States of Being Live at “Does Live Art…”

Thank you to everybody who came out and supported the Does Live Art Have to be Experienced Live performance series at SOIL over the Seattle Art Fair weekend. It was great to see all the visitors to the gallery and wonderful to meet the other artists involved in the performances. I especially want to thank all who volunteered to model. And, Morgan Cahn, who conceived, curated and organized this set of performances and the subsequent show is a superstar, and I am happy to know her better through the production of “Does Live Art…”.

This project was a performance of life-size-life-drawing at the SOIL Gallery in Seattle, WA during the Seattle Art Fair 2016. For three days, August 5, 6, and 7, I drew volunteer models. Each day I worked from 1pm to 4pm. Models were people I didn’t know who were visiting the gallery, other people involved in “Does Live Art…” and friends who came to participate in my project. Altogether, I drew 20 people into one canvas.

Usually getting ready for a show involves heavy stress to finish artwork on time. It was a refreshing change to begin a show with a blank piece of canvas. From installation on, being a part of “Does Live Art…” reminded me a bit of my college days in stage production—from the down-time camaraderie to the days of performance adrenaline, the similarity was distinct, and welcome. I’d forgotten how much fun—and how much work shows involve. The aftermath is great too, I was exhausted, but uniquely satisfied by the combination of working with people, making something, and feeling the energy of the Seattle Art Fair weekend.

See below for photos of the performance. And, scroll down below the gallery to see a timelapse video of the performance weekend at SOIL.