Mixed Media Artist Judith Plotner

Illustration: Judith Plotner Adirondack Journal I

Many creative journeys are supremely private; others less so, many are degrees in between. The work of textile and mixed media artist Judith Plotner, although largely falling into the former category, can still be considered purely as an example of the rich world that can be composed from the elements that go to make up a mixed media base.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Slate Valley

Plotner uses the broad spectrum of the creative arts, bringing into her compositions the sensibilities of a fine art painting background, as well as that of printmaking, collage and textiles. The great strength of mixed media is the fact that layering and juxtapositioning can be achieved not only with the raw materials available within the different mediums, but also with that of mediums themselves. It is always fascinating to observe how sometimes a medium can complement another, while at other times the opposite can be both the aim and result. This can cause tension within a composition which can be intentional on one level, but have reactions and unforeseen results, sometimes on more than one level.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Adirondack Journal III

The compositions chosen for this article seem reminiscent of small contained packages as if they were enclosed personal observations of the artist themselves. In some respect that is exactly what they are. These observational diary pages if you will contain information, thoughts and muses, often scattered and seemingly random, though often connected by both the individual and the experience.

There is a sense of confinement that is physically attached to the compositions. The surrounding and inert space of these observational essays can seem to isolate the experience, but in fact it is much more a case of the outside space allowing the artist to pinpoint an experience. This helps to discover and identify the completed observation and in some ways allow the outsider to study at least some elements of the parameters that contain the thoughts and processes of the artist.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Autumnal

Although the outside observer is not privy to the internal creative workings of the artist, whether that be personalised or externalised observations and encounters, they can in some respects be privy to the journey itself. By understanding the practical application of mediums and materials, whether that be through layering, stitching, stamping, dyeing, painting or printing, this functional part of the creative journey can be both observed and admired.

It is said that all creativity is subjective, and in many respects that is true. However, often the practical working journey of materials and processes used by the artist can be objectively followed, sometimes producing profound or at least interesting analogies and discoveries.

These five compositions of Plotner's are finely tuned and specifically composed. They are an interesting example of both the personalised experience of an artist, but also of the sometimes complex procedures that can entail the practical application of a mixed media artist. The compositions are wide ranging in their use of mediums and materials and show the genuine creative scope that can be found within the mixed media world.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Global Warming

Judith Plotner has exhibited extensively across the US. She has her own comprehensive website where many more examples of her work can be found. A link to the site can be found below.

All images were provided with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:
Judith Plotner website

Anders Zorn Tapestries

Illustration: Anders Zorn. Dalecarlian Scene tapestry panel, 1909

Anders Zorn the Swedish fine art painter is probably better known outside of his native Sweden, as that of an accomplished and highly successful nineteenth and early twentieth century portrait painter. Zorn travelled widely in both Europe and North America and his portraits made him wealthy and acclaimed. However, as if a tonic for the often unrewarding profession of portrait painter, Zorn had a keen interest in the traditions of his native Sweden. The representation of both a rural and traditional basis of life in Sweden became more important to him as his life and career progressed, so that nearer the end of his life the subject of the traditions of Swedish life and culture became much more acute.

Zorn produced a number of compositions with subject matter that were based on the ordinary traditions of rural life in Sweden. These came in a number of disciplines, most admittedly within fine art painting, but some within the traditionally strong Swedish discipline of textiles. This was not particularly unusual for the period as many fine artists were keen to be seen as pan-discipline workers, producing efforts not only in textiles, but also that of ceramics, metal, glass and wood. That much of this work was art rather than design based did often limit the results, but it is still interesting to note the results of the process of a fine art sensibility being transposed into craft or design.

The examples shown here are relatively straightforward transpositions from a fine art origin to that of woven tapestry. Although there is no overly unique interpretation from Zorn, it is interesting to note how he has interpreted his compositions towards a textile based medium. The work has all the appearance of a graphic based dimension, with figures and backgrounds appearing both fresh and spontaneous, giving the impression of an element of contemporary vitality and spontaneity to the traditional rural scenes. Admittedly, this is not always the impression that has been immediately connected to either rural or traditional lifestyles, particularly by those of a more urban disposition.

Illustration: Anders Zorn. Dalecarlian Scene tapestry panel, 1909

All three tapestries are connected and should by rights be seen as a triptych of panels showing various aspects of the one theme. That theme was to illustrate the life lived in the Dalecarlian region of Sweden. Dalecarlia or Dalarna, is an area of the country that had become associated since at least the mid-nineteenth century as being in some respects, the heartland of both Sweden and its culture.  The native Arts & Crafts movement was particularly interested in using Dalecarlia as a metaphor for all that was considered vital in preserving and prolonging the traditions of Swedish life.

Perceived heartlands were a particular necessity for a number of Arts & Crafts movements, more so in Europe than elsewhere. Specific regions and areas were often interpreted as literal vaults containing the uncontaminated traditions and root culture of a nation. Although much of this was clearly romantically misplaced sentiment, it does not change the fact that areas like Dalecarlia became the subject of intense retrospection and rich subject matter for a wide ranging list of creative individuals that included fine artists, designers, craftspeople, photographers, critics, musicians and writers.

These particular pieces by Zorn were even displayed at the 1909 Exhibition of Swedish Applied Art that took place in the capital, Stockholm. Zorn was not the only fine artist represented at the Exhibition, a number of popular and well-placed names in both Swedish fine art and design were represented such as Alfred Wallander, Carl Larsson and Gunnar Wennerberg. Zorn's tapestry work can be seen as a fine example of both the traditions of Swedish craft and culture, along with the sensibilities of a contemporary artist to those traditions.

Illustration: Anders Zorn. Dalecarlian Scene tapestry panel, 1909

Anyone interested in good selection of the fine art work produced by Zorn during his career might wish to follow the link to the Anders Zorn website which can be found below in the Reference links section, along with some relevant books on Zorn that can be found on Amazon.com.

Reference links:
Anders Zorn website
Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn Rediscovered
ANDERS ZORN, His Life and Work
Nationalism and the Nordic Imagination: Swedish Art of the 1890s
Greeting Cards: Anders Zorn Paintings
Anders Zorn In the Woods 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 Print
Anders Zorn 1860-1920: An Introduction to His Life and Achievements
The Prints of Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn 
The Etchings of Anders Zorn: From the Collection of the Springfield Art Museum
Dagmar, 1911 Giclee Poster Print by Anders Leonard Zorn, 24x32

Remembering Lawrence Halprin (or at least some of his projects)

In the blogosphere, this is old news now. It's been a week since I heard about the death of landscape architectural icon Lawrence Halprin - actually the day after while in a meeting where part of the topic was discussing the iconic nature of his park sequence in Portland as inspiration for a small plaza I am designing. We looked at the inspiration - not the copying of the forms - and I of course found my way back to his sketches of the sequence.


:: image via Halprin Landscape Conservancy

I was reminded of one of the items that originally to Portland - as we had learned about the work, particularly those in the sequence below. Eager to see some real 'landscape architecture' I hurriedly visited downtown to see these in person soon after moving to town. How disappointing in person, to see the gray, life-less, broken space of the Auditorium Forecourt Fountain (now Keller Fountain) as it was shut down pending repairs to pumping equipment. I was deflated, and walked the sequence seeing this project in it's full rainy, gray splendor with not a person in sight. It was a formative experience in disconnection with the aura of a space and the designer vs. the space in action.


:: image via Halprin Landscape Conservancy

To my wonderful surprise, I visited a year later, at the height of summer, pumps functioning, and the space was literally crawling with people. Then I realized that I was only seeing one facet of the story - not the entire design, or the changes in use over time, and seasons, and day and night. I had a similar experience the first time I visited the Keller Auditorium for a play and sat at intermission looking over the fountain lit in an eerie glow - providing the forecourt not just from outside but within the building itself, connecting architecture and landscape.


:: Keller (Forecourt) Fountain - image via artscatter

The first day of 'Intro to Landscape Architecture' class I was teaching at Portland State, we took a tour of the sequence as a primer on what the profession is all about - and I was amazed that many of the students hadn't known about the spaces (mere blocks from campus) and what the opinions of the space were - both good and bad. Even without knowing, the spaces can still teach.



:: Pettygrove Park - image via Oregon Sustainability Center


:: Lovejoy Fountain - image via World is Round

The other aspect I loved in school and still today is the lively sketches. These are not art per se, but serious and whimsical studies and exercises in seeing and understanding. These taught me that it's important to look and draw, and that the benefit to yourself is the point, not some form of artistic integrity. They also showed a realization of contextual forms and processes and generators of design inspiration. And they become beautiful because you see the inspiration expressed and abstracted within the designs.


:: image via Halprin Landscape Conservancy

A final snippet of story came on a visit to Seattle to see Freeway Park as well, which was amazing and beautiful in places, and a similar expression of abstracted concrete mountains. It was also a true expression of a dated, somewhat irrelevant and possibly dangerous space that harbored unsavory elements and activities - and perhaps was not part of the original context. This made me wonder about the longevity and relevance of spaces and the need to protect and restore icons - but also our need to let some of them go (or at least change to meet the times). It's a tricky thing for landscape architects to design timeless - when our materials are always changing.


:: image via hugeasscity

Strange how the formative aspects of life in landscape architecture get played out in time and history. I actually also had an opportunity to redo one of the Halprin-(esque perhaps) projects done with SOM on some towers in the auditorium district (the now remodeled Harrison West complex) - and the limits of concrete, ivy, and trees in making space for people - and how the 60s and 70s, much like in architecture created some great, and some laughable projects.

This affected me like the passing of Ian McHarg a few years back, which struck hard. came when I was amidst a complex, layered, mapping exercise which directly reflected the legacy of integrated planning, and for me personally that the access to many disparate layers of data - together - is a powerful notion. McHarg and Halprin were much more accessible heroes than Olmsted - because they were living in the same world that I was as a youthful LA.

More good reading on the subject is found at the Oregonian, Art Scatter, Portland Architecture, and Inspiration Wall. I've been remiss on reading the blogs lately - but imagine there is an outpouring of wonderful stories - which are deserved. I learned much from Halprin's work and went through amazement, disappointment, reality, and acknowledgment that landscape and taste changes, and that all good design draws from place, engages people in many ways, and is timeless... much like city itself. I wasn't quite as obsessed with the man and his work as some others locally - nor did I visit the spaces often, but nonetheless personally he will be misse. Thankfull, he will not be forgotten in the many works and a legacy of design inspirations (and those inspired, such as myself) that he left behind.