and minds of Torgerson and Frikken.
The Kaddatz has created a powerhouse combination of three impactful exhibits spanning all of their gallery spaces. For the Birds in Studio K is but just one of these. Joined by an exhibition of Katy Olson’s mixed media plaster casts of women’s torsos: The Weight of Woman in the Community room provides viewers an opportunity to think about women’s gendered experiences and their relationship to the natural environment. Through the use of participatory art making, writing, paint, cast and decoupage sculpture to present torsos of women. Some are adorned with remade plastics from the OTC Lakes Area Precious Plastics Lab all feature written reflections from the models themselves.
In the main gallery, Laura Youngbird’s exhibition Inde’Wiisagendam (My Heart Hurts) is a monumental gathering of a subject matter she has been exploring for quite some time; the dress as metaphor for societal expectations for women. Honestly, I am not sure such an explicit feminist art exhibition has been gathered in Fergus, maybe the county? I mean, I don’t aim to exaggerate, and obviously I haven’t been here since the inception of the area, but given my life experience in this place, it’s the sort of thing I wouldn’t be surprised to learn is true. Regardless of the groundbreaking nature of the confluence of these three exhibitions, I was happy to hear from each of the artists and in particular from Youngbird as she shared her thoughts on the explicitly political element of her work. When drawing attention to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Men and Children she notes is not just something happening now, but something that “has been happening since contact.” The dress as this beautiful garment functions in multiple ways mirroring the repetitive, yet uniquely fashioned monotype printing technique she loves to engage.
My favorite pieces of hers were these large scale community built collages complete with skirts that not only feature a repeating motif of the representation of the dress but the piece itself becomes a dress, complete with skirt on the bottom of the piece. The use of red as a main color and in the image of the red hand connects to the MMIW movement and is powerful and haunting. I was struck by the vividness of the red especially as it is a departure from Youngbird’s typical color schemes which tend to feature more neutrals. In these red works, there is also a strength embodied here, in size and scale these dresses demonstrate the power of community to fight back against violence through not only naming it, but transfiguring it into something beautiful. That beauty felt like a deep feminine rage and strength; the way nurturing as a gendered expectation can at its best also serve as caring protection.
Laura Youngbird’s work also takes up a technique I like to employ, where she brings her personal history into the work to connect to larger concepts. In this exhibition in pieces like Blood Memory she is intertwining her ancestors into her work, and other women relatives like mother, aunts, and grandmothers. There is a quiet and clever resistance Youngbird employs in the integrating of materials not typically associated with fine arts like the paper of sewing patterns, or even the technique of sewing. Her very premise brings us back to the bygone era where home sewists were fashioning the family’s clothes to which we all have connections even if distant. Youngbird’s works connect to these phenomenon through her experience as a member of the Chippewa Grand Portage Band, and I was deeply grateful to be able to see her work again and to observe how it’s been evolving after first experiencing it shortly after I moved to the region in 2017 at a different venue.
I was late to Schitt’s Creek, but that wasn’t my fault exactly. The show didn’t hit the US streaming services until the third season of the show’s run on Canadian network tv. I saw it in the right time though when my BFF introduced the show to us also around the time when we moved to rural Otter Tail County. When we watched the pilot I remember being up in our “movie theater” an area of the house we are working on renovating - well more like refreshing - that was previously an attic storage space. Projecting the Rose family on the big wall that hadn’t even been painted white at that point, I remember falling in love with the family and the world created by Dan and Eugene Levy, the comedy of it all and what our BFF noted was a bit like me and Vaimo's life. Having just moved to a rural place and as outsiders to the community, that is the extent of where our family’s similarities end. The point of all of this is some of the things I love most about the show Schitt’s Creek are about how the Levy’s have somehow captured the goodness of small communities. I was grateful to be a part of that goodness happening in my small community a couple of weeks ago with good people doing good work. I look forward to more of that wholesomeness ahead.
For those who are local, all three of these exhibitions are on view through April 27th at The Kaddatz Galleries. While you may have missed out on the opening reception, Katy J. Olson will host an Artist Talk and Discussion for her show, The Weight of Woman on April 4 from 5-7pm.
Creative Ritual
In this section of the newsletter I turn to my calendar to see how I’ve been using my time. I have this condition where I do not retain many details of the day to day because I am often flitting all over the place and doing way too many things at once. Since my last email correspondence I have been managing a lot of tasks related to the studio practice that don’t actually result in time logged in the actual creating of work. Things like taxes, Recordkeeping, and marketing and promoting of the work by picking up and dropping off paintings at exhibitions (two small paintings are on view at the 50th Anniversary MState Invitational in Fergus Falls through May 4th!) I facilitated an art experience for my friends at Springboard for the Arts at their staff retreat where we discussed student loan debt and made a collective debt banner to connect to my project currently on view at the SB FF Offices - join us there for our second stitch in on April 18th 3-5pm. This newsletter marks the end of my MSAB grant period which meant I have been diligently working on a grant report. In other news I started a new painting and began my weaving journey with a small tabletop loom I acquired. AND! In truly BIGGEST news - a painting of mine is now on a billboard on MN County Highway 210. You can read more about the project here, goodies and an event are in the works so as always, stay tuned!
Questions to ponder
What television shows are helping you soothe your nervous systems right now?
What local art have you taken in recently that has inspired you?
How do you feel about billboards? What about art on billboards?
Where is the most unexpected place you've encountered art?
Thanks for journeying with me. I hope, as always, that you take what you need and leave the rest for someone else, or for another time. Special thank you and welcome to new subscribers!
-KCF
The Art of KCF Newsletter is a fiscal year 2023 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.